MFA SPOKESMAN'S COMMENTS

In response to media queries on the press statement issued by Mr Philip Alston, Special Rapporteur on Extrajudicial, Summary or Arbitrary Executions, the MFA Press Spokesman said:

"There is no international consensus that capital punishment should be abolished. At the most recent meeting of the UN Commission on Human Rights, 66 countries dissociated themselves from a CHR resolution calling for the abolition of capital punishment.

Singapore maintains that capital punishment is a criminal justice issue; it is the sovereign right of every country to decide whether or not to include capital punishment within its criminal justice system.

On this occasion, Mr Alston grossly misrepresented the facts in claiming that the Singapore Court of Appeal "considered a range of cases decided by the Privy Council ... [but] ... failed to examine the most relevant case of all" i.e. Boyce and Joseph v. The Queen. That case was in fact cited by Mr Nguyen's lawyers in their written arguments and the Court of Appeal dealt with it in its judgment. We note also that Mr Alston did not disclose that he cited the minority judgment in Boyce and that the majority in the Privy Council upheld the constitutionality of the mandatory death penalty in Barbados.

We regret that Mr Alston has attempted to mislead the public. In doing so, he diminishes the credibility of his office.

Mr Alston is the Special Rapporteur on Extrajudicial, Summary or Arbitrary Executions. Mr Nguyen was tried and convicted in an entirely open, fair and transparent manner, according to due process of law, as has been acknowledged by the Australian Government. Therefore this case does not fall within his mandate.

Mr Alston has on several previous occasions attempted to exceed the limits of his office in criticising judicial executions in Singapore. His purpose in doing so has been to campaign for the abolition of the death penalty, which is clearly beyond the mandate of his office.

We have previously protested Mr Alston's abuse of his office and will continue to do so as necessary."

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MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS
SINGAPORE
16 NOVEMBER 2005