GOVT POINTS OUT 12 'GRAVE ERRORS' IN AMNESTY REPORT

S'pore Stands By Its Tough Position On The Death Penalty, Which Is Applied
To Only The Most Serious Crimes, Says Statement

SINGAPORE applies the death penalty to only the most serious crimes, and
does not apologise for taking a tough stand on law and order, the
Government said yesterday in refuting a Jan 14 report by human rights group
Amnesty International.

Capital punishment is imposed only for crimes such as murder, offences
involving firearms and drug trafficking 'which would severely compromise
the safety and security of Singapore', the Government said in a statement.

The death penalty, it said, had deterred major drug syndicates from
establishing a presence in the Republic.

In a detailed and toughly worded response, the Government said Amnesty
International had made grave errors of fact and misrepresentation in its
report that Singapore leads the world in executions.

'To advance its political campaign against the death penalty, it is clear
that Amnesty International has chosen to deliberately misrepresent the
facts,' it said.

The organisation, it said, had resorted to 'grave errors of facts and
misrepresentations, which seriously call into question the credibility of
its report'.

It cited 12 errors, including these:

a.. Amnesty International asserted that most of those executed here were
foreigners, and that of the 174 executions carried out between 1993 and
last year, more than half were of foreigners.

In fact, the Government said, during this period, 64 per cent of those
executed were Singaporeans. In the last five years, 101 Singaporeans and 37
foreigners were executed.

'Given that one in four residents in Singapore is a foreigner, it is not
only false but mischievous to allege that a significant proportion of
prisoners executed were foreigners,' it said.

a.. The Jan 14 report asserted that the death penalty fell more heavily on
the 'poorest, least educated and most vulnerable'.

In fact, said the Government, of those executed between 1993 and last year,
44 per cent had primary education, 34 per cent had secondary education and
2 per cent had vocational or tertiary education. Only 20 per cent were
unemployed.

Its statement comes two weeks after a Home Affairs Ministry spokesman had
dismissed the report as absurd.

The report said Singapore had likely the highest per capita rate of
executions in the world. It cited a United Nations study that said
Singapore had three times the number of executions, relative to the size of
its population, compared to the next country on the list, Saudi Arabia.

The report alleged that more than 400 prisoners had been hanged in the last
13 years and official information about the use of the death penalty is
'shrouded in secrecy'.

The Government said that while Amnesty International was entitled to have
its own view on the issue of the death penalty and to campaign against it
worldwide, international norms call for respect of differences in views and
beliefs.

'Singapore does not seek to impose its views on others. We ask only that
others do not impose their views on us,' the Government said.

The decision to keep the death penalty on the statute books had been a
considered one, it said.

Singapore recognises that the death penalty is a severe penalty and cannot
be remedied if it is applied wrongly.

Hence, the death penalty is used only for very serious crimes such as
murder, firearms and drugs offences.

'Singapore weighs the right to life of the convicted against the rights of
victims and the right of the community to live in peace and security,' the
Government said.

Keeping the death penalty had worked for Singapore, making it one of the
safest places in the world to live and work in,' it said.

The Government statement will be sent to Amnesty International and be
posted on the Internet.