SINGAPORE. GOVERNMENT DENIES AMNESTY ACTIVIST CHANCE TO SPEAK AGAINST DEATH PENALTY

Singapore refused to allow an official from Amnesty International to speak at a forum on the death penalty. Tim Parritt, Amnesty International specialist on Southeast Asia, was denied a permit to speak at a conference organised by political oppositionist leaders and human rights activists. Amnesty, which seeks a worldwide ban on state executions, had been highly critical of Singapore. In a January 2004 report, it said executions in Singapore were "shockingly high" and "shrouded in secrecy", calling on the state to abolish the death penalty by issuing a moratorium on all executions and commuting all death sentences to prison terms.
It said about 400 people had been hanged in Singapore since 1991, mostly for drug trafficking, giving the affluent Southeast Asian island of 4.2 million people possibly the highest execution rate in the world relative to its population.
That report drew an angry response from the government, which denied Amnesty's charge that most of those hanged were foreigners from poorer countries and backing this up with data showing 64 percent of those executed from 1993 to 2003 were Singaporeans. Under Singapore laws, foreigners must have a permit to make public speeches, a reminder that public expression is a delicate act in Singapore. Police rarely approve requests for protests. Unlicensed gatherings of more than 4 people are illegal.
"The application for Timothy Brian Parritt was received on 7 April 2005. After careful consideration, the Immigration & Checkpoints Authority decided to reject the application," said Authority spokeswoman Lim Jing Jing.
"In a blatant attempt to keep the matter under wraps, the Singapore government has now denied Mr Parritt, a Briton, the opportunity to speak and to engage Singaporeans in an open discussion on this life-and-death-matter," said the Open Singapore Centre president, Chee Soon Juan, in a statement.