Not just in " towel heads" countries....
you guys are warned!
SINGAPORE (AFP) - Amnesty International and other human rights groups have condemned the execution of Australian drug runner Nguyen Tuong Van in Singapore.
"Amnesty International condemns this execution this morning," Tim Goodwin, the group's anti-death penalty coordinator, told AFP from Sydney.
"It is an extremely sad day for his family, who have been brutalized by this cruel punishment."
Nguyen, 25, was hanged at Singapore's Changi Prison despite repeated pleas for clemency from Australia. He was convicted three years ago of carrying nearly 400 grams (14 ounces) of heroin while in transit to Australia.
Possession of more than 15 grams is punishable by death.
Despite pressure from Canberra, Singapore maintained its stance that there would be no pardon for Nguyen, who was born in a refugee camp after his mother fled Vietnam in 1980.
"All factors have been taken into account but the government decided that the law has to take its course and the law will take its course," Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said on the eve of the hanging.
He said Nguyen was carrying the equivalent of 26,000 doses of heroin when he was arrested and the death penalty deterred traffickers.
But Amnesty said the death penalty would not protect Singapore against the drug trade.
"We need to be reminded this time that the death penalty is ineffective in deterring crime ... it is an illusion that the death penalty will deter these criminal acts," said Goodwin.
Singapore's Think Centre, one of the rare civil rights groups that openly questions government policies, joined the chorus of criticism, agreeing that the death penalty would not keep drugs out of the city-state.
"People are still trying to bring in drugs via transit ... the drug problem cannot be solved by just getting the drug couriers," said Sinapan Samydorai, president of Think Centre.
The newly-formed Singapore Anti-Death Penalty Committee said in a statement they "utterly deplore and condemn" the hanging as an "inhumane and barbaric punishment disproportionate to his crime."
M. Ravi, a prominent Singapore-based human rights lawyer, called the killing "state-sanctioned murder".
"In a civil society such as Singapore, and the world that is watching this, they must learn from this lesson," he said outside Changi Prison just before the execution took place.
"At this moment, his hands are being tied, his ankles are being manacled and a hood is being placed over his head. A state sanctioned murder is going to take place."
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20051202...iceamnestyreax
"Amnesty International condemns this execution this morning," Tim Goodwin, the group's anti-death penalty coordinator, told AFP from Sydney.
"It is an extremely sad day for his family, who have been brutalized by this cruel punishment."
Nguyen, 25, was hanged at Singapore's Changi Prison despite repeated pleas for clemency from Australia. He was convicted three years ago of carrying nearly 400 grams (14 ounces) of heroin while in transit to Australia.
Possession of more than 15 grams is punishable by death.
Despite pressure from Canberra, Singapore maintained its stance that there would be no pardon for Nguyen, who was born in a refugee camp after his mother fled Vietnam in 1980.
"All factors have been taken into account but the government decided that the law has to take its course and the law will take its course," Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said on the eve of the hanging.
He said Nguyen was carrying the equivalent of 26,000 doses of heroin when he was arrested and the death penalty deterred traffickers.
But Amnesty said the death penalty would not protect Singapore against the drug trade.
"We need to be reminded this time that the death penalty is ineffective in deterring crime ... it is an illusion that the death penalty will deter these criminal acts," said Goodwin.
Singapore's Think Centre, one of the rare civil rights groups that openly questions government policies, joined the chorus of criticism, agreeing that the death penalty would not keep drugs out of the city-state.
"People are still trying to bring in drugs via transit ... the drug problem cannot be solved by just getting the drug couriers," said Sinapan Samydorai, president of Think Centre.
The newly-formed Singapore Anti-Death Penalty Committee said in a statement they "utterly deplore and condemn" the hanging as an "inhumane and barbaric punishment disproportionate to his crime."
M. Ravi, a prominent Singapore-based human rights lawyer, called the killing "state-sanctioned murder".
"In a civil society such as Singapore, and the world that is watching this, they must learn from this lesson," he said outside Changi Prison just before the execution took place.
"At this moment, his hands are being tied, his ankles are being manacled and a hood is being placed over his head. A state sanctioned murder is going to take place."
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20051202...iceamnestyreax
Comment