Appeal for change: Families urge pause on executions and reevaluation of the death penalty

22-11-2023

Yasemin Beyza Uçar

South and East Asia Human Rights Researcher

Global Human Rights Defence

Human rights advocates condemn the Singapore government’s intention to execute more non-violent drug offenders with the death penalty. The death penalty in Singapore is supposed to be an effective policy to support the reduction of drug trafficking. Nonetheless, International human rights law states that capital punishment shall only be imposed for the most severe crimes that carry lethal or extremely grave consequences. It additionally expresses that all unintentional crimes are excluded from the scope.

In August 2023, 50 people were on death row. Three of those were serious cases, such as murder, whereas all other convictions were non-violent drug offences. In 2023, most of the executed people were from India and Malay minority communities, which consist of indigenous people who are Muslim. Historically, the Malay community already faced racial discrimination and islamophobia. Singapore does not take into account that most ethnic minorities are or were drug users before their journey to Singapore and never received the necessary support to recover. 

Singapore reaches out to the death penalty if the convicted person is trafficking more than 15 grams of heroin, 30 grams of cocaine, 250 grams of methamphetamine, or 500 grams of cannabis.

The family members of the prisoners who are currently on Singapore’s death row are urging the government to pause their executions and reevaluate the death penalty. On the eve of World Day against the death penalty, which is on the 10th of October, more than 1,700 signatures were gathered for the petition, which was then delivered to the country’s Ministry of Home Affairs. 

Amnesty International found that Singapore and three more countries executed drug-related executions in the past year. 

To his justification, Singapore’s Ministry of Home Affairs stated that the death penalty is the most effective deterrent to keep Singaporeans away from the dangerous consequences of drugs. 

Together with the petition, campaigners sent a letter to Singapore’s Minister for Law and Home Affairs, urging him to meet the victims of Singapore’s cruel and senseless war on drugs.

Sources and further readings:

Death Penalty Information Center. (2023, August 14). Singapore Announces Plans to Execute More Death-Sentenced Prisoners Convicted of Non-Violent Drug Offenses. Death Penalty Information Center. Retrieved November 21, 2023, from Singapore Announces Plans to Execute More Death-Sentenced Prisoners Convicted of Non-Violent Drug Offenses | Death Penalty Information Center

Economic and Social Council resolution 1984/50. (1984, May 25). Safeguards guaranteeing protection of the rights of those facing the death penalty. OHCHR. Retrieved November 21, 2023, from Safeguards guaranteeing protection of the rights of those facing the death penalty | OHCHR

Max Daly. (2023, August 9). Surge in Executions As Singapore Clears ‘Backlog’ of Death Row Dealers. Vice. Retrieved November 21, 2023, from Surge in Executions As Singapore Clears ‘Backlog’ of Death Row Dealers (vice.com)

Adam Hancock. (2023, October 10). Families of the executed appeal to ‘heartless’ Singapore for change. Al Jazeera. Retrieved November 22, 2023, from Families of the executed appeal to ‘heartless’ Singapore for change | Death Penalty News | Al Jazeera