KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 19 — Law Association for Asia and The Pacific (LawAsia), a regional organisation promoting legal cooperation, today expressed deep concern over the upcoming execution of convicted Malaysian Pannir Selvam Pranthaman who faces execution in Singapore tomorrow.

Shyam Divan, president of LawAsia, emphasised that the organization has long advocated against the death penalty.

“LawAsia reiterates its 2018 resolution calling for a moratorium on the implementation of the death penalty in the Asia-Pacific region,” he said in a statement.

In 2018, LawAsia called on governments in the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific – a regional development arm of the United Nations that covers countries in Asia, the Pacific and some parts of the Middle East – that retain the death penalty to review their policies on capital punishment.

The association also urged a moratorium on executions in regions where reviews of death penalty policies are underway.

Shyam further supported an earlier statement from the Commonwealth Lawyers Association, issued yesterday, which called on Singapore to uphold international human rights standards.

“We call upon the government of Singapore to adhere to international human rights standards and obligations,” he said.

LawAsia also urged the President of Singapore to consider using clemency powers under Article 22P (1) of Singapore’s Constitution to commute Pannir Selvam’s death sentence.

“This would be a crucial step in ensuring justice and upholding human rights,” Shyam said.

Earlier today, the Commonwealth Lawyers Association issued an urgent appeal to the Singapore government to halt Pannir Selvam’s hanging tomorrow.

The 36-year-old was convicted in 2017 for acting as a drug courier and handed the mandatory death penalty under Singapore’s Misuse of Drugs Act.

He had claimed to have cooperated with authorities by providing information on the actual trafficker but was denied a Certificate of Substantive Assistance that could have spared him from capital punishment.

His clemency application was also rejected by the President of Singapore, leaving Pannir with no further legal recourse.

Pannir Selvam’s scheduled execution has reignited debates about the harsh penalties for drug-related crimes in Singapore, which continues to enforce strict anti-drug laws.

 

UN rights office calls for Singapore stay of execution for Malaysia nationals 

The Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) has called for a stay of execution in Singapore, photographed at sunset.
Unsplash/Swapnil Bapat
The Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) has called for a stay of execution in Singapore, photographed at sunset.
Human Rights

In Singapore, the UN rights office, OHCHR, called on Monday for a stay of execution for two Malaysian nationals accused of drug offences. 

The execution of Nagaenthran Dharmalingam and Datchinamurthy Kataiah is imminent, the UN rights office said in a statement, before pointing to an apparently “alarming acceleration in execution notices” in Singapore, since the start of the year. 

OHCHR spokesperson Ravina Shamdasani said that Mr. Dharmalingam was arrested in 2009 and convicted of drug trafficking.  

His family was told just last week that he was due to be executed this Wednesday. 

Multiple appeals claiming that he had an intellectual disability were dismissed and requests for clemency denied, Ms. Shamdasani explained.  

The second prisoner facing execution, Mr. Kataiah, was arrested in 2011 and convicted on charges of trafficking diamorphine into Singapore. Last week, his family received notice that he would be executed on Friday. 

Death row offences 

After more than a two-year pause, on 30 March, Singapore executed Abdul Kahar bin Othman, following his conviction for drug-related offences.  

Today, at least three other men found guilty of drug-related offences are at risk of the death sentence, OHCHR has warned, identifying them as Roslan bin Bakar, Rosman bin Abdullah and Pannir Selvam Pranthaman. 

In addition, more than 50 people are reportedly on death row in Singapore. 

Abolitionist momentum 

According to the UN Human Rights Committee, around 170 States have abolished or introduced a moratorium on the death penalty, either in law or in practice.  

Despite this growing trend, the UN-appointed independent panel explained that a small number of countries have retained executions, largely because of the belief that they deter crime. A few States also still permit the death penalty for crimes other than those of extreme gravity involving intentional killing, including for drug-related or terrorism charges, the Committee said.  

“More work needs to be done,” according to its website, which says that the universal abolition of the death sentence “is necessary for the enhancement of human dignity and progressive development of human rights”. 

Such a move would be in accordance with General Assembly resolutions, likeminded Member States, civil society, UN Special Procedures mandates and others who have campaigned for a moratorium on the death penalty and ultimately its abolition worldwide, the Committee explained. 

Incompatible with international law 

Echoing that message, Ms. Shamdasani insisted that sentencing people to death for drug-related offences was “incompatible with international human rights law”, adding that countries that have not yet abolished the death penalty should only impose it for the “most serious crimes”, which is usually interpreted as crimes of extreme gravity involving intentional killing. 

Commutation call 

“We urge the Singaporean authorities to immediately halt its execution plans, to consider granting [Mr.] Dharmalingham and [Mr.] Kataiah clemency, and to commute their sentences to prison terms,” Ms. Shamdasani said.   

OHCHR also urged the Singaporean authorities to review its long-standing position on the death penalty, citing “increasing evidence showing its ineffectiveness as a deterrent”, and to consider implementing a moratorium on all death sentences, pending such a review.  - UN, 25/4/2022