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Human Rights Watch (HRW), Amnesty International, and CIVICUS on Thursday urged the Singapore government to drop charges against several human rights activists involved in peaceful assemblies in support of Gaza and to challenge the death penalty.
Elijah Tay, Kyal Sin Linn Naing, Dayana Noor Mohamed, Nur Sabrina Kamel, Nurul Afiqah Kamel and Amirah Binti Mokhlis were charged on September 9 and are facing a variety of charges under the Public Order Act, Singapore’s Penal Code, and the Protection from Harassment Act.
On September 7, activist Jolovan Wham was given six charges for “organizing a public assembly outside the State Court, taking part in candlelight vigils for persons facing execution, and refusing to answer questions from the police.” Human rights organizations have followed the continuing judicial persecution of Wham for his activism.
The activities in question were forming a procession to bring a letter to the Presidential Palace, flying a kite, and holding a shoe memorial in solidarity of Palestinians killed in the Gaza. There were also several candlelight vigils held in front of Changi Prison for those facing imminent execution, according to HRW. All of the gatherings allegedly took place without a permit.
Under Singapore’s Public Order Act, events such as “public assembly” and “public procession” are defined broadly, requiring advance notice and police authorization for even small gatherings and even for an individual.
Singapore remains on shaky ground in terms of freedom of expression and the imposition of the death penalty, which organizations such as Anti-Death Penalty Asia Network (ADPAN) say is inhumane. For instance, the government utilizes laws such as the Protection from Online Falsehoods and Manipulation Act to stifle dissent. Last year, Pannir Selvam’s execution in October marked the 13th execution that year despite massive public opposition.
In 2022, the execution of Malaysian national Nagaenthran K. Dharmalingam, who had an IQ of 69 and suffered from attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) drew global condemnation, especially since human rights activists and his legal team maintained that he could not have possessed the necessary mental capacity to carry out the drug trafficking offense that he was accused of.
The human rights organizations called on Singapore to “immediately drop all charges against those being prosecuted for the exercise of their rights to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly and cease any judicial harassment against them.” They also urged the country to rethink the wide scope of its laws and restrictive permitting rules that infringe on the right to freedom of expression and freedom of assembly, both codified under Article 19 and Article 21 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) respectively.
The post Human rights organizations call on Singapore to drop charges against activists appeared first on JURIST - News.
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Elijah Tay, Kyal Sin Linn Naing, Dayana Noor Mohamed, Nur Sabrina Kamel, Nurul Afiqah Kamel and Amirah Binti Mokhlis were charged on September 9 and are facing a variety of charges under the Public Order Act, Singapore’s Penal Code, and the Protection from Harassment Act.
On September 7, activist Jolovan Wham was given six charges for “organizing a public assembly outside the State Court, taking part in candlelight vigils for persons facing execution, and refusing to answer questions from the police.” Human rights organizations have followed the continuing judicial persecution of Wham for his activism.
The activities in question were forming a procession to bring a letter to the Presidential Palace, flying a kite, and holding a shoe memorial in solidarity of Palestinians killed in the Gaza. There were also several candlelight vigils held in front of Changi Prison for those facing imminent execution, according to HRW. All of the gatherings allegedly took place without a permit.
Under Singapore’s Public Order Act, events such as “public assembly” and “public procession” are defined broadly, requiring advance notice and police authorization for even small gatherings and even for an individual.
Singapore remains on shaky ground in terms of freedom of expression and the imposition of the death penalty, which organizations such as Anti-Death Penalty Asia Network (ADPAN) say is inhumane. For instance, the government utilizes laws such as the Protection from Online Falsehoods and Manipulation Act to stifle dissent. Last year, Pannir Selvam’s execution in October marked the 13th execution that year despite massive public opposition.
In 2022, the execution of Malaysian national Nagaenthran K. Dharmalingam, who had an IQ of 69 and suffered from attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) drew global condemnation, especially since human rights activists and his legal team maintained that he could not have possessed the necessary mental capacity to carry out the drug trafficking offense that he was accused of.
The human rights organizations called on Singapore to “immediately drop all charges against those being prosecuted for the exercise of their rights to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly and cease any judicial harassment against them.” They also urged the country to rethink the wide scope of its laws and restrictive permitting rules that infringe on the right to freedom of expression and freedom of assembly, both codified under Article 19 and Article 21 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) respectively.
The post Human rights organizations call on Singapore to drop charges against activists appeared first on JURIST - News.
Continue reading...
Note: We don't have any responsibilities about this news. Its been posted here by Feed Reader and we had no controls and checking on it. And because News posted here will be deleted automatically after 21 days, threads are closed so that no one spend time to post and discuss here. You can always check the source and discuss in their site.