Capital punishment in Singapore

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Capital punishment is a legal form of punishment in Singapore. The state had the highest per-capita execution rate in the world between 1994 to 1999, estimated by the United Nations to be 13.57 executions per one million population during that period. The next highest was Saudi Arabia with 4.65. Each execution is carried out by hanging at Changi Prison at dawn on a Friday.

All capital trials take place in public, before one High Court judge, and each person sentenced to death is automatically entitled to one appeal before the Court of Appeal. The transcripts of these court proceedings are public records. Recent judgements of the High Court and the Court of Appeal, including those of capital cases, are available on the Court website.[1] The government of Singapore does not release compiled statistics of capital punishment in the country and it does not publicly release details of each execution including the date of execution. The local news media usually put a short notice of each execution after it was carried out.

The use of the death penalty as a mandatory punishment for certain non-violent crimes such as drug offences has drawn criticism from human rights groups. However the government dismisses these, insisting they only impose the death penalty in the most serious of crimes while accusing non-governmental groups like Amnesty International of misrepresenting facts.

Contents

[edit] Usage

The following table of executions was compiled by Amnesty International from several sources, including statistics supplied by the Ministry for Home Affairs in January 2001 and government figures reported to Agence France-Presse in September 2003. Numbers in braces are the number of foreign nationals executed, according to information disclosed by the Ministry of Home Affairs.

Year Murder Drug-related Firearms Total
1991 1 5 6
1992 13 7 1 21
1993 5 2 7
1994 21 54 1 76
1995 20 52 1 73
1996 10 {7} 40 {10} 50
1997 {3} 11 {2} 1 15
1998 4 {1} 24 {5} 28
1999 8 {2} 35 {7} 43
2000 4 {2} 17 {5} 21
2000 17
2001 22

Detailed statistics are not released by the government of Singapore. Former Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong told the BBC in September 2003 that he believed there were "in the region of about 70 to 80" hangings in 2003. Two days later he retracted his statement, saying the number was in fact ten.

The chief executioner, Darshan Singh, said that he has executed more than 850 people during his service from 1959. This included 18 people on one day, using three ropes at a time. Singh also said that he has hanged 7 people within 90 minutes.

[edit] Foreign nationals

The people on death row include foreign nationals, many of whom were convicted of drug-related offences. They came from Malaysia, Hong Kong, Macau, People's Republic of China, Indonesia, Thailand, the Philippines, Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Nigeria, Ghana, the Netherlands, United Kingdom and Portugal. Figures released by the government of Singapore show that between 1993 to 2003, 36% of the those executed were foreigners, including those living in Singapore (one quarter of residents of Singapore are foreigners).

Most recently, Australian Van Tuong Nguyen was executed on 2 December 2005 after being caught with 396.2 grams of heroin at Singapore Changi Airport. His case had drawn attention in his home country, where polls showed that his execution received equal amounts of support and indignation. However, support for the execution of Van Tuong Nguyen shown in the polls, were stigmatised after calls for a minute of silence in remembrance of Van Nguyen sparked anger from RSL groups and ex-servicemen. The ex-servicemen of Australia expressed that a minute of silence should be only reserved for those who have sacrificed their lives serving Australia. Australia has abolished the death penalty and the government has expressed opposition to death penalty in other countries.

[edit] Legislation

Under Section 216 of the Singapore Criminal Code:

"When any person is sentenced to death, the sentence shall direct that he shall be hanged by the neck till he is dead but shall not state the place where nor the time when the sentence is to be carried out."

Hangings always take place at dawn on Friday and are by the long drop method developed in the United Kingdom by William Marwood. The executioner refers to the Official Table of Drops. The government have said that they:

"…had previously studied the different methods of execution and found no reason to change from the current method used, that is, by hanging."

No person under the age of 18 at the time of their offence nor pregnant women can be sentenced to death.

Capital cases are heard by a single judge in the High Court of Singapore. After conviction and sentencing, the sentenced has one appeal to the Court of Appeal of Singapore, after which, the judicial system plays no further part. The final recourse rests with the President of Singapore, who has the power to grant clemency on the advice of the Cabinet. The exact number of successful appeals is unknown. Poh Kay Keong had his conviction overturned after the Court found his statement to a Central Narcotics Bureau officer was made under duress. Successful clemency applications are thought to be even rarer. Since 1965, President's clemency has been granted six times.[2] The last clemency was in May 1998 when Mathavakannan Kalimuthu received pardon from President Ong Teng Cheong with the sentence commuted to life imprisonment.

The condemned are given notice at least four days before execution. In the case of foreigners who have been sentenced to death, their families and diplomatic missions/embassies are given one to two weeks' notice.

Death row inmates are housed in cells of roughly 3 m² (30 ft²). Walls make up three sides, while the fourth is vertical bars. They are equipped with a toilet, sleeping mat and a bucket for washing. Exercise is permitted twice a day for half an hour at a time. Four days before the execution, the condemned is allowed to watch television or listen to the radio. Special meals of their choice are also cooked, if within the prison budget. Visitation rights are increased from one 20 minute visit per week, though no physical contact is allowed with any visitors.

[edit] Capital offences

In addition to the Penal Code, there are four Acts of Parliament in Singapore that prescribe death as punishment for offences. According to the local civil rights group, the Think Centre, 70% of hangings are for drug-related offences.

[edit] Penal Code[3]

  • Waging or attempting to wage war or abetting the waging of war against the Government
  • Offences against the President’s person
  • Mutiny
  • Piracy that endangers life
  • Perjury that results in the execution of an innocent person
  • Murder
  • Abbetment in the suicide of a person under the age of 18 or "insane" person
  • Attempted murder by a prisoner serving a life sentence
  • Kidnapping or abducting in order to murder
  • Robbery committed by five or more people that results in the death of a person

[edit] Misuse of Drugs Act[4]

Under the Schedule 2 of the Misuse of Drugs Act, any person found in the possession of more than the following quantities of drugs receives a mandatory death sentence:

Also receiving death sentences is any person caught manufacturing

  • Morphine, or any salt of morphine, ester of morphine or salt of ester of morphine
  • Diamorphine (Heroin) or any salt of diamorphine
  • Cocaine or any salt of cocaine
  • Heroin

The Misuse of Drugs Act places heavy burden on the accused to prove innocence. Under the act any person found in possession of more than the prescribed amounts is assumed to be trafficking. Any person who has in their possession a key to a premises where drugs are found is assumed to be possession of the drugs. The act states not being in physical contact with the drugs is not a defence to the charge.

[edit] Internal Security Act[5]

The Internal Security Act is used to allow the government to detain people it sees as a threat to internal security. The President of Singapore has the power to designate certain security areas. Any person caught in the possession or with someone in possession of firearms, ammunition or explosives in a security area can be punished by death.

[edit] Arms Offences Act[6]

The Arms Offences Act regulates the offences with regards to firearms. Any person who uses or attempts to use arms (Section 4) can face execution, as well as any person who uses or attempts to use arms to commit some scheduled offences (Section 4A). These scheduled offences are being a member of an unlawful assembly; rioting; certain offences against the person; abduction or kidnapping; extortion; burglary; robbery; preventing or resisting arrest; vandalism; mischief. Any person who is an accomplice (Section 5) to a person convicted of arms use during a scheduled offence can likewise be executed.

Trafficking in arms (Section 6) is a capital offence in Singapore. Under the Arms Offences Act, trafficking is defined as being in unlawful possession of more than 2 arms.

[edit] Kidnapping Act[7]

Under the Kidnapping Act abduction, wrongful restraint or wrongful confinement for ransom is a capital offence.

[edit] Public debate

Public debate in the Singaporean news media on the death penalty is almost non-existent, although the topic does occasionally get discussed in the midst of major, well-known criminal cases. Efforts to garner public opinion on the issue are rare, although it is generally assumed that most Singaporeans support it and believe it plays a part in keeping the crime rate in Singapore low.

Joshua Benjamin Jeyaretnam, the first ever opposition Member of Parliament in Singapore, was only given a few minutes to speak in parliament on the issue before his comments were rebutted by the Minister of State for Law and Home Affairs.[citation needed] Few other opposition members in parliament would bring up the issue, which may be reflective of a population generally indifferent to the matter.

The government states that the death penalty is only used in the most serious of crimes, sending, they say, a strong message to would-be offenders. They make no apology for their tough stance on law and order in the country. They point out that in 1994 and 1999 the United Nations General Assembly has failed to adopt resolutions calling for a moratorium on the death penalty worldwide, as a majority of countries opposed such a move.

The Permanent Representative of the Republic of Singapore to the United Nations wrote a letter to the Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions in 2001 which stated:

"…the death penalty is primarily a criminal justice issue, and therefore is a question for the sovereign jurisdiction of each country […] the right to life is not the only right, and […] it is the duty of societies and governments to decide how to balance competing rights against each other."

Before the hanging of Shanmugam Murugesu, a three-hour vigil was held on May 6, 2005. The organisers of the event at the Furama Hotel said it was the first such public gathering organised solely by members of the public against the death penalty in Singapore. Murugesu had been arrested after being caught in possession of six packets containing just over 1 kg of cannabis after returning from Malaysia. He admitted knowledge of one of the packets, which contained 300 g, but not the other five. The event went unreported on the partially state-owned media and the police shut down an open microphone session before the first person could speak.

After the hanging of Van Tuong Nguyen, a Vietnamese Australian man from Melbourne, Australia, on December 2, 2005, Sister Susan Chia the province leader of the Good Shepherd Sisters in Singapore took the opportunity to declare that "The death penalty is cruel, inhumane and it violates the right to life." Chia and several other nuns took it upon themselves to comfort Nguyen's mother two weeks before his execution for heroin trafficking.[8]

Singapore's death penalty laws have drawn comments in the media. For example, the science fiction author William Gibson, while a journalist, wrote a travel piece on Singapore in which he sarcastically referred to it as "Disneyland with the death penalty."[9]

[edit] Law Society review

In December 2005, the Law Society of Singapore revealed that it has set up a committee to examine capital punishment in the country. President of the Society, Senior Counsel Philip Jeyaretnam said that the main focus of the review was on issues regarding administering the death penalty such as whether it should be mandatory. A report of the review would be submitted to the Ministry of Law.

[edit] Cases

[edit] Notable past cases

[edit] Current death row

  • Leong Siew Chor, 51-year-old, convicted in May 2006 for murdering his lover, a 22-year-old Chinese national, Liu Hong Mei.[10] As of January 2007, Leong is awaiting appeal for the President's pardon.

[edit] Potential capital trials

  • Tan Chor Jin, (dubbed "One Eyed Dragon"), to stand trial in January 2007 for alleged murder .

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ Supreme Court Singapore
  2. ^ Rita Zahara. "19 murders in first 11 months of 2006, one more than same period in 2005", Channel NewsAsia, 29 December 2006.
  3. ^ Penal Code, Cap. 224
  4. ^ Misuse of Drugs Act, Cap. 185
  5. ^ Internal Security Act, Cap. 143
  6. ^ Arms Offences Act, Cap. 14
  7. ^ Kidnapping Act, Cap. 151
  8. ^ "End death penalty: Singapore nun", The Age, 4 December 2005.
  9. ^ "Disneyland with the Death Penalty", Wired magazine, September 1993.
  10. ^ Rita Zahara. "Kallang body parts murderer gets death sentence", Channel NewsAsia, 19 May 2006.

[edit] External links


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