November 4, 2024

Singapore: May Day Arrest and Detention of
Workers Rights Activist Chee Soon Juan

The Lawyers Committee expresses concern at reports of substandard prison conditions

On October 8, 2002, Singapore’s subordinate court sentenced opposition leader Dr. Chee Soon Juan to five weeks imprisonment after he refused to pay a US$2,540 fine for holding a public event without a police permit, an offense under the Public Entertainments and Meetings Act 1959. Dr. Chee had applied for a permit to hold a May Day rally in support of basic human rights for workers worldwide. His application was rejected on the grounds that it would lead to potential law and order problems. Dr. Chee nonetheless proceeded to hold the rally in order to highlight restrictions on free speech and public gatherings in Singapore. He was then charged with permit violation and willful trespass, despite the fact that the Presidential Palace, where the rally was held, is state property and was open to the public on the relevant day.

The Lawyers Committee is deeply concerned by recent reports of the substandard conditions that Dr. Chee faces in prison. Dr. Chee, now in his second week of detention, is incarcerated with two other prisoners in a poorly ventilated cell of size 7 feet by 15 feet without sanitary toilet facilities. Dr. Chee’s wife faced harassment when attempting to visit the prison.

Dr. Chee, the secretary general of the opposition Singapore Democratic Party, was imprisoned twice in 1999, for speaking in public without a permit. Dr. Chee has previously been ordered to pay libel damages and costs in relation to comments he made following his dismissal from a university teaching post. He has also been prosecuted for selling his political writings without a permit. In August of this year, Dr. Chee was found, without trial, to have defamed Singapore’s present and former prime ministers after raising questions during the general elections in November 2001 about secret Singapore government loans to former Indonesian President Suharto. Also this year, he was prohibited from seeking election to parliament for a period of five years for flouting a ban on openly debating religious issues.

Article 14 of the Singaporean Constitution explicitly guarantees freedom of speech, association and assembly. Nevertheless, the Public Entertainments and Meetings Act 1959 is repeatedly used to convict and detain those who criticize government policy. This Act is one of a raft of laws used by the Singaporean government to suppress voices of dissent and trample on basic freedoms. The most stringent of these, the Internal Security Act 1960, allows for indefinite detention without trial of suspects thought to be involved in activities that might threaten national security. Detention under this Act is at the order of the President and detainees have no right to challenge the basis for detention in the courts. The threat of incarceration remains a constant obstacle to those in Singapore who, like Dr. Chee, advocate human rights and democratic values.

Dr. Chee is a prominent advocate for fair conditions of labor, including adequate wages, severance entitlements and job security. Dr. Chee argues that Singapore’s restrictions of workers’ rights are having an adverse impact on the quality of Singapore’s industrial output. He has written: “With a workforce that has been conditioned more to conform than reform, economic growth has been largely fuelled by increases in capital investment without a corresponding increase in quality output from worker efficiency. Such an economy will, in time, have tremendous difficulty in regenerating itself.” His work highlights the contribution of strong independent trade unions and workers’ rights organizations to economic development. He criticizes the government’s repressive policies as a disincentive for foreign investors, as well as being anathema to democratic values. The Singaporean government has used its extensive repressive powers in an attempt to silence Dr. Chee.

The Lawyers Committee calls upon the government of Singapore to immediately release Dr. Chee and to ensure that he and other human rights advocates are able to fully exercise their rights to freedom of expression, association and assembly. As well as being guaranteed by the Singaporean Constitution, these fundamental rights are enshrined in several international human rights instruments, including the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. At a time of declining economic growth, Singapore should be particularly attentive to its human rights record to bolster the confidence of foreign investors and governments. The use of repressive legislation such as the Public Entertainment and Meeting Act and the Internal Security Act to prevent human rights defenders and political critics from speaking out is in blatant violation of international human rights instruments. The Lawyers Committee believes that human rights, workers rights, democracy and economic development are tightly linked. By disregarding or downgrading rights and democracy the Singaporean authorities risk undermining economic development.

RECOMMENDED ACTION

Please take action through our website or by taking the following steps

Please write to the Minister of Justice of Singapore, expressing your concern about the violations of basic freedoms of speech, association and assembly suffered by independent, thinkers, activists and politicians. Urge the Singaporean government to release Dr. Chee immediately and to repeal legislation that inhibits peaceful public debate under the guise of protecting national security. We have provided a model letter below, and encourage you to send this, or similar text, to the Singaporean authorities, with copies to your diplomatic representatives in Singapore, and to diplomatic representatives of Singapore in your country.

Letters to:
Professor S. Jayakumar
Minister of Law
100 High Street
#08-02 The Treasury
Singapore 179434
Fax: 011 65 6332 8842
Email: mlaw_enquiry@mlaw.gov.sg

Copy to:
Ambassador Frank Lavin
Singaporean Ambassador to the U.S.
Embassy of the United States of America
27 Napier Road
Singapore 258508
Fax: 011 65 6476 9040

Should you require more information, please contact Laurie Berg (212 845 5235, Bergl@lchr.org).

* * * * * * *

Dear Sir,

I would like to bring your attention to the case of Dr. Chee Soon Juan, the Secretary General of the Singapore Democratic Party. His detention, following a rally outside the Presidential Palace on May 1 of this year, highlights the Singaporean government’s disrespect for freedom of speech, association and assembly. I am deeply troubled by reports of the conditions in which Dr. Chee is detained and restrictions on his family members’ access to the prison, which suggest that Singapore is failing to apply international minimum standards in its treatment of prisoners. I call on you to release Dr. Chee immediately and unconditionally, and to repeal legislation which restricts basic civil rights and core democratic values.

As you are aware, on October 8, Dr. Chee was found to have violated the Public Entertainment and Meeting Act by holding a public event without a police permit. He had applied for such a permit for a May Day rally calling for stronger protections of workers’ rights in Singapore. However, the application was rejected on the unsupported basis that the gathering posed a potential threat to law and order. These application procedures seem arbitrary and lacking in transparency and represent an illegitimate restriction on Dr. Chee’s rights to freedom of speech and assembly, which are enshrined in Article 14 of the Constitution of Singapore.

I am concerned that the regulation of public gatherings in Singapore is not solely motivated by a reasonable desire to maintain public order but that legislation is being selectively enforced against voices of the opposition. Dr. Chee has an enviable international profile as a committed activist on issues of social justice and has been penalized many times in the past for making public statements on these issues. Indeed, internationally, there is a widespread perception that the police and ruling party use the judicial system for political purposes.

In addition, I am gravely disturbed about another law used to regulate public discourse in Singapore: the Internal Security Act. This legislation is a relic of British colonial rule that has no appropriate application in modern Singaporean society. There are no security threats to Singapore which reasonably justify the expansive powers of indefinite detention without trial found in this legislation. Both it and the Public Entertainment and Meeting Act are incompatible with the commitment to democracy and human rights made by your government and enshrined in Singapore’s Constitution.

Thank you for your consideration of this important matter.

Sincerely,