Capital punishment in Singapore
Encyclopedia
Capital punishment
is a legal form of punishment
in Singapore
. The city-state had the highest per-capita execution rate in the world between 1994 and 1999, estimated by the United Nations
to be 1.357 executions per hundred thousand of population during that period. The next highest was Turkmenistan
with 0.143 (which is now an abolitionist country). Each execution is carried out by hanging
at Changi Prison
at dawn on a Friday.
Singapore has had capital punishment since it was a British colony and became independent before the United Kingdom
abolished capital punishment. The Singaporean procedure of hanging condemned individuals is heavily influenced by the methods formerly used in Great Britain.
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 brackets are the number of foreign citizens executed, according to information disclosed by the Ministry of Home Affairs.
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 using the phrase: "I am going to send you to a better place than this. God bless you." 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.
, 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 those executed were foreigners, including some residents in Singapore (one quarter of Singapore residents are foreigners).
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:
Neither persons 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
. If the appeal fails, 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. 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.
Amnesty International reports that death row inmates are housed in cells of roughly 3 sqm (32 sq ft).
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 to a maximum of 4 hours each day,
though no physical contact is allowed with any visitors.
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.
, any person importing, exporting, or found in possession of more than the following quantities of drugs receives a mandatory death sentence:
Death sentences are also mandatory for any person caught manufacturing :
The Act, to some degree, reverses the usual burden of proof in common law
jurisdictions. Under the Act any person found in possession of more than the prescribed amounts is presumed to be trafficking. Any person who has in their possession a key to a premises where drugs are found is presumed to be in possession of the drugs since "any person who is proved to have had in his possession or custody or under his control —
(a) anything containing a controlled drug;
(b) the keys of anything containing a controlled drug;
(c) the keys of any place or premises or any part thereof in which a controlled drug is found; or
(d) a document of title relating to a controlled drug or any other document intended for the delivery of a controlled drug,
shall, until the contrary is proved, be presumed to have had that drug in his possession."
Furthermore, any person who is proved or presumed to have had a controlled drug in his possession shall be presumed to have known the nature of that drug.
states that it is an Act to "provide for the internal security of Singapore, preventive detention, the prevention of subversion, the suppression of organised violence against persons and property in specified areas of Singapore, and for matters incidental thereto." 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.
; riot
ing; 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 two firearms.
said in Parliament that "Certain of us may hold the view that the death penalty should be abolished. But in a survey done two years ago, reported in the Straits Times, 95% of Singaporeans feel that the death penalty should stay. This is something which has helped us to be safe and secure all these years and it is only reserved for a very few select offences."
Joshua Benjamin Jeyaretnam
, a former opposition Member of Parliament
in Singapore, was reportedly 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.
Few other opposition members in parliament would bring up the issue, which may be reflective of a population generally indifferent to the matter.
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 just as the first person began to 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, declared that "The death penalty is cruel, inhumane and it violates the right to life." Chia and several other nuns comforted Nguyen's mother two weeks before his execution for heroin trafficking.
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 that he sarcastically titled "Disneyland with the Death Penalty
."
In 2010 British author Alan Shadrake
published his book Once a Jolly Hangman - Singapore Justice in the Dock, which was critical of the Singapore judicial system
. Shadrake was arrested whilst promoting the book in Singapore and later sentenced to six weeks in prison for contempt of court. He is also charged with criminal defamation. The case attracted worldwide attention, putting the Singapore legal system in the spotlight.
revealed that it has set up a committee, named Review Committee on Capital Punishment, to examine capital punishment in the country. The 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
. On November 6, 2006, they were invited to give its views on proposed amendments to the penal code to the Ministry of Home Affairs. In their report, issued on March 30, 2007, they argued against the mandatory death penalty:
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:
In January 2004, the Ministry of Home Affairs issued a response to Amnesty International's report, "Singapore: The death penalty - A hidden toll of executions". It defended the nation's policy to retain the death penalty, predicating its arguments on, amongst others, the following grounds:
The Ministry of Home Affairs also refuted Amnesty International's claims of the majority of the executed being foreigners, and that it was "mostly the poor, least educated, and vulnerable people who are executed." The Ministry stated: "Singaporeans, and not foreigners, were the majority of those executed... Of those executed from 1993 to 2003, 95% were above 21 years of age, and 80% had received formal education. About 80% of those who had been sentenced to capital punishment had employment before their convictions"
Following the hanging of Van Tuong Nguyen in 2005, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong
reiterated the government's position, stating that "The evil inflicted on thousands of people with drug trafficking demands that we must tackle the source by punishing the traffickers rather than trying to pick up the pieces afterwards... It's a law which is approved of by Singapore's inhabitants and which allows us to reduce the drug problem."
Prior to the United Nations General Assembly
's voting on a moratorium on the death penalty in November 2007, Singapore's ambassador Vanu Gopala Menon said: "My delegation would like to remind this committee that capital punishment is not prohibited under international law. Yet it is clear that the sponsors of this draft resolution have decided that there can only be one view on capital punishment, and that only one set of choices should be respected... [the death penalty] is an important component of the administration of law and our justice system, and is imposed only for the most serious crimes and serves as a deterrent. We have proper legal safeguards in place to prevent any miscarriage of justice."
Capital punishment
Capital punishment, the death penalty, or execution is the sentence of death upon a person by the state as a punishment for an offence. Crimes that can result in a death penalty are known as capital crimes or capital offences. The term capital originates from the Latin capitalis, literally...
is a legal form of punishment
Punishment
Punishment is the authoritative imposition of something negative or unpleasant on a person or animal in response to behavior deemed wrong by an individual or group....
in Singapore
Singapore
Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...
. The city-state had the highest per-capita execution rate in the world between 1994 and 1999, estimated by the United Nations
United Nations
The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
to be 1.357 executions per hundred thousand of population during that period. The next highest was Turkmenistan
Turkmenistan
Turkmenistan , formerly also known as Turkmenia is one of the Turkic states in Central Asia. Until 1991, it was a constituent republic of the Soviet Union, the Turkmen Soviet Socialist Republic . Turkmenistan is one of the six independent Turkic states...
with 0.143 (which is now an abolitionist country). Each execution is carried out by hanging
Hanging
Hanging is the lethal suspension of a person by a ligature. The Oxford English Dictionary states that hanging in this sense is "specifically to put to death by suspension by the neck", though it formerly also referred to crucifixion and death by impalement in which the body would remain...
at Changi Prison
Changi Prison
Changi Prison is a prison located in Changi in the eastern part of Singapore.-First prison and POW camp:...
at dawn on a Friday.
Singapore has had capital punishment since it was a British colony and became independent before the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
abolished capital punishment. The Singaporean procedure of hanging condemned individuals is heavily influenced by the methods formerly used in Great Britain.
Statistics
The following table of executions was compiled by Amnesty InternationalAmnesty International
Amnesty International is an international non-governmental organisation whose stated mission is "to conduct research and generate action to prevent and end grave abuses of human rights, and to demand justice for those whose rights have been violated."Following a publication of Peter Benenson's...
from several sources, including statistics supplied by the Ministry for Home Affairs in January 2001 and government figures reported to Agence France-Presse
Agence France-Presse
Agence France-Presse is a French news agency, the oldest one in the world, and one of the three largest with Associated Press and Reuters. It is also the largest French news agency. Currently, its CEO is Emmanuel Hoog and its news director Philippe Massonnet...
in September 2003.
Numbers in brackets are the number of foreign citizens executed, according to information disclosed by the Ministry of Home Affairs.
| Year | Murder | Drug-related | Firearms | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1991 | 19 | 7 | 26 | |
| 1992 | 13 | 7 | 1 | 21 |
| 1993 | 10 | 2 | 12 | |
| 1994 | 21 | 54 | 1 | 76 |
| 1995 | 20 | 52 | 1 | 73 |
| 1996 | 10 {7} | 40 {10} | 50 | |
| 1997 | {3} | 11 {2} | 5 | 15 |
| 1998 | 4 {1} | 24 {5} | 28 | |
| 1999 | 8 {2} | 35 {7} | 43 | |
| 2000 | 4 {2} | 17 {5} | 21 | |
| 2000 | 23 | |||
| 2001 | 22 | |||
Detailed statistics are not released by the government of Singapore. Former Prime Minister
Prime Minister of Singapore
The Prime Minister of the Republic of Singapore is the head of the government of the Republic of Singapore. The President of Singapore appoints as Prime Minister a Member of Parliament who, in his opinion, is most likely to command the confidence of a majority of MPs.The office of Prime Minister...
Goh Chok Tong
Goh Chok Tong
Goh Chok Tong is the Senior Minister of Singapore and the chairman of the central bank of Singapore, the Monetary Authority of Singapore. He also served as the second Prime Minister of the Republic of Singapore from 28 November 1990 to 12 August 2004, succeeding Lee Kuan Yew, the former Prime...
told the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
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 using the phrase: "I am going to send you to a better place than this. God bless you." 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.
Foreign nationals
The people on death row include foreign nationals, many of whom were convicted of drug-related offences. These inmates come from a diverse group of countries including AustraliaAustralia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
, Malaysia, Hong Kong
Hong Kong
Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...
, Macau
Macau
Macau , also spelled Macao , is, along with Hong Kong, one of the two special administrative regions of the People's Republic of China...
, People's Republic of China
People's Republic of China
China , officially the People's Republic of China , is the most populous country in the world, with over 1.3 billion citizens. Located in East Asia, the country covers approximately 9.6 million square kilometres...
, Indonesia
Indonesia
Indonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...
, Thailand
Thailand
Thailand , officially the Kingdom of Thailand , formerly known as Siam , is a country located at the centre of the Indochina peninsula and Southeast Asia. It is bordered to the north by Burma and Laos, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the...
, the Philippines
Philippines
The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...
, Bangladesh
Bangladesh
Bangladesh , officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh is a sovereign state located in South Asia. It is bordered by India on all sides except for a small border with Burma to the far southeast and by the Bay of Bengal to the south...
, India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
, Pakistan
Pakistan
Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...
, Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka is a country off the southern coast of the Indian subcontinent. Known until 1972 as Ceylon , Sri Lanka is an island surrounded by the Indian Ocean, the Gulf of Mannar and the Palk Strait, and lies in the vicinity of India and the...
, Nigeria
Nigeria
Nigeria , officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a federal constitutional republic comprising 36 states and its Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. The country is located in West Africa and shares land borders with the Republic of Benin in the west, Chad and Cameroon in the east, and Niger in...
, Ghana
Ghana
Ghana , officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country located in West Africa. It is bordered by Côte d'Ivoire to the west, Burkina Faso to the north, Togo to the east, and the Gulf of Guinea to the south...
, the Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
, United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
and Portugal
Portugal
Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...
. Figures released by the government of Singapore show that between 1993 to 2003, 36% of those executed were foreigners, including some residents in Singapore (one quarter of Singapore residents are foreigners).
Legislation
Under Section 316 of the Criminal Procedure 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
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
by William Marwood
William Marwood
William Marwood was a hangman for the British government. He developed the technique of hanging known as the "long drop".-Early life:Marwood was originally a cobbler, of Church Lane, Horncastle, Lincolnshire, England.-Executioner:...
. The executioner refers to the Official Table of Drops
Official Table of Drops
The Official Table of Drops, published by the British Home Office, is a manual which was used to calculate the appropriate length of rope for long drop hangings....
. 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."
Neither persons 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
High Court of Singapore
The High Court of the Republic of Singapore is the lower division of the Supreme Court of Singapore, the upper being the Court of Appeal. It consists of the Chief Justice of Singapore and the Judges of the High Court. Judicial Commissioners are often appointed to assist with the Court's caseload...
. After conviction and sentencing, the sentenced has one appeal to the Court of Appeal of Singapore
Court of Appeal of Singapore
The Court of Appeal of the Republic of Singapore is the nation's highest court and its court of final appeal. It is the upper division of the Supreme Court of Singapore, the lower being the High Court. The Court of Appeal consists of the Chief Justice of Singapore, who is the President of the...
. If the appeal fails, the final recourse rests with the President of Singapore
President of Singapore
The President of the Republic of Singapore is Singapore's head of state. In a Westminster parliamentary system, as which Singapore governs itself, the prime minister is the head of the government while the position of president is largely ceremonial. Before 1993, the President of Singapore was...
, 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. The last clemency was in May 1998 when Mathavakannan Kalimuthu received pardon from President Ong Teng Cheong
Ong Teng Cheong
Ong Teng Cheong was the first directly elected President of the Republic of Singapore. He was the nation's fifth President, and served a six-year term from 1 September 1993 to 31 August 1999.-Early life:...
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.
Amnesty International reports that death row inmates are housed in cells of roughly 3 sqm (32 sq ft).
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 to a maximum of 4 hours each day,
though no physical contact is allowed with any visitors.
Capital offences
In addition to the Penal Code, there are four Acts of ParliamentAct of Parliament
An Act of Parliament is a statute enacted as primary legislation by a national or sub-national parliament. In the Republic of Ireland the term Act of the Oireachtas is used, and in the United States the term Act of Congress is used.In Commonwealth countries, the term is used both in a narrow...
in Singapore that prescribe death as punishment for offences. According to the local civil rights
Civil rights
Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' freedom from unwarranted infringement by governments and private organizations, and ensure one's ability to participate in the civil and political life of the state without discrimination or repression.Civil rights include...
group, the Think Centre, 70% of hangings are for drug-related offences.
Penal Code
Under the Penal Code, the commission of the following offences may result in the death penalty:- Waging or attempting to wage warWarWar is a state of organized, armed, and often prolonged conflict carried on between states, nations, or other parties typified by extreme aggression, social disruption, and usually high mortality. War should be understood as an actual, intentional and widespread armed conflict between political...
or abetting the waging of war against the Government* - Offences against the President’s person (in other words, treasonTreasonIn law, treason is the crime that covers some of the more extreme acts against one's sovereign or nation. Historically, treason also covered the murder of specific social superiors, such as the murder of a husband by his wife. Treason against the king was known as high treason and treason against a...
) - MutinyMutinyMutiny is a conspiracy among members of a group of similarly situated individuals to openly oppose, change or overthrow an authority to which they are subject...
- PiracyPiracyPiracy is an act of robbery or criminal violence at sea. The term can include acts committed on land, in the air, or in other major bodies of water or on a shore. It does not normally include crimes committed against persons traveling on the same vessel as the perpetrator...
that endangers life - PerjuryPerjuryPerjury, also known as forswearing, is the willful act of swearing a false oath or affirmation to tell the truth, whether spoken or in writing, concerning matters material to a judicial proceeding. That is, the witness falsely promises to tell the truth about matters which affect the outcome of the...
that results in the execution of an innocent person - MurderMurderMurder is the unlawful killing, with malice aforethought, of another human being, and generally this state of mind distinguishes murder from other forms of unlawful homicide...
- Abetting the suicideSuicideSuicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Suicide is often committed out of despair or attributed to some underlying mental disorder, such as depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, alcoholism, or drug abuse...
of a person under the age of 18 or an "insane" person - Attempted murder by a prisoner serving a life sentence
- KidnappingKidnappingIn criminal law, kidnapping is the taking away or transportation of a person against that person's will, usually to hold the person in false imprisonment, a confinement without legal authority...
or abducting in order to murder - RobberyRobberyRobbery is the crime of taking or attempting to take something of value by force or threat of force or by putting the victim in fear. At common law, robbery is defined as taking the property of another, with the intent to permanently deprive the person of that property, by means of force or fear....
committed by five or more people that results in the death of a person - Drug trafficking
- Unlawful discharge of firearms, even if nobody gets injured
Misuse of Drugs Act
Under Schedule 2 of the Misuse of Drugs ActMisuse of Drugs Act (Singapore)
The Misuse of Drugs Act is a national drug control law classifying substances into three categories, Classes A, B, and C. Section 44 provides that "The Minister may, by an order published in the Gazette" add, remove, or transfer drugs among the classes...
, any person importing, exporting, or found in possession of more than the following quantities of drugs receives a mandatory death sentence:
- 1200 grammes of opiumOpiumOpium is the dried latex obtained from the opium poppy . Opium contains up to 12% morphine, an alkaloid, which is frequently processed chemically to produce heroin for the illegal drug trade. The latex also includes codeine and non-narcotic alkaloids such as papaverine, thebaine and noscapine...
and containing more than 30 grammes of morphine (§5 and §7, (2)(b)); - 30 grammes of morphineMorphineMorphine is a potent opiate analgesic medication and is considered to be the prototypical opioid. It was first isolated in 1804 by Friedrich Sertürner, first distributed by same in 1817, and first commercially sold by Merck in 1827, which at the time was a single small chemists' shop. It was more...
(§5 and §7, (3)(b)); - 15 grammes of diamorphine (heroin) (diamo (§5 and §7, (4)(b));
- 30 grammes of cocaineCocaineCocaine is a crystalline tropane alkaloid that is obtained from the leaves of the coca plant. The name comes from "coca" in addition to the alkaloid suffix -ine, forming cocaine. It is a stimulant of the central nervous system, an appetite suppressant, and a topical anesthetic...
(§5 and §7, (5)(b)); - 500 grammes of cannabisCannabisCannabis is a genus of flowering plants that includes three putative species, Cannabis sativa, Cannabis indica, and Cannabis ruderalis. These three taxa are indigenous to Central Asia, and South Asia. Cannabis has long been used for fibre , for seed and seed oils, for medicinal purposes, and as a...
(§5 and §7, (6)(b)); - 1000 grammes of cannabis mixture (§5 and §7, (7)(b));
- 200 grammes of cannabis resin (§5 and §7, (8)(b));
- 250 grammes of methamphetamineMethamphetamineMethamphetamine is a psychostimulant of the phenethylamine and amphetamine class of psychoactive drugs...
(§5 and §7, (9)(b)).
Death sentences are also mandatory for any person caught manufacturing :
- Morphine, or any salt of morphine, ester of morphine or salt of ester of morphine (§6, (2));
- Diamorphine (heroin) or any salt of diamorphine (§6, (3));
- Cocaine or any salt of cocaine (§6, (4));
- Methamphetamine (§6, (5)).
The Act, to some degree, reverses the usual burden of proof in common law
Common law
Common law is law developed by judges through decisions of courts and similar tribunals rather than through legislative statutes or executive branch action...
jurisdictions. Under the Act any person found in possession of more than the prescribed amounts is presumed to be trafficking. Any person who has in their possession a key to a premises where drugs are found is presumed to be in possession of the drugs since "any person who is proved to have had in his possession or custody or under his control —
(a) anything containing a controlled drug;
(b) the keys of anything containing a controlled drug;
(c) the keys of any place or premises or any part thereof in which a controlled drug is found; or
(d) a document of title relating to a controlled drug or any other document intended for the delivery of a controlled drug,
shall, until the contrary is proved, be presumed to have had that drug in his possession."
Furthermore, any person who is proved or presumed to have had a controlled drug in his possession shall be presumed to have known the nature of that drug.
Internal Security Act
The preamble of the Internal Security ActInternal Security Act (Singapore)
The Internal Security Act of Singapore is a law that allows the Singapore government to investigate security threats like international terrorism, foreign subversion, espionage and acts of violence or hatred using race or religion...
states that it is an Act to "provide for the internal security of Singapore, preventive detention, the prevention of subversion, the suppression of organised violence against persons and property in specified areas of Singapore, and for matters incidental thereto." 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.
Arms Offences Act
The Arms Offences Act regulates firearms offences. 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 scheduled offences (Section 4A). These scheduled offences are being a member of an unlawful assemblyUnlawful assembly
Unlawful assembly is a legal term to describe a group of people with the mutual intent of deliberate disturbance of the peace. If the group are about to start the act of disturbance, it is termed a rout; if the disturbance is commenced, it is then termed a riot.- Section 144 :Section 144 is a...
; riot
Riot
A riot is a form of civil disorder characterized often by what is thought of as disorganized groups lashing out in a sudden and intense rash of violence against authority, property or people. While individuals may attempt to lead or control a riot, riots are thought to be typically chaotic and...
ing; certain offences against the person; abduction or kidnapping
Kidnapping
In criminal law, kidnapping is the taking away or transportation of a person against that person's will, usually to hold the person in false imprisonment, a confinement without legal authority...
; extortion
Extortion
Extortion is a criminal offence which occurs when a person unlawfully obtains either money, property or services from a person, entity, or institution, through coercion. Refraining from doing harm is sometimes euphemistically called protection. Extortion is commonly practiced by organized crime...
; burglary
Burglary
Burglary is a crime, the essence of which is illicit entry into a building for the purposes of committing an offense. Usually that offense will be theft, but most jurisdictions specify others which fall within the ambit of burglary...
; robbery
Robbery
Robbery is the crime of taking or attempting to take something of value by force or threat of force or by putting the victim in fear. At common law, robbery is defined as taking the property of another, with the intent to permanently deprive the person of that property, by means of force or fear....
; preventing or resisting arrest; vandalism
Vandalism
Vandalism is the behaviour attributed originally to the Vandals, by the Romans, in respect of culture: ruthless destruction or spoiling of anything beautiful or venerable...
; mischief
Mischief
Mischief is a vexatious or annoying action, or, conduct or activity that playfully causes petty annoyance. Young children, when they hear of mischief, think of practical jokes....
. Any person who is an accomplice (Section 5) to a person convicted of arms use during a scheduled offence can likewise be executed.
Trafficking
Smuggling
Smuggling is the clandestine transportation of goods or persons, such as out of a building, into a prison, or across an international border, in violation of applicable laws or other regulations.There are various motivations to smuggle...
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 two firearms.
Kidnapping Act
The terms of the Kidnapping Act designate abduction, wrongful restraint or wrongful confinement for ransom as capital offences.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 has been suggested that the population is influenced by the traditional Chinese view which held that harsh punishment deters crime and helps maintain social peace and harmony. In October 2007, Senior Minister of State for Law and Home Affairs Ho Peng KeeHo Peng Kee
Associate Professor Ho Peng Kee is a politician from Singapore. A member of the governing People's Action Party , he was the Senior Minister of State in the Ministry of Law and the Ministry of Home Affairs, and a Member of Parliament representing the Nee Soon East Single Member Constituency...
said in Parliament that "Certain of us may hold the view that the death penalty should be abolished. But in a survey done two years ago, reported in the Straits Times, 95% of Singaporeans feel that the death penalty should stay. This is something which has helped us to be safe and secure all these years and it is only reserved for a very few select offences."
Joshua Benjamin Jeyaretnam
Joshua Benjamin Jeyaretnam
Joshua Benjamin Jeyaretnam was a politician and lawyer from Singapore. He was the leader of the Workers' Party from 1971 to 2001...
, a former opposition Member of Parliament
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
in Singapore, was reportedly 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.
Few other opposition members in parliament would bring up the issue, which may be reflective of a population generally indifferent to the matter.
Before the hanging of Shanmugam Murugesu
Shanmugam Murugesu
Shanmugam "Sam" Murugesu was a Tamil Singaporean executed for smuggling 1.03 kg of cannabis into Singapore from Malaysia...
, 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
Cannabis (drug)
Cannabis, also known as marijuana among many other names, refers to any number of preparations of the Cannabis plant intended for use as a psychoactive drug or for medicinal purposes. The English term marijuana comes from the Mexican Spanish word marihuana...
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
Singapore Police Force
The Singapore Police Force is the main agency tasked with maintaining law and order in the city-state. Formerly known as the Republic of Singapore Police , it has grown from an 11-man organisation to a 38,587 strong force...
shut down an open microphone session just as the first person began to speak.
After the hanging of Van Tuong Nguyen
Van Tuong Nguyen
Van Tuong Nguyen baptised Caleb, was an Australian from Melbourne, Victoria convicted of drug trafficking in Singapore...
, a Vietnamese Australian
Vietnamese Australian
A Vietnamese Australian is an Australian either born in Vietnam or is an Australian descendant of the former. Communities of Overseas Vietnamese are referred to as Việt Kiều or người Việt hải ngoại.-History in Australia:...
man from Melbourne
Melbourne
Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...
, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
, on December 2, 2005, Sister Susan Chia, the province leader of the Good Shepherd Sisters
Good Shepherd Sisters
The Good Shepherd Sisters is a Roman Catholic order of women religious. In addition to the standard vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience, the Good Shepherd Sisters take the following fourth vow of zeal for souls [to save souls], particularly of women and girls."I bind myself to the labor for...
in Singapore, declared that "The death penalty is cruel, inhumane and it violates the right to life." Chia and several other nuns comforted Nguyen's mother two weeks before his execution for heroin trafficking.
Singapore's death penalty laws have drawn comments in the media. For example, the science fiction
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
author William Gibson, while a journalist
Journalist
A journalist collects and distributes news and other information. A journalist's work is referred to as journalism.A reporter is a type of journalist who researchs, writes, and reports on information to be presented in mass media, including print media , electronic media , and digital media A...
, wrote a travel piece on Singapore that he sarcastically titled "Disneyland with the Death Penalty
Disneyland with the Death Penalty
"Disneyland with the Death Penalty" is an article about Singapore written by William Gibson, his first major piece of non-fiction, first published as the cover story for Wired magazine's September/October 1993 issue ....
."
In 2010 British author Alan Shadrake
Alan Shadrake
Alan Shadrake is a British author and former journalist, who was convicted in Singapore in 2010 of contempt of court for scandalizing the Singapore judicial system, through his published views on the country's criminal justice system...
published his book Once a Jolly Hangman - Singapore Justice in the Dock, which was critical of the Singapore judicial system
Judicial system of Singapore
The full Judicial power in Singapore is vested in the Supreme Court as well as subordinate courts by the Constitution of Singapore. The Supreme Court consists of the Court of Appeal and the High Court. The Court of Appeal exercises appellate criminal and civil jurisdiction, while the High Court...
. Shadrake was arrested whilst promoting the book in Singapore and later sentenced to six weeks in prison for contempt of court. He is also charged with criminal defamation. The case attracted worldwide attention, putting the Singapore legal system in the spotlight.
Law Society review
In December 2005, the Law Society of SingaporeLaw Society of Singapore
The Law Society of Singapore is the organisation that represents all lawyers in Singapore. It publishes the Law Gazette and operates a scheme for needy people to benefit from legal services free-of-charge. The Society also sets out rules for how lawyers should advertise. The Law Society is...
revealed that it has set up a committee, named Review Committee on Capital Punishment, to examine capital punishment in the country. The President of the Society, Senior Counsel
Senior Counsel
The title of Senior Counsel or State Counsel is given to a senior barrister or advocate in some countries, typically equivalent to the title "Queen's Counsel" used in Commonwealth Realms...
Philip Jeyaretnam
Philip Jeyaretnam
Philip Antony Jeyaretnam is a lawyer from Singapore. He is a Senior Counsel in Singapore, former President of the Law Society of Singapore, and a member of the Singapore Public Service Commission. He is also well known as a fiction writer. He is the younger son of the late veteran Singaporean...
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
Ministry of Law (Singapore)
The Ministry of Law is a ministry of the Government of Singapore responsible for ensuring that Singapore's legal infrastructure is clear, efficacious and transparent...
. On November 6, 2006, they were invited to give its views on proposed amendments to the penal code to the Ministry of Home Affairs. In their report, issued on March 30, 2007, they argued against the mandatory death penalty:
The death penalty should be discretionary for the offences where the death sentence is mandatory - murder, drug trafficking, firearms offences and sedition - a position similar to that for the offence of kidnapping. There are strong arguments for changing the mandatory nature of capital punishment in Singapore. Judges should be given the discretion to impose the death penalty only where deemed appropriate.
Government response
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 point out that in 1994 and 1999 the United Nations General AssemblyUnited Nations General Assembly
For two articles dealing with membership in the General Assembly, see:* General Assembly members* General Assembly observersThe United Nations General Assembly is one of the five principal organs of the United Nations and the only one in which all member nations have equal representation...
failed to adopt resolutions
United Nations resolution
A United Nations resolution is a formal text adopted by a United Nations body. Although any UN body can issue resolutions, in practice most resolutions are issued by the Security Council or the General Assembly.-Legal status:...
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
United Nations
The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
wrote a letter to the Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial
Extrajudicial punishment
Extrajudicial punishment is punishment by the state or some other official authority without the permission of a court or legal authority. The existence of extrajudicial punishment is considered proof that some governments will break their own legal code if deemed necessary.-Nature: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."
In January 2004, the Ministry of Home Affairs issued a response to Amnesty International's report, "Singapore: The death penalty - A hidden toll of executions". It defended the nation's policy to retain the death penalty, predicating its arguments on, amongst others, the following grounds:
- There is no international consensus on whether the death penalty should be abolished
- Each country has the sovereign right to decide on its own judicial system, taking into account its own circumstances
- The death penalty has been effective in keeping Singapore one of the safest places in the world to work and live in
- The application of the death penalty is only reserved for "very serious crimes".
The Ministry of Home Affairs also refuted Amnesty International's claims of the majority of the executed being foreigners, and that it was "mostly the poor, least educated, and vulnerable people who are executed." The Ministry stated: "Singaporeans, and not foreigners, were the majority of those executed... Of those executed from 1993 to 2003, 95% were above 21 years of age, and 80% had received formal education. About 80% of those who had been sentenced to capital punishment had employment before their convictions"
Following the hanging of Van Tuong Nguyen in 2005, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong
Lee Hsien Loong
Lee Hsien Loong is the third and current Prime Minister of Singapore. He is married to Ho Ching, who is the Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer of Temasek Holdings. He is the eldest son of Singapore's first Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew....
reiterated the government's position, stating that "The evil inflicted on thousands of people with drug trafficking demands that we must tackle the source by punishing the traffickers rather than trying to pick up the pieces afterwards... It's a law which is approved of by Singapore's inhabitants and which allows us to reduce the drug problem."
Prior to the United Nations General Assembly
United Nations General Assembly
For two articles dealing with membership in the General Assembly, see:* General Assembly members* General Assembly observersThe United Nations General Assembly is one of the five principal organs of the United Nations and the only one in which all member nations have equal representation...
's voting on a moratorium on the death penalty in November 2007, Singapore's ambassador Vanu Gopala Menon said: "My delegation would like to remind this committee that capital punishment is not prohibited under international law. Yet it is clear that the sponsors of this draft resolution have decided that there can only be one view on capital punishment, and that only one set of choices should be respected... [the death penalty] is an important component of the administration of law and our justice system, and is imposed only for the most serious crimes and serves as a deterrent. We have proper legal safeguards in place to prevent any miscarriage of justice."
Notable past cases
- The Toa Payoh ritual murdersToa Payoh ritual murdersThe Toa Payoh ritual murders took place in Singapore in 1981. On 25 January the body of a nine-year-old girl was found dumped next to the lift of a block of flats in the Toa Payoh district and, two weeks later, a ten-year-old boy was found dead nearby. The children had been killed,...
during the 1980s - Flor ContemplacionFlor ContemplacionFlor R. Contemplacion born in San Pablo City, Laguna, Philippines was a Filipina domestic worker who was executed in Singapore for murder...
, a Filipina domestic worker who was executed for murder. Her execution severely strained relations between Singapore and the Philippines and caused many Filipinos to vent their frustration at their own government and the Singaporean government over the helplessness, abuse, and mental stresses that many Filipino overseas workers face around the world. - Johannes van DammeJohannes van DammeJohannes van Damme was a Dutch engineer executed by hanging in Singapore for smuggling heroin. He was the first European executed in Singapore since its independence....
, for drug trafficking. He was the first European executed in Singapore since its independence. - Tong Ching-man and Poon Yuen-chung, for drug trafficking. The two Hong KongHong KongHong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...
women were both 18 years old at the time of their crime. - Angel Mou Pui-Peng, for drug trafficking. A young MacaoMacaneseMacanese may refer to:* Macanese people, the people of Macau* Macanese people , an ethnic group in Macau of mainly Portuguese, and some with African, Cantonese, South Asian, Southeast Asian or other origins...
unmarried mother who was 25 years old at her execution. - Van Tuong NguyenVan Tuong NguyenVan Tuong Nguyen baptised Caleb, was an Australian from Melbourne, Victoria convicted of drug trafficking in Singapore...
, for drug trafficking. As he was an Australian, the verdict caused much outrage and the Government of AustraliaGovernment of AustraliaThe Commonwealth of Australia is a federal constitutional monarchy under a parliamentary democracy. The Commonwealth of Australia was formed in 1901 as a result of an agreement among six self-governing British colonies, which became the six states...
had to intervene in the matter. - Took Leng How, for murder of eight-year old Huang Na. Took's appeal was dismissed in the Court of Appeal with Justice Kan Ting ChiuKan Ting ChiuJustice Kan Ting Chiu is a judge of the Supreme Court of Singapore. He was first appointed Judicial Commissioner in May 1991, and later Judge in May 1994.-External links:*...
dissenting. - Iwuchukwu Amara TochiIwuchukwu Amara TochiIwuchukwu Amara Tochi was a Nigerian national convicted of drug trafficking in Singapore. Drug trafficking carries a mandatory death sentence under Singapore's Misuse of Drugs Act, and despite pleas for clemency from Amnesty International, the United Nations, President of Nigeria Olusẹgun Ọbasanjọ...
, for drug trafficking. - Leong Siew Chor, (nicknamed "Kallang Body Parts Murderer") 51-year-old, convicted in May 2006 for strangling and chopping up his lover's corpse, a 22-year-old Chinese national, Liu Hong Mei. He was hanged in November 2007.
- Tan Chor Jin, (nicknamed "One Eyed Dragon"), was sentenced to death in May 2007 for the shooting and murder of a nightclub owner. Tan represented himself in court without a lawyer. He had asked the judge to give him the death sentence, and was hanged in January 2009.
See also
- Capital punishment for drug traffickingCapital punishment for drug traffickingIn certain countries importing, exporting or even possession of illegal drugs is punishable by death.-Issues:There have been issues about having the death penalty for drug trafficking, including being framed with someone else putting drugs into another's luggage at airports...
- Death in SingaporeDeath in SingaporeDeaths in Singapore offset the population increase from live births. In 2007, 17,140 people in Singapore died from various causes. The death rate was 4.5 deaths per 1,000 of the population. There are strict regulations surrounding death and treatment of the body after death...
- Illegal drug tradeIllegal drug tradeThe illegal drug trade is a global black market, dedicated to cultivation, manufacture, distribution and sale of those substances which are subject to drug prohibition laws. Most jurisdictions prohibit trade, except under license, of many types of drugs by drug prohibition laws.A UN report said the...
- List of major crimes in Singapore
- Prohibition (drugs)Prohibition (drugs)The prohibition of drugs through sumptuary legislation or religious law is a common means of attempting to prevent drug use. Prohibition of drugs has existed at various levels of government or other authority from the Middle Ages to the present....
External links
- Singapore — The death penalty: A hidden toll of executions from Amnesty InternationalAmnesty InternationalAmnesty International is an international non-governmental organisation whose stated mission is "to conduct research and generate action to prevent and end grave abuses of human rights, and to demand justice for those whose rights have been violated."Following a publication of Peter Benenson's...
- The Singapore Government's Response To Amnesty International's Report from 30 January 2004
- Asia Death Penalty monitors the death penalty in Asia, including in Singapore