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Singapore
remains an authoritarian state: HRW World Report 2008
Human
Rights Watch
01 Feb
2008
http://hrw.org/englishwr2k8/docs/2008/01/31/singap17616.htm
Singapore
Events
of 2007
Singapore
remains an authoritarian state with strict curbs on freedom of
expression, assembly, and association. All political activities
are tightly controlled.
Singapore also retains and
continues to apply criminal and internal security laws that allow
for prolonged detention of suspects without trial. Each year,
several thousands of people, including illegal immigrants and
other people convicted of crimes, are beaten—caned—as
part of their punishment. Despite recent reforms, authorities
also fail to guarantee basic rights for the roughly 160,000
migrant domestic workers in the country.
Freedom of
Expression and Assembly
The People's Action Party
(PAP) has been Singapore's governing party since 1959 and holds
82 of 84 seats in the legislature. Its political dominance is
built on laws strictly limiting opportunities for opposition
political activity and a draconian defamation law wielded as a
political weapon. Opposition figures too often face a choice
between speaking out and bankruptcy—and sometimes
prison.
Opposition rallies and protests are largely
prohibited by laws requiring that public assemblies of five or
more persons have police permission, and by the Public
Entertainment and Meetings Act, which requires a permit for
almost all forms of public address and entertainment.
Both
restrictions have been used repeatedly to prevent the opposition
Singapore Democratic Party (SDP), headed by Dr. Chee Soon Juan,
and other opposition parties from informing citizens of their
political message and criticizing government policies. On October
8, 2007, for example, four members of the SDP protesting
Singapore's links with Burma were arrested for "illegal
assembly" under the Miscellaneous Offences (Public Order
and Nuisance Act). In August 2007 the opposition Worker's
Party was refused permission to celebrate its 50th anniversary in
November with a bicycle party in a public park. Political parties
are banned from sponsoring outdoor events to avoid any
possibility of a public disturbance.
The government
ruthlessly pursues politically motivated defamation cases to
deprive political opponents of basic rights to liberty and
freedom of movement. On September 7, 2007, Chee was sentenced to
a three-week jail term for refusing to pay a fine of US$2,621,
levied for his attempt to leave the country without permission in
April 2006. He had needed clearance to leave as he had been
declared bankrupt in February 2006 after he defaulted on $316,455
due in defamation damages to Lee Kuan Yew and ex-prime minister
Goh Chok Tong. Other charges against Chee have included speaking
in public without a permit. Between November and December 2006,
he served a five-week sentence in lieu of a $3,268 fine.
On
October 17, 2007 the Financial Times apologized publicly
to Lee Kuan Yew; his son, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong; and the
latter's wife, Ho Ching, for suggesting in an article entitled,
"Sovereign funds try to put on an acceptable face,"
that "nepotistic motives" were involved in the
appointments of Lee Hsien Loong and Ho Ching. The paper admitted
that the allegations were "false and without foundation,"
and that damages and costs would be paid "by way of
compensation." It is unclear whether the Financial Times
settled because they believed the article was in error or because
they did not want to be banned from distribution in Singapore, as
has happened with the Far Eastern Economic Review (FEER).
The Singapore government restricted FEER's circulation in
1987 under a 1986 law that gave the government the right to limit
sales if it deemed a publication had interfered in local
politics. The full ban came in September 2006 along with a
defamation suit instituted by Lee and his son over an article
critiquing the way the government responded to a scandal at a
charitable organization. The article went on to suggest that
Singapore's government was less than "squeaky clean"
and used defamation charges to hide "real misdeeds."
Free
expression is further compromised by government monitoring of the
internet and censorship of all media outlets. Movies, music, and
video games are also censored. Political websites must register
with the Media Development Authority. Singapore's Films Act
prohibits the showing of films on issues of public controversy or
that in any other way are "directed towards a political end
in Singapore." In April 2007, the government banned the film
"Zahari's 17 years," the story of an imprisoned
journalist.
Due Process
Singapore's
Internal Security Act (ISA), Criminal Law (Temporary Provisions
Act) (CLA), Misuse of Drugs Act, and Undesirable Publications Act
permit detention and arrest of suspects without a warrant or
judicial review. Both the ISA and the CLA also authorize
preventive detention. The drug act permits the Central Narcotics
Bureau chief to send suspected drug users for rehabilitation
without recourse to trial. The ISA, used in the past to detain
political opponents and critics, is now used against suspected
Islamist militants, many of whom have been detained for long
periods without trial. In September 2006 the government said that
34 suspected Muslim militants were being held on national
security grounds.
Caning
Singapore's penal
code mandates caning, combined with imprisonment, for some 30
offenses, both violent and nonviolent, and permits caning for a
variety of others. In 2006, 5,984 people reportedly were
sentenced to caning and in some 95 percent of the cases the
sentence was carried out.
Death Penalty
Although
death penalty statistics are secret, available information
indicates that Singapore's per capita execution rate is one of
the world's highest. Not only are death sentences mandatory for
drug traffickers, but Singaporean law shifts the burden of proof
to suspects to prove that they did not knowingly carry drugs or
had no intention to traffic in drugs. On January 26, 2007, a
Nigerian and a South African were hanged for smuggling, even
though the judge concluded that in the case of the Nigerian there
was "no direct evidence that he knew the capsules contained
diamorphine." Singapore's Home Affairs Minister, referring
to the law's deterrent effects, commented that "there is no
room to go soft."
Migrant Domestic
Workers
Approximately 160,000 migrant domestic
workers—primarily from Indonesia, the Philippines, and Sri
Lanka—are employed in Singapore. Many domestic workers
report excessive work hours without regular rest breaks,
restrictions on freedom of movement, unpaid wages, and in some
cases, physical abuse.
The government has prosecuted some
employers who physically abuse domestic workers and imposed
penalties on labor recruitment agencies for unethical practices.
Singapore's labor laws, however, still exclude domestic workers
from key protections guaranteed to other workers, such as a
weekly day off, limits on working hours, and caps on salary
deductions. The government also has failed to regulate
exploitative recruitment charges. Many domestic workers must work
for months just to pay off recruitment debts, making it difficult
for them to leave abusive employers.
Lesbian, Gay,
Bisexual, and Transgender Rights
In October 2007
Singapore's parliament rejected a proposal to repeal law 377A,
which bans private and consensual sexual relations between men.
Although prosecutions have been rare, those found in violation of
law 377A can be jailed for up to two years on charges of "gross
indecency."
Human Rights Defenders
State
laws and political repression effectively prevent the
establishment of human rights organizations and deter individuals
from speaking out publicly against government policies.
The
need for police permits prevents civil society groups from
organizing outdoor events with ties to public issues. In October
2007, for example, police refused to grant permission for an
outdoor "Peace Concert for Burma," forcing the concert
indoors on grounds that an outdoor event had higher potential to
"stir emotions and controversy."
Unless they are
registered as political parties, associations may not engage in
any activities the government deems political. Trade unions are
under the same restrictions and are banned from contributing to
political parties or using their funds for political purposes.
Most unions are affiliated with the umbrella National Trade Union
Congress which does not allow union members supportive of
opposition parties to hold office.
Burma
On
September 27, 2007, Singapore's Minister for Foreign Affairs,
George Yeo, the chair of the Association of Southeast Asian
Nations (ASEAN), issued a statement expressing ASEAN's
"revulsion" over the use of "violent force"
to put down anti-government demonstrations in Burma. The
statement called for a halt to the crackdown and the release of
all political prisoners. ASEAN has since rejected interference in
Burma's internal affairs and its members even refused to allow
Ibrahim Gambari, UN special envoy to Burma, to address their
meeting. At this writing, Singapore has yet to indicate its
willingness to reexamine the human rights implications of its own
economic ties to Burma, including in sectors that directly
benefit the Burmese military. Singapore-registered companies are
active in Burma's oil and natural gas industry, and the Burmese
junta and its allies are believed to use Singapore for banking
and other financial transactions.
Key International
Actors
Singapore is a key member of the Southeast Asia
Regional Centre for Counter-Terrorism, along with the US,
Malaysia, and others, and is an active participant in regional
and sub-regional security issues. Singapore and the US maintain
an active partnership as outlined in the 2005 "Strategic
Framework Agreement Between the United States of America and the
Republic of Singapore for a Closer Cooperation Partnership in
Defense and Security." Singapore is also an important
financial and banking center for southeast Asia.
Singapore
has not ratified important international human rights
instruments, including the International Covenant on Civil and
Political Rights, the International Convention on Economic,
Social and Cultural Rights, and the Convention Against Torture.
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