The Anti-Death Penalty Asia Network (ADPAN) urgently calls upon the Government of Singapore to  stop the execution of Syed Suhail Bin Syed Zin who is scheduled to be hanged at Changi Prison on  Friday 18 September having being convicted of drug offences. 

Singapore is a sovereign nation which rightly recognises the fundamental liberties of the person and  the right to life and liberty in Part IV of its Constitution. To engage in state-sanctioned killing of  prisoners, regardless of the nature of their offending, is an affront to the universal right to life and  accordingly undermines the inherent dignity of all people. Singapore is in a position to adopt the  recommendations of UN member states and ratify the International Covenant on Civil and Political  Rights (ICCPR) and the Second Optional Protocol to the ICCPR. By doing so, Singapore could promote  the fundamental liberties which it protects in its Constitution and acknowledge that the persistence  of the death penalty is an inherent contradiction to the ‘enhancement of human dignity and  progressive development of human rights’. ADPAN calls for the Government of Singapore to exercise  its sovereign powers and immediately stay the execution of Syed Suhail. 

The death penalty will not ensure the protection and safety of the Singaporean people from drugs.  There is no evidence that executions are a more effective deterrent. The international drug trade  continues to thrive despite thousands of executions being carried out in the last decade for drug related offences worldwide. Syed Suhail has suffered from drug addiction problems and is himself a  victim of the drug trade. ADPAN urges Singapore to take an approach that would address the  underlying causes of addiction and offending rather than continuing to carry out executions.  

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Singapore’s focus should be on preventing the spread of COVID-19  instead of creating more pain and death by carrying out executions. Syed’s sisters and aunt and uncle live in Malaysia. Syed’s father died in 2006. Syed’s execution should be stayed to prevent his family  from being subjected to any more loss. 

It should not be assumed that the death penalty is a necessary feature of the administration of justice  within Singapore. Rather, Singapore has the opportunity to introduce a moratorium on executions and  be a human-rights leader in the Asian-Pacific region, following the unmistakable international trend  towards abolition of the death penalty. ADPAN maintains that the death penalty is cruel and unusual  in all circumstances and advocates for the abolition of the death penalty worldwide.  

Proceeding with the execution of Syed Suhail Bin Syed Zin would only illustrate the inherent futility of  the death penalty. ADPAN calls on the Government of Singapore takes action immediately, consistent  with the exercise of its sovereign powers, to prevent Syed’s unnecessary death.