January 23, 2010 by admin
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Agence France-Presse, 23 January 2010
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 Watch?s 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.” – AFP
January 23, 2010 by Lee Chong
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作者：Phil Robertson （Human Rights Watch）22-1-2010
译者：新加坡文献馆
近日一些民运活动分子的判刑展示了政府对多元政治缺乏容忍。
新加坡持续成为课本上的政治压制型国家(politically repressive
state)，批评或者挑战执政党权力的任何人会招致不断的骚扰，诉讼或者甚至于监禁。
人权观察组织(Human Rights
Watch)在今日发布的2010年世界报告书中指出，当新加坡正从国际金融危机的阴影中走出，并将准备在今年稍后时间举行大选的当儿，政府应该利用这时机改善其人权记录。
这本612页的报告书是该组织的第20份全球人权常年报告书，简述超过90个国家的主要人权发展大趋势。新加坡篇章中指出政府在数个重要的人权领域中犯错，其中包括表述自由，结社与集会自由。当新加坡自豪在东南亚经济群体中表现不凡时，却对其人民人权持续不于理睬。
人权观察组织的副亚洲司长费尔罗柏遜(Phil
Robertson)指出：那些指责或挑战执政党的政治权力者会招致不断的骚扰，诉讼或者甚至于监禁。
在公开场所表述观点的自由是受局限在市区内的一个演说广场。在公众行为2009法令规定下，任何一个有活动目的的游行或者集会都必须在事前先行获得警方的许可证。
严峻的法制下，比如内部安全法令(Internal Security Act )，刑事法（临时条款） (Criminal Law
(Temporary Provisions) Act )，滥用药品法(Misuse of Drugs
Act)，以及不良出版物法(Undesirable Publications Act)
都是政府可以用来鉗制温和性批评言论。2009年12月，3名长期的政府 批评者 – 徐顺全博士(Dr. Chee Soon
Juan)，徐淑珍(Chee Siok Chin)和甘尼安巴南(Gandhi
Ambalam)，因为派发批评政府的传单而被定罪。过后，3人因为拒绝缴付罚款而被判入狱受短期囚禁。
关注形象的新加坡有时会选择放弃刑事诉讼而改用骚扰，比如以诽谤诉讼获取巨额赔偿来打击华尔街日报和远东经济论坛，并以新闻印刷与出版法令(Newspaper
and Printing Presses Acts)来规范流通量等权利上的限制。
人权观察组织呼吁取消体罚和死刑，其中在刑法典内约30种罪行要受到鞭刑处罚，20种与药物有关的罪行是必须以死刑处决。人权观察组织指出新加坡拒绝所有要
求取消末经审讯的强制性拘押，拒绝接受鞭刑是残忍，非人道和有辱人格的处罚，并坚持以死刑处罚毒品走私，这些都违反国际人权组织的标准。
人权观察组织批评新加坡持续不顾呼吁推翻对在法制上禁止男性进行私人与双方同意的性行为。
罗柏遜认为当新加坡展望未来以及即将举行大选的当儿，应该放下长期的固执去接受国际人权组织的人权准则。新加坡应该有相信人民的信心，让他们享有表述自由，集会自由和结社自由，因为人民的持续参与有助国家的继续繁荣。
来源：http://www.hrw.org/en/news/2010/01/20/singapore-textbook-example-repressive-state