More countries are scrapping the death penalty, but Singapore isn't one of them

Singapore's justice system is under the microscope as campaigners scramble to halt the planned execution of accused Malaysian drug smuggler Nagaenthran K. Dharmalingam.

As more countries move to abolish the death penalty amid fierce international condemnation, Singapore is becoming increasingly isolated in its use of capital punishment.

Singapore's justice system is under the microscope as campaigners scramble to halt the planned execution of accused Malaysian drug smuggler Nagaenthran K. Dharmalingam.

Advocates say Dharmalingam has severe intellectual disabilities - with an IQ of 69 - and it would be unlawful to go ahead with his execution.

Dharmalingam, who has been on death row since 2010, was due to be executed on Wednesday, but this has been put on hold after he tested positive to COVID-19.

As Dharmalingam's legal team fights to save his life, Singapore is again facing tough questions over its continued use of the death penalty.

"Taking people’s lives is a cruel act in itself but to hang a person convicted merely of carrying drugs, amid chilling testimony that he might not even fully understand what is happening to him, is despicable," Amnesty Australia's death penalty campaigner Rose Kukak told SBS News.

"It’s never too late to save a life and reform is down to political will. There is still time for Singapore to change course and stop this execution from taking place."

The number of countries using the death penalty has shrunk in recent years, according to Amnesty International's 2020 Global Death Penalty report.

The report also recorded a decrease in the number of death sentences imposed in 2020, down by 53 per cent from 2016.

Some 108 countries have abolished the death penalty and more than two-thirds of countries worldwide are abolitionists in law or practice, Ms Kukak said.

If Dharmalingam's appeal is unsuccessful, at least 25 inmates in Singapore are set to follow his fate on death row, and 75 per cent of them are from minority groups, according to the Capital Punishment Justice Group.

Support for the death penalty is generally high among the Singaporean public, and the Singapore government believes capital punishment acts to discourage serious crimes.

“The approach Singapore has taken has resulted in it being one of the safest places in the world to live, relatively free of serious crime, and without the scourge of drug-related crimes and homicides,” the ministry of home affairs said in a statement.

Capital Punishment Justice Group chief executive Simone Abel told SBS News there is "no empirical data whatsoever" showing a link between the death penalty and a decrease in crime rates.

“There’s no compelling argument for deterrence, especially when you look at Nagaenthran who has an IQ of 69, which no doubt has deteriorated markedly in the time he’s been on death row," she said.

“And even by the most extreme stretch that justifies the deterrence, I can’t see how hanging somebody who is mentally ill and intellectually disabled deters people from being minor drug mules.”

Dharmalingam was sentenced to death for his attempted importation of 42.7 grams of heroin into Singapore in 2009.

His legal team successfully argued for a temporary halt on the execution at the 11th hour with an appeal to the High Court. The appeal has been delayed again due to Dharmalingam testing positive for COVID-19.

Ms Abel said there is an international consensus against capital punishment which is "helpful", commending Australia’s “ambitious” strategies in advocating for abolitionism.

RELATED | Singapore | Malaysian human rights group alleges “brutal, unlawful” state execution process in Changi Prison (Readers’ discretion is advised.)

“I think it’s important that at this moment in time, our country and not just abolitionist countries but Malaysia, too, whose national is caught up on this, reminds Singapore of its obligations," she said.

"It is becoming increasingly obvious to the international community that the use of the death penalty in Singapore flies in the face of international law and that it is deeply flawed.

"It is important that Singaporean courts consider the issue of competency for execution, and understand that this is a different test to culpability for the commission of a crime."

Singapore is notorious for having one of the world’s strictest drug laws, with its Misuse of Drugs Act stating that trafficking of more than 15 grams of heroin or 500 grams of cannabis is punishable by death.

In 2013 two exceptions were put in place that narrowed the chances of receiving the death penalty for a drug offence.

To satisfy these criteria, the court would need to find Dharmalingam was merely a courier of the drugs, and that he suffered "an abnormality of the mind".

Legal experts argue Dharmalingam had only one independent psychiatric assessment that showed he had significant head injuries, but he did not receive any follow-up medical assessments.

The court found that Dhamarlingam "knew what he was doing" and that he was "capable of manipulation and evasion".

Dharmalingam’s lawyer M Ravi says the case brings to light contraventions of the constitution and various international human rights violations, particularly the United Nations Convention of Rights of Persons with Disabilities that Singapore has signed and ratified.

The Australian Lawyers Alliance released a statement on Wednesday urging the Australian government to intervene.

“The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights makes it clear that the use of the death penalty must be restricted to the most serious crimes and carrying drugs does not fall within this category," barrister Graham Droppert said in the ALA statement.

“The execution of Nagaenthram will be in breach of international law on this ground as well as being a violation for executing a mentally impaired person."

📚 RECOMMENDED READING | Once a Jolly Hangman, Singapore Justice in the Dock, by Alan Shadrake. Paperback: ‎ 224 pages. ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1742663737 - ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1742663739.
Once a Jolly Hangman: Singapore Justice in the Dock, was published in Singapore in July 2010. It was banned immediately and Shadrake was arrested, tried and found guilty on several charges and sentenced to a short stint in jail. Available at Amazon UK: £27.75.

Source: sbs.com.au, Rayane Tamer, November 10, 2021

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