End death penalty: Singapore nun

From The Age

By Steve Butcher, Singapore
December 4, 2005

A SENIOR Singapore nun has taken the dramatic step of calling on her Government to drop the death penalty, following the execution of Melbourne man Nguyen Tuong Van.

In a move that may anger Singapore's leaders, Sister Susan Chia, province leader of the Good Shepherd Sisters, described the death penalty as cruel and inhumane. It violated the right to life, she said.

It has been nuns from the Marymount Convent, part of Sister Chia's constituency, who have cared and comforted Nguyen's mother and twin brother here for the two weeks before Friday's hanging.

Singapore, which has always been sensitive to internal criticism, enforces the mandatory death penalty for serious crimes, including the heroin offence Nguyen committed in 2002.

Sister Susan Chia appealed in the carefully worded statement, issued yesterday by Nguyen's lead lawyer, Lex Lasry, QC, for "our leaders" to seek alternatives to the death penalty.

She said in the opening line that the Good Shepherd Sisters shared the "deep sorrow" his mother, Kim Nguyen, and twin brother, Khoa, felt at his execution.

The statement continued: "As we try desperately to soften a mother's pain at the loss of her son, we grapple with the reality of the death penalty.

"The death penalty is cruel, inhumane and it violates the right to life.

"Each life is always precious, even when punishment is required.

"While we want to make our streets drug-free and safe for our children, should it be at the expense of terminating the life of a person? Punishment and justice must always include mercy.

"We join the many voices throughout the world in appealing to our leaders to search for alternatives to the death penalty."

Mr Lasry told The Sunday Age the Good Shepherd Sisters "wanted to make a stand".

"They adored Van, and they wanted to make a stand because they were so affected by his death, and this (statement) is their way of doing it," he said.

Meanwhile, Nguyen's closest friends, Kelly Ng and Bronwyn Lew, said Nguyen, 25, made them keep promises — Ms Ng was told not cut her long hair for the next seven years — and he promised to find a boyfriend for Ms Lew.

Ms Ng told Nguyen after he made his request: "Mate, I love you, but at least let me get rid of my split ends."

Both were yesterday handed by officials from the Australian high commission letters from Nguyen that were included in a box of personal possessions from his death row cell in Changi Prison.

Arriving back in Melbourne yesterday morning Nguyen's lawyer, Julian McMahon, said: "Despite the cruel sadness (of the execution), Van has made sure his mother has come to a sense of peace, and we are all hoping she will be able to keep that sense of peace over the coming months."

Mr McMahon said he was impressed by the way Khoa, a convicted heroin trafficker, had supported his mother during their time in Singapore.

When asked what he would remember most about Van, Mr McMahon said: "A steady journey to be a good person."

With MARK RUSSELL

Speakers believe mandatory death penalty is unlikely to become an election issue

Caption (Speakers from Left to Right): Mr JB Jeyaretnam, Mr Steve Chia, Mr Sinapan Samydorai at the Think Centre Human Rights 2005 Forum

The speakers for the Think Centre Human Rights Day Forum 2005, “Election Rights: Is it Right? Make Mandatory Death Penalty an Election Issue?” believed that the mandatory death penalty is unlikely to become an election issue as they believe that Singaporeans are more concerned with bread and butter matters.

The two hour forum at Oxford Hotel on December 3 that started at about 315 pm attracted about 30 audiences with lively debates on the mandatory death penalty and the Singapore elections.

The first speaker, Mr Jeyaretnam, a veteran Opposition politician, focuses on the state of elections.

“In Singapore, elections are programmed to a determined result in ensuring that those in power are returned to office,” he said.

He listed the various measures that the PAP government uses to ensure that the Opposition is stifled, among them: gerrymandering of electoral boundaries, the high election deposits, lawsuits to silence criticism, and instilling fear in the population through various measures such as numbering ballot papers that destroys the secrecy of voting.

He recounted the fear factor that was hyped up during the 1997 Cheng San General Elections when the then Prime Minister, Mr Goh Chok Tong, threatened voters with cutbacks on benefits in healthcare, transport and education if the Opposition was voted into office.

Mr Jeyaretnam also commented on the need for an independent elections commission, the GRC system which violates the equal suffrage of the one man one vote system and the setbacks that potential political candidates face.

NCMP, Steve Chia, believes that death penalty should not be mandatory though it should be reserved for certain crimes, including drug trafficking.

His informal and small sample base research done on heartlanders revealed that Singaporeans are in favour of the death sentence. He also recommended changing the style of execution in Singapore to lethal injection that was swiftly rebutted by an audience on the floor who pointed out that it is equally inhumane. He touched on elections in Singapore and added to the list of barriers stacked against Opposition such as the controlled media.

Think Centre President Mr Samydorai added that the Singapore government is wont to discredit Opposition politicians during elections. He also cited the large numbers of inmates for drug use as a worrying trend.

This was supported by figures in the forum handout revealing Singapore as a country with draconian laws.

Singapore has a high prison rate with 359 people in prison for every 100,000. This is the rate above the sum total of Cambodia (46), Malaysia (121), Brunei (120) and Indonesia (29). The Prison department in Singapore claimed that the high rate is due to the city-state with a dense population. It is complemented with the ranking from the International Centre for Prison Studies which placed Singapore at number 17th in the world for having the highest prison population per capita. The handout also said that the new Changi Prison Complex to be completed by 2008 would house 23,000 inmates.

Figures on the breakdown of persons executed in Singapore the last 5 years by nationality and offences (1999 – 2003) are also interesting to watch. 101 are Singaporeans while the remaining 37 are foreigners. 110 of them are drugs related offences while the other 28 are non-drugs related. 51 % of those sentenced to death were unemployed or working as unskilled workers, labourers or cleaners. 64% of them are either only primary educated or had no schooling.

===

During the forum, I raised the possibility of the death penalty as a viable elections issue that the Opposition could leverage upon. Even though Howard has publicly said that there will be no trade sanctions on an official level, increasing international and Australian scrutiny and mounting trade pressure may affect the Singapore economy. In short, political parties can put forward the notion to voters that the PAP’s firm stand on the mandatory death penalty will not only put Singapore in a bad light but also ultimately affect its economic interests.

Singapore bans execution references in play: paper

Lets see, now that the government of Singapore (i.e. the People's Action Party) has grabbed the international headlines what image was beamed into my living room yesterday while I was eating my lunch in the UK?

So how is the Rebranding of Singapore going? Education Hub - Don't mention Warwick University, Arts Hub...

SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Singapore has ordered a theater director to remove all references to the death penalty in a play to be staged on Saturday, a day after the city-state executed an Australian drug smuggler, a Singapore newspaper said.

The government's Media Development Authority (MDA) demanded that "Human Lefts," a play about the hanging of Singaporean drug courier Shanmugam Murugesu in May, make no mention of the death penalty and no reference to any political leader, the play's director was quoted as saying.

Benny Lim, artistic director of The Fun Stage, told Today that all reference to the death penalty had been omitted in a new script that won MDA approval.

"The plot is still the same, about a son and father, but it's so general I've applied a different story to it," Lim was quoted as saying in the pro-government Today on Saturday.

Lim declined to comment to Reuters.

"The MDA did not issue a permit to The Fun Stage for the performance earlier as there were insufficient details in their original script to enable us to make an assessment," the paper quoted the Authority as saying.

On Friday, Singapore executed Australian drug trafficker Nguyen Tuong Van, despite repeated pleas for clemency from Australia's government.

Volte Face in Singapore Politics? Nay Nay

From A Xeno Boy in Singapore...

It was all about Face. Whatever fancy terms political scientists or politicians can coin, Game Theory, Great Man theories, brinksmanship politics, realism, post structuralism, Asian values, sovereignty, National Interest, international law etc, when we analyse this Nguyen affair, it was all about Face. No disrespect to Rodan, political activists, lawyers, journalists and the politicians both Singaporean and Aussie, who have all come out with the same tropes to appeal and defend their respective positions in this affair. It was all about Face. Face is not a topic covered in textbooks. Face underlies a lot of political decisions West or East. But it is perhaps only in the latter where Face is an art form. Coded by Confucius.

To read the complete article click here.

Australian warning over hanging

Watch the BBC News Broadcast that was shown today (2nd December 2005)

Australian drug smuggler Nguyen Tuong Van, 25, has been executed in Singapore, despite pleas for clemency.

Australian Attorney-General Philip Ruddock described the sentence as "barbaric". Andrew Harding reports from Singapore.

Australian warning over hanging

Nguyen's body will be flown back to Melbourne for burial

Australian PM John Howard has warned Singapore that its execution of Nguyen Tuong Van may harm links between the peoples of their two countries.
The 25-year-old Melbourne man, of Vietnamese descent, was hanged at Changi prison before dawn as hundreds held vigils in Australia and Singapore.

Singapore's PM Lee Hsien Loong said his country had decided that "the law should take its course".

Canberra said mitigating factors should have been taken into account.

One of Nguyen's lawyers, Julian McMahon, said his client prayed until he was required to walk the 50m to the execution chamber.

He died "optimistically and with strength and died a very courageous death," Mr McMahon said.

"And I understand that as he did so other death row prisoners sang hymns and other things in various languages to support him," he added.

Nguyen's body, wrapped in a white shroud, was taken to a funeral home for embalming. His family is flying the body back to Melbourne for burial.

'Clinical response'

Australian Attorney-General Philip Ruddock told the BBC he was "terribly disappointed" by the news of the execution.

He said Nguyen always maintained he had smuggled the drugs to earn enough money to pay off legal bills of A$30,000 (£13,000) incurred by his twin brother, a former heroin addict.

Vigils in pictures

Mr Ruddock reiterated his earlier comments that death by hanging was "barbaric".

John Howard said he told his Singaporean counterpart "that I believe it will have an effect on the relationship on a people-to-people, population-to-population basis."

He said he felt sympathy for Nguyen's mother, and had been disappointed by Singapore's "clinical response" to Australia's request that she be allowed to hug her son before his death. The Singapore authorities had only allowed them to hold hands.

But Mr Howard rejected calls for trade and military boycotts against Singapore, one of Australia's strongest allies in Asia.

He added that the execution should serve as a warning to other young Australians.

"Don't imagine for a moment that you can risk carrying drugs anywhere in Asia without suffering the most severe consequences," he said.

Silent vigils

Nguyen Tuong Van was convicted three years ago of carrying nearly 400g (14 ounces) of heroin at Singapore airport while travelling from Cambodia to Australia.

Singapore has some of the strictest drug trafficking laws in the world, and anyone found with 15g of heroin faces a mandatory death penalty.

Nguyen had said he was trying to help his brother

Prime Minister Lee said Nguyen's case had been through the full legal process, and pleas for clemency by the Australian government had been considered.

But he said the case involved "an enormous amount" of drugs - the equivalent of 26,000 doses.

"We take a very serious view of drug trafficking, and the penalty is death," he said in Berlin.

A vigil by anti-death penalty campaigners took place outside the prison overnight before the dawn execution.

And hundreds of supporters gathered in Nguyen's home city of Melbourne at a church to mark the moment of his execution. A large church bell rang 25 times - once for every year of his life.

At the same time, dozens of people held a silent vigil outside the Singapore High Commission in the capital Canberra.

Nguyen was the first Australian to be executed overseas in more than a decade.

Amnesty condemns cruel and senseless killing

AI Australia

Media statement
2 December 2005

Amnesty condemns cruel and senseless killing of Van Tuong Nguyen

Amnesty International condemns the execution of Van Tuong Nguyen in Singapore this morning.

"Today is an extremely sad day for his family, who are now victims of this horrendous punishment," said Tim Goodwin, Amnesty International's Anti-Death Penalty Coordinator.

"It is a particularly cruel twist that this execution will not protect Singapore against the drug trade. In capital cities and regional centres across the nation, thousands of people this morning paused to acknowledge the tragic killing of this young Australian."

"They were united in their grief for Van Nguyen's family and their determination to fight harder than ever to abolish the death penalty wherever it is used and whatever the nationality of those facing execution."

Amnesty International Australia extends its deepest sympathy to the Nguyen family and pledged to continue its fight for a world without executions. Amnesty International also paid tribute to the Australian legal team, Lex Lasry QC and Julian McMahon who fought so hard to save the life of Van.

"Sadly all efforts across all sectors of the Australian community were defeated by the cruelty of Singapore's mandatory death penalty laws. Amnesty International thanks the people of Australia who stood with us in solidarity – through writing the tens of thousands of appeal letters, tracing their hands and writing messages of support and attending events and vigils across the nation."

"These efforts, which were joined by hundreds of thousands of people around the world have served to strengthen the global campaign to end the death penalty in all its forms and has given courage to those in Singapore who are taking great risks to speak out against their country's inhuman and ineffective punishment.

Amnesty International Australia today reaffirmed its call on the Australian Government to take a clear, consistent and principled stand against the death penalty and to exercise leadership on the regional and international stage.

"Australia's wavering stance on the death penalty in recent times has undermined Australia's credibility and ability to argue for clemency for Van Tuong Nguyen, " said Tim Goodwin.

Amnesty International encourages all Australians who wish to voice their opposition to Van's execution to write letters of appeal to the Singapore High Commissioner and to join the human rights organisation's Anti-Death Penalty Network.

For more information: www.amnesty.org.au To arrange interviews with Tim Goodwin, Amnesty International’s Anti-Death Penalty Network Coordinator please contact Karen Trentini on 0422 869 439.

Family mourns Nguyen at Singapore service

From ABC News Online


Related Video
People have gathered in towns and cities across Australia to protest against the use of the death penalty in Singapore.

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The Prime Minister has urged Australians to learn from the Van Nguyen tragedy and not have anything to do with illegal drugs.

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Human rights activists say it is important to keep pressure on Singapore over its capital punishment regime following the hanging this morning of Van Nguyen, whose body will soon be returned to Australia.

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The lawyer of hanged Melbourne man Van Nguyen, Lex Lasry, says he will use the case as a landmark in the fight against the mandatory death penalty.

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Prime Minister John Howard says he hopes the strongest message from the death of Van Nguyen will be to convince other young Australians not to get involved in drug offences in Asia. But the minor parties say the Government should have done more.

[RealMedia 28k+] [WinMedia 28k+] [MP3]

Family mourns Nguyen at Singapore service

The family of executed Melbourne man Van Nguyen has held a memorial service at a church in Singapore.

Nguyen, 25, was hanged this morning in Changi Prison after being convicted of trying to smuggle heroin through Changi Airport.

It is not known who the executioner was - the chief executioner, Darshan Singh, says he was not enlisted for the task.

Since early this morning, Nguyen's mother has been supported by friends and relatives at a church chapel not far from the jail.

Her son Khoa has joined her this afternoon for a memorial service.

Both are expected to leave Singapore tomorrow night, accompanying Nguyen's body back to Australia.

Personal letters

Van Nguyen has left a series of personal letters that are to be delivered to his family and friends.

Some of Nguyen's friends are leaving Singapore tonight after his execution early this morning.


Nguyen has left behind a large number of letters for family and friends, intended to be opened after his death.

His lawyer, Julian McMahon, says the letters will be distributed once they have been received from prison authorities.

"Van's words of advice apparently fill more than one box and they'll have to be read carefully over the next week or so," he said.

Mr McMahon says Nguyen's mother is growing to accept her son's death, something that was helped by a mass at a local chapel this afternoon, where Nguyen's body was displayed in an open coffin.

Mr McMahon says the family has also thanked the Australian High Commission for their support during the past few weeks.

Vigils

There were vigils for Nguyen around the country today, including one at the 25-year-old's former school.

Hundreds of mourners crowded into St Ignatius Church in Melbourne and, as the young man was led to the gallows, a bell sounded for every year of his life.

In Sydney, more than 500 people attended vigil in Martin Place.

A minute of silence was held and a Vietnamese gong was chimed for each year of Nguyen's life.

In Canberra, a vigil was held at the Singapore High Commission.

People also attended church services in Brisbane, Hobart, Darwin and Perth.

Public funeral

Next Wednesday, people can join the Nguyen family at a service at St Patrick's Cathedral in Melbourne at 11:00am AEDT.

The service will be read in both Vietnamese and English.

Father Peter Hansen, who will conduct next the service, says he is expecting a big crowd to attend.

"To remember the fact that he was a person who sought to atone for his wrongdoing, he sought the forgiveness of the community, he sought to turn his life around, he sought to become a person of usefulness, but unfortunately the actions of the Singapore Government have prevented him from fulfilling those desires," he said.

Father Hansen says he is proud of the compassion Australians have shown.

"People realise that what's happed to Van is something that no civilised society should ever be prepared to tolerate," he said.

Australian executed in Singapore

"Australian executed in Singapore" was which was first aired on the BBC World Service on the 2nd December 2005.

The twenty-five year old Van Nguyen was hanged shortly before dawn local time at Changi Prison in Singapore.
News of the execution was confirmed in an emailed statement by the Singaporean government.

Last minute appeals for clemency fell on deaf ears. The Australian Prime Minister John Howard tried no fewer than five times to have the execution stopped.

The Australian Attorney General Philip Ruddock described the hanging as "barbaric" .

Click here to listen.

Execution of Nguyen to harm people-to-people relations

CANBERRA, Dec. 2 (Xinhuanet) -- Australian Prime Minister John Howard said on Friday that the execution of Australian Nguyen Tuong Van in Singapore would damage relations between people of the two countries.

Nguyen, 25, was arrested at Singapore's Changi airport in late 2002 carrying 396 grams of heroin.

He was hanged at Changi Prison earlier Friday after Singapore refused to commute his death sentence.

Singapore also rejected the plea to allow Nguyen's mother to hug her son for the last time before his execution, but allowing the mother to hold hands with the son.

Howard also called the response of Singapore to the plea as "clinical."

"The clinical response of the Singaporean authorities to the final request of the man's mother to embrace her son, I was particularly disappointed with that response," Howard told Australia's Southern Cross radio.

However, Howard ruled out any diplomatic action against Singapore and said he would not encourage boycotts against the city-state.

"I have told the prime minister of Singapore that I believe it will have an effect on the relationship on a people-to-people, population-to-population basis," he said.

"If individuals decide to boycott goods well that's a matter for them, but I'm not encouraging them to do that, there's nothing to be achieved in my opinion by doing that," he said.

Meanwhile, Howard said he hopes young Australians take a strong message from the execution not to have anything to do with drugs. Don't use them, don't touch them, don't carry them, don't traffic in them, and don't imagine for a moment -- for a moment --that you can risk carrying drugs anywhere in Asia without suffering the most severe consequences," Howard said.

It was reported that Nguyen's mother Kim Nguyen held hands with her son through a grille and able to touch his face and hair before his execution.

Vigils were held in several cities in Australia on Friday to mark the death of Nguyen.

Nguyen's funeral will be held in Melbourne, capital of Australia 's state of Victoria where Nguyen is from, next week.

Protesters weep outside Changi prison

A Singaporean activist lights a candle outside Changi Prison.

By Dewi Cooke
December 2, 2005 - 10:56AM

A Singaporean protester has described the "blank" moment at which Nguyen Tuong Van's execution was held.

Jacob George, the spokesman for Singapore's only publicly identified anti-death penalty group, said: "Some of my colleagues were in tears, naturally. It was bearing down on us, it was very emotional.

"For me personally, I was quite blank actually. I didn't know what else to think."

The group's 12 members had spent the night in a cafe near the prison, walking out in pairs and groups of four to place candles outside the prison walls.

The grief-stricken prayers of the family of a former death row inmate marked the last half hour before the execution.

The family of Shanmugan Murugesu — described as Nguyen's death row 'soulmate' — arrived at 5.30am. Before Shanmugan was executed in May, he asked his family to do all they could to help Nguyen.

"It was pretty much the same up 'til about 5.30am when Shanmugan's mother, his twin sons, and M. Ravi the human rights lawyer took a picture with Nguyen's face," Mr George said.

"They were the final ones to actually do their hindu prayers in front of all the candles that were laid down.

"They lighted these hindu lamps and they chanted some prayers. Everyone was emotional . . . they continued that until 6am. That was basically the end."

Mr George said Shanmugan's family would wait outside the prison's visitor entrance at until they saw the van that would transport Nguyen's body.