Ensemble contre la peine de mort (ECPM), Responsible Business Initiative for Justice, Eleos Justice, Capital Punishment Justice Project (CPJP) and Anti-Death Penalty Asia Network (ADPAN) are dismayed that Singapore has scheduled two executions for Wednesday, 16th February. 

Executions have been on hold for the past two years in Singapore due to litigation, some of which arose on account of the impact of Covid-19 related restrictions. In November 2021, Singapore scheduled the execution of an intellectually disabled and mentally ill man, Nagaenthran a/l Dharmalingam, only to face legal challenges and international condemnation. Nagaenthran’s execution has been halted while he mounts a further legal challenge before the Supreme Court, which has been scheduled for 1 March 2022. 

As with Nagaenthran’s case, the cases of Roslan bin Bakar and Pausi bin Jefridin offer a window into the deep and systemic injustices that plague the death penalty in Singapore. 

Intellectual disability and the death penalty 

Our organisations oppose the death penalty in all circumstances for all people, and note that there is a global trend towards ending the practice for the intellectually disabled and mentally ill.1 

Singapore has ratified the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, which states at Article 10: 

“Every human being has the inherent right to life and shall take all necessary measures to ensure its effective enjoyment by persons with disabilities on an equal basis with others.” 

The UN General Assembly in Resolutions 71/187 of 2 February 2017; 73/185 of 17 December 2018; 75/183 of 16 December 2020 has “call[ed] upon States … not to impose capital punishment … on persons with mental or intellectual disabilities.” 

In 2017, the High Court of Singapore acknowledged that both Roslan and Pausi had IQ levels of lower than 70 at the time of the alleged commission of the offence. This indicates a significant impairment in the intellectual functioning of both individuals.2 

Neither Roslan nor Pausi have had an independent psychiatric or medical assessment in recent years, and it is not possible to know how severe their intellectual disabilities are at this point, or whether they have become mentally ill while on death row. However, it is well accepted that without appropriate psychosocial support, intellectual disability may worsen over time. 

At minimum, Singapore must facilitate access to independent psychiatrists and medical practitioners in order to assess the psychiatric and physiological conditions of those on its death row and to provide them with an appropriate standard of care. Surely if Singapore’s Court of Appeal is unwilling to execute a person afflicted with Covid-19 then that same ‘sense of logic, common sense and humanity’ that Justice Andrew Phang spoke of in November in Nagaenthran’s hearing ought to apply to those with intellectual disabilities or severe mental illness.

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.