The group huddled together in Rosalind Park with candles in their hands - their voices were low and the mood was sombre.  

One woman sat in a chair, staring into space - thinking, while a young girl in a pink jacket penned a sign - I pray for the families, I stand for mercy.

At one stage, the group formed a circle and held a minute of silence.  

The vigil was in response to the deaths of Australian drug smugglers Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran.

The pair are expected to be shot dead by firing squad overnight. 

Amnesty International Bendigo branch president David Hooke said the human rights advocacy group wanted to make a stand against the death penalty. 

"Evidence from across the world has shown that the death penalty has no deterrent effect on crime. Far from making society safer, the death penalty has been shown to have a brutalising effect on society," he said at the vigil. 

"State-sanctioned killing only serves to endorse the use of force and continue the cycle of violence."

Mr Hooke said Amnesty International would continue to work to abolish capital punishment in every country in the world. 

"Ending the death penalty is core to Amnesty's work," he said.

Phillipa Chantry, a member of Amnesty International, said she opposed the death penalty in all circumstances.

"It's unequal in its implementation and also because it's so final. And it's arbitrary," she said.  

Ms Chantry said the Chan and Sukumaran committed a serious crime and deserved to be punished but execution was "too harsh".

"I think it's really terrible for their families. A severe jail sentence is enough," she said. 

Kym French said she believed the death penalty was barbaric.

"The Australian prison system can learn a lot. The community Chan and Sukumaran have built within the prison and the great work they have done in trying to reform people - Australia can't achieve that," she said.

"But to take it away now and to execute them is quite cruel. They did a crime and it was silly. But they have done a lot of work in educating people.

"It goes completely against human rights - I'd like to see it abolished."