26 November 2016 – We, the undersigned organisations, condemn the shameful execution of a Nigerian national, Chijioke Stephen Obioha, and a Malaysian national, Devendran a/l Supramaniam in Singapore on 18 November 2016, which runs counter to global trends towards abolition of capital punishment. Around the same time, at the 50^th and 51^st meeting of the UN General Assembly’s Third Committee’s 71^st session proceedings, the Singapore representative introduced amendments, undermining the spirit of the draft resolution calling for a moratorium on the death penalty, supported by states such as Syria, Egypt and Bangladesh.

We remain appalled that Singapore continues to execute people in contravention of international law and standards. The two men were sentenced to mandatory death penalty, after being convicted of drug trafficking, which does not meet the threshold of the “most serious crimes”.

In July 2011, during its first Universal Periodic Review (UPR), Singapore accepted a recommendation that called on the government to make available statistics and other factual information on the use of the death penalty (A/HRC/18/11, para. 95.15). The lack of transparency in relation to the scheduled executions therefore remains deeply concerning and prevents informed and meaningful debates in the country on the retention of this punishment.

We would like to express our regret and share in the disappointment of the families of the executed men. We oppose the use of capital punishment in all circumstances, as a violation of human rights which can never be justified under the flawed assumption that it has a unique deterrent effect.

Signatories:

Singapore

Function 8

Humanitarian Organization for Migration Economics (HOME)

Project X

Singapore Anti-Death Penalty Campaign (SADPC)

Think Centre

We Believe in Second Chances

Malaysia

Suara Rakyat Malaysia (SUARAM)

Malaysians Against Death Penalty & Torture (MADPET)

Indonesia

Human Rights Working Group (HRWG)

International Groups and Networks

Amnesty International (AI)

Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development (FORUM-ASIA)

Anti-Death Penalty Asia Network (ADPAN)

Coalition for the Abolition of the Death Penalty in ASEAN (CADPA)

Ensemble contre la peine de mort (ECPM)

Franciscans International (FI)

Human Rights Watch (HRW)

International Commission of Jurists (ICJ)

International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH)

World Coalition Against the Death Penalty (WCADP)

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