A Joint Statement with The Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty (HEART Coalition)
Jakarta, February 16th, 2022 – Today, the Singaporean government will carry out the execution by hanging for two death row convicts, Roslan bin Bakar and Pausi bin Jefridin. Both are death row inmates who were sentenced to death for possession of narcotics. We strongly condemn the planned execution of the two convicts.
According to the latest data, the two convicts are suspected to be people with intellectual disabilities. The court has admitted that both of them have problems with their thinking skills, as indicated by the low IQs of the defendants. These two cases have similarities with the case of Nagethran (WN Malaysia) which at the end of last year was publicly protested for having mental health problems and was scheduled to be executed.
As a civil society organization that focuses on the issue of the death penalty, we encourage the Singaporean Government to re-consider this execution, given the backgrounds of the two death row convicts are people with intellectual disabilities, which under international law should not be executed as stated in Article 10 of the International Convention on Human Rights. -The Rights of Persons with Disabilities, which reads: "States Parties reaffirm that every human being has an inherent right to life and shall take all necessary steps to ensure the effective fulfillment of persons with disabilities on an equal basis with other human beings."
This is also supported by the UN General Assembly resolution 75/183 in December 2020 which said that countries should not impose the death penalty on someone who has mental health problems. We once again urge the Government of Singapore not to carry out this execution and not to commit the same mistake that the Government of Indonesia made of executing a psychosocial disability (Schizophrenia) in 2016. At least the Singapore Government provides access to a psychiatrist to assess his mental health condition and provide optimal care for the two convicts.
Jakarta, February 16th, 2022 – Today, the Singaporean government will carry out the execution by hanging for two death row convicts, Roslan bin Bakar and Pausi bin Jefridin. Both are death row inmates who were sentenced to death for possession of narcotics. We strongly condemn the planned execution of the two convicts.
According to the latest information, the two convicts are suspected to be people with intellectual disabilities. The court has admitted that both of them have problems with their thinking skills, as indicated by the low IQs of the defendants. These two cases have similarities with the case of Nagethran (Malaysian) which at the end of last year was publicly protested for having mental health problems and was scheduled to be executed.
As a civil society organization that focuses on the issue of the death penalty, we encourage the Singaporean Government to re-consider this execution, given the backgrounds of the two death row convicts are people with intellectual disabilities, which under international law should not be executed as stated in Article 10 of the International Convention on Human Rights. – Rights of Persons with Disabilities which reads:
“States Parties reaffirm that every human being has an inherent right to life and shall take all necessary steps to ensure the effective fulfillment of persons with disabilities on an equal basis with other human beings.” This is also supported by the UN General Assembly resolution 75/183 in December 2020 which said that countries should not impose the death penalty on someone who has mental health problems.
We once again urge the Government of Singapore not to carry out this execution and not to
commit the same mistake that the Government of Indonesia made of executing a psychosocial
disability (Schizophrenia) in 2016. At least the Singapore Government provides access to a
psychiatrist to assess his mental health condition and provide optimal care for the two convicts.
Koalisi HATI members:
- Human Rights Working Group (HRWG)
- Indonesian Association of Families of the Disappeared (IKOHI)
- Imparsial (The Indonesian Human Rights Monitor)
- Institute for Criminal Justice Reform (ICJR)
- International NGO Forum on Indonesian Development (INFID)
- Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (KontraS)
- LBH Jakarta
- LBH Masyarakat
- LBH Press
- Institute for Community Studies and Advocacy (Elsam)
- Migrant Care
- Indonesian Legal Aid and Human Rights Association (PBHI)
- Indonesian Drug Victims Brotherhood (PKNI)
- PILNET (Public Interest Lawyer Network)
- SETARA Institute
- The Association for International Human Rights Reporting Standards (FIHRRST)
- Indonesian Legal Aid Foundation (YLBHI)
- Satu Keadilan Foundation
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