SINGAPORE (AFP) - – Singapore on Friday rejected allegations by
a US-based human rights group that it is a "politically repressive
state".
"Singapore is a democratic state with a clean and transparent
government, whose public officials are held responsible against the
highest standards of probity and integrity," the Ministry of Law
said in a statement to AFP.
The ministry cited the latest World Economic Forum Global
Competitiveness Report which rated Singapore as "first out of 133
countries for public trust of politicians and transparency of
government policymaking".
Human Rights Watch in its annual report released Thursday
slammed Singapore for jailing critics of the ruling People's Action
Party (PAP) and hitting them with financially devastating libel
suits.
The New York-based group also criticised the mandatory
imposition of the death penalty for certain crimes, legislation
that permit caning as well as laws that ban street protests and
allow detention without trial.
"Singapore remains the textbook example of a politically
repressive state," said HRW deputy Asia director Phil Robertson in
a press statement Thursday.
HRW's global report had a chapter on Singapore, a wealthy
city-state known for political stability, a low crime rate and a
conducive environment for global businesses to operate, but also
criticised for its little tolerance against dissent.
"Individuals who want to criticise or challenge the ruling
party's hold on power can expect to face a life of harassment,
lawsuits and even prison," Robertson said.
The Law Ministry rejected the allegations, and accused HRW of
recycling propaganda put out by opposition politician Chee Soon
Juan and other government critics.
Chee is a long-time critic of the PAP who has been jailed
several times in his struggle against the government.
"Human Rights Watchs approach seems to be that they can issue
these pronouncements and we should follow them," the Ministry of
Law said.
"And their approach seems to be that before they issue these
pronouncements, they do not need an understanding of the facts or
our viewpoints -- what we think and why we have chosen a specific
governance model. These appear to be irrelevant to them."
Finally a foreigner said something about Singapore's repressive
motion