Singapore urged to halt executions, abolish death penalty

Singapore should stop the execution of all death-row convicts and abolish the death penalty, New York-based rights watchdog Human Rights Watch said in a report.

The Singapore government, since mid-April, issued at least four execution notices to individuals convicted of drug-related offenses, the rights group said on May 21.

They are among 36 death row prisoners taking part in a legal action regarding their constitutional right to legal aid following an appeal. None of these prisoners currently has legal representation.

The executions of these prisoners have been put on hold, awaiting the outcome of the court application.

Despite pressure from rights groups and a rising global trend towards abolition of capital punishment, the Singapore government remains determined to continue with the death penalty, the report said.

On May 8, Singapore’s home minister, K. Shanmugam, announced that the Post-Appeal in Capital Cases Act (PACC) passed in 2022 would imminently come into force.

The rights group said this law will severely curtail prisoners’ ability to appeal their convictions and further undermine fair trial and due process rights in capital cases in Singapore.

Shanmugam defended his country’s use of capital punishment as an “effective” deterrent and hit out at Singapore’s anti-death penalty activists, who have long been the target of government harassment and intimidation, rights groups say.

The minister publicly named five anti-death penalty advocates, including a media outlet, who, because of their activism, have previously been subject to orders under the Protection from Online Falsehoods and Manipulation Act (POFMA). This law gives the government broad discretionary powers to censor online content.

Last year, the authorities suspended prominent human rights lawyer M. Ravi from practicing his profession for five years, the maximum sanction for a lawyer’s misconduct.

Ravi was accused of making “grave and baseless accusations of improper conduct” on Facebook against the attorney-general. The accusation came after M. Ravi managed to have the death sentence of his client, Malaysian national Gobi Avedian, set aside on the grounds of a miscarriage of justice.

United Nations experts and governments have repeatedly called on Singapore to abolish or impose a moratorium on the death penalty and stop targeting anti-death penalty activists.

The rights group urged Singapore to demonstrate commitment to upholding international standards by abolishing "the cruel and inhumane" practice of death penalty.

Under Singaporean law, 33 crimes — such as murder, drug trafficking, terrorism, use of firearms, and kidnapping — warrant the death penalty.

Source: https://www.ucanews.com/news