News Release Issued by the International Secretariat of Amnesty International
AI INDEX: ASA 36/002/2004
14 January 2004
Singapore: High execution rate shrouded in secrecy
Amnesty International exposed today the shockingly high, hidden toll of executions in Singapore as it launched a new
report about the death penalty in that country.
Singapore is believed to have the highest per capita rate of executions the world. A UN Report found that Singapore had
three times the number of executions, relative to the size of its population, as the next country on the list - Saudi
Arabia.
"It is high time for the government to seriously reconsider its stance claiming that the death penalty is not a human
rights issue," Amnesty International said. "It is the cold-blooded killing of a human being by the state in the name of
justice, and violates one of the most fundamental of all human rights: the right to life. By imposing death sentences
and carrying out high numbers of executions, Singapore is going against global trends towards abolition of death
penalty."
The small city-state has hanged more than 400 prisoners in the last 13 years. Official information about the use of the
death penalty is shrouded in secrecy and the government does not normally publish statistics about death sentences or
executions. It is not known how many prisoners are currently on death row, but the deplorable death toll from executions
continues.
Amnesty International's new report "Singapore: The death penalty: A hidden toll of executions" (view the full report
online at http://amnesty-news.c.tep1.com/maabQUpaa3zIzbb0hPub/ ) examines how the death penalty often falls disproportionately and arbitrarily on the most marginalized or vulnerable
members of society. Many of those executed have been migrant workers, drug addicts, the impoverished or those lacking in
education. The report includes a number of illustrative cases including Rozman Jusoh, a 24 year old labourer from
Malaysia executed in 1996 despite having sub-normal intelligence with a reported IQ of 74.
Drug addicts are particularly vulnerable. Many were hanged after being found in possession of relatively small
quantities of drugs. Singapore's Misuse of Drugs Act contains several clauses which conflict with the universally
guaranteed right to be presumed innocent until proven guilty, and provides for a mandatory death sentence for at least
20 different drug-related offences. For instance, any person found in possession of the key to anything containing
controlled drugs is presumed guilty of possessing those drugs and, if the amount exceeds a specified amount, faces a
mandatory death penalty for "trafficking".
"Such provisions erode the right to a fair trial and increase the risk of executing the innocent," Amnesty International
stressed. "Moreover, it is often the drug addicts or minor drug pushers who are hanged, while those who mastermind the
crime of trafficking evade arrest and punishment."
Despite claims by the government that the death penalty has been effective in combatting the trade in illicit drugs,
drug abuse continues to be a problem particularly among socially marginalized young people. Observers have drawn
attention to the need to combat the social conditions which can give rise to drug abuse and addiction, rather than
resorting to executions as a solution.
"We call on the Government of Singapore to impose an immediate moratorium on executions and commute all pending death
sentences to prison terms," Amnesty International said. "We are also calling on the authorities to end the secrecy about
the use of the death penalty and encourage public debate."
Background
According to the UN Secretary-General's quinquennial report on capital punishment (UN document: E/CN.15/2001/10, para.
68), for the period 1994 to 1999 Singapore had a rate of 13.57 executions per one million population, representing by
far the highest rate of executions in the world. This is followed by Saudi Arabia (4.65), Belarus (3.20), Sierra Leone
(2.84), Kyrgyzstan (2.80), Jordan (2.12) and China (2.01). The largest overall number of executions for the same period
took place in China, followed in descending order by the Islamic Republic of Iran, Saudi Arabia, the United States of
America, Nigeria and Singapore.
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For the full text of the report, please go to: "Singapore: The death penalty: A hidden toll of executions" http://amnesty-news.c.tep1.com/maabQUpaa3zIAbb0hPub/
Other recent Amnesty International reports in the death penalty in Southeast Asia include:
"Socialist Republic of Viet Nam: The death penalty - inhumane and ineffective"
http://amnesty-news.c.tep1.com/maabQUpaa3zIBbb0hPub/
and
"Viet Nam: Death penalty -- a dirty secret" http://amnesty-news.c.tep1.com/maabQUpaa3zICbb0hPub/
Amnesty International has launched a new website for the Asia Pacific region, view the pages at
http://amnesty-news.c.tep1.com/maabQUpaa3zIDbb0hPub/
View all documents on Singapore at http://amnesty-news.c.tep1.com/maabQUpaa3zIEbb0hPub/
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