Singapore rebukes UN over comments on drug trafficking execution

Singapore said the UNHCHR’s statement ‘glossed over the serious harms that drugs cause’ to its society

The human rights body had earlier urged the government to ‘urgently reconsider’ the execution of Tangaraju Suppiah, who was hanged for trafficking cannabis

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Anti-death penalty activists hold candles outside Singapore embassy in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on April 26. Photo: ADPAN via AP

Published: 1:27pm, 29 Apr 2023Updated: 1:29pm, 29 Apr 2023

A recent statement by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights on Singapore’s death penalty for drug offences “glossed over the serious harms that drugs cause”, said the country’s Permanent Mission to the United Nations on Friday.

“This is regrettable,” said the mission, adding that countries have the sovereign right to choose the approach that best suits their own circumstances.

The UN statement from the spokesperson for the High Commissioner for Human Rights was published on April 25, a day before death row convict Tangaraju Suppiah was set to be hanged for trafficking cannabis.

The statement urged the government to “urgently reconsider” the execution and expressed “concerns around due process and respect for fair trial guarantees”.

Singapore said on Friday that people who are sentenced to capital punishment in the city state are accorded full due process under the law.

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