By Imelda Saad | Posted: 25
February 2011 1833 hrs
SINGAPORE: The Singapore government has submitted
its report on the country's human
rights track record to the United Nations, as part of a review of
all UN member states.
This is the first time Singapore's human rights record is under
scrutiny by the UN.
One-hundred-and-fifty-nine states have been reviewed since first
the first Universal Periodic Review (UPR) session in April
2008.
The 10,700-word report submitted to the UN seeks to put in context
Singapore's political and social landscape.
It also looks into the protection of human rights in areas such as
housing, education and special interest groups such as women,
children and migrant workers.
Observers said issues that could attract attention include those
concerning Singapore's position on detention without trial, right
of assembly and corporal punishment including the death
penalty.
In its report, the government said Singapore's diverse
multi-racial, multi-religious society poses a challenge in
balancing social harmony with the preservation of individual
rights.
Under the chapter on political and civil liberties, the government
said "no person has ever been detained for engaging in lawful
political activities" in Singapore.
It added Singaporeans are free to set up societies and
associations. There were 7,100 registered societies in 2009,
compared to 5,300 in 1999 and 3,900 in 1988.
But the report added while Singaporeans are free to establish such
groups, there are certain restrictions in the Societies Act to
"ensure that groups intended for unlawful purposes or pose a threat
to public order and welfare are not established".
Between 2007 and 2009, five out of 886 applications for
registration were rejected.
The government added Singapore "considers capital punishment as a
criminal justice issue, rather than a human rights one".
The report said capital punishment is imposed only for the most
serious of crimes.
In the case of drug trafficking, the death penalty has deterred
major drug syndicates from establishing themselves in
Singapore.
On preventive detention, the government said it's a "last resort"
to counter serious threats against public or national
security.
"The need to protect witnesses and informants from intimidation is
one of the reasons for preventive detention".
The Internal Security Act (ISA) for example, is not "punitive" but
"preventive" in neutralising threats such as the emergence of
terror group, the Jemaah Islamiyah.
The report said: "Governments around the world increasingly
recognise the need for preventive powers within a comprehensive
institutionalised framework to deal effectively with terrorism and
all forms of violent extremism".
While the Singapore constitution provides that every citizen has
the right to freedom of expression, the report said "Singapore's
small size, high population density and diversity mean that actions
or speech by one group of people could potentially have an impact
on other groups.
"Given this, it is vital that individual rights and freedoms be
exercised responsibly within a legal framework".
Civil society groups said the process is a good learning
journey.
Braema Mathi, chairperson of Maruah, which represents a coalition
of civil society organisations in Singapore, said: "It runs the
risk of being a talk show, definitely we have to admit that, and I
think this is where the test comes for the state -- whether the
state is serious and to the best that all I have seen of Singapore,
Singapore takes its international conventions very seriously and
when it does agree to something, it tries to make sure that it acts
on them.
"So I'm hoping that this will be one such structure that it will
move on certain things.
"Of course, it will be foolhardy to think that 'wow! We will go and
change everything overnight', but on certain crucial things, I
think we must move and I hope that in the next four-year cycle, we
can go there and say 'ok these areas, we have improved
substantially, not just the marginal tinkering around the
edges'.
"We hope that with greater publicity, (we) will be more aware of
human rights. This is in a way a report card that the UN is trying
to bring more and more countries onto a universal platform on how
human rights is appreciated, observed and acted upon.
"I think that's a very good beginning and we hope that more of our
citizens will get engaged in looking at this".
Ms Mathi said this was a rigorous process for civil society and the
government because Singapore is fact oriented.
"And in that process, we also do a lot of self learning and that's
a good thing," she said.
"This cannot be done in isolation, governments cannot work on these
things on their own, neither can civil society. So the more we
interact, the more we consult one another, the more we work towards
common goals, the better we make the country."
Still, Ms Mathi said she would have seen more of the inputs from
civil society groups included in the report.
"The state has given a factual accounting of our thought processes,
our history, how we relate to, in broad strokes, the concept of
human rights.
"Basically it is the state stating its case in a lot of ways and I
think there are no surprises in that approach.
"It would have been good to have some response because for the
first time, quite a number of the civil society organisations put
up their report to the office of the human rights council and
therefore I do think it would have been great to see some form of
interaction.
"But I also understand that this is the approach the state will
take and all the specific issues will come up on May 6 when the
government will be due for its report submission and interaction by
other governments, who will then ask questions alongside
international NGOs.
"So we hope that during that period of interaction, there will be
more substantive questions on the various matters raised by the
different civil society groups".
The national report is one of three to be submitted to the
UN.
The rest are reports by local and international civil society
organisations as well as one from the Office of the High
Commissioner of Human Rights.
Singapore, led by Minister for Home Affairs & Minister for Law
K Shanmugam, will make its representation in Geneva on May 6.
The three-hour session will involve a dialogue with UN member and
observer states.
An outcome document which is a summary of the proceedings and
recommendations will be adopted on May 10.
The final outcome document will be adopted in September. This is
where civic society organisations can also speak before the UN
formally adopts the outcome document.
The final outcome document from this process will form the basis of
the next review in four years.
The government has said Singapore will build on its achievements in
human rights.
Preserving racial and religious harmony is top priority but it
added laws will evolve to meet the changing political, economic and
social aspirations of Singaporeans".
-CNA/wk
