Amnesty attacks Singapore's 'hidden toll of executions'

Associated Press Writer
Published Thursday, January 15, 2004

SINGAPORE (AP) -- Singapore has the highest execution rate in the world relative to its population, outstripping China, Saudi Arabia and Sierra Leone, Amnesty International said in a report released Thursday.

More than 400 prisoners have been hanged since 1991 in the Southeast Asian city-state of 4 million people, the London-based rights organization said in a report on Singapore entitled "A Hidden Toll of Executions."

"It is the cold-blooded killing of a human being by the state in the name of justice, and violates one of the most fundamental of all human rights: the right to life," Amnesty said in a statement, describing the number of executions in Singapore as "shockingly high."

Most executions were for drug offenses while some were for murder and firearms offenses, all of which carry mandatory death sentences in Singapore, the report said.

Those executed overwhelmingly came from disadvantaged groups: migrant workers, drug addicts, the poor or the uneducated, Amnesty said.

It cited the case of Rozman Jusoh, a 24-year-old Malaysian laborer who was hanged for drug trafficking in 1996, despite having a reported IQ of 74.

The government says it needs the death penalty to deter drug addiction and violent crime.

"By protecting Singaporeans from drugs, we are protecting their human rights," said Inderjit Singh, a member of parliament, responding to the report.

"The rule breakers have to be dealt with -- it's the same in any part of the world," said Singh, who is also president of a chip-making company. "We just do it differently."