The United Nations Human Rights Office of the High Commissioner issued a statement on Monday (April 25) urging the Government of Singapore to halt the imminent execution of Nagaenthran K Dharmalingam and Datchinamurthy Kataiah.
Nagaenthran, 34, is set to be hanged on Wednesday (April 27) and Datchinamurthy, 36, is scheduled for execution two days afterwards (April 29). Both are Malaysian officials who were convicted of drug offences.
We urge #Singapore🇸🇬 to commute the sentences of Dharmalingam & Kataiah, due to be executed on Wednesday for drug offences.
Read more: https://t.co/hbD1mbSRsa pic.twitter.com/lHbq0wThTU
— UN Human Rights (@UNHumanRights) April 25, 2022
“We are deeply concerned at the rapid rise in the number of execution notices issued since the beginning of the year in Singapore, mainly for drug-related offences.”
The statement noted that after a hiatus of over two years, judicial executions began again last month, on March 30, when Abdul Kahar bin Othman, who had been convicted of drug-related offences, was hanged.
There are at least three other men found guilty of drug-related offences who are also at risk of imminent execution: Roslan bin Bakar, Rosman bin Abdullah, and Pannir Selvam Pranthaman, and over 50 individuals are allegedly on death row in Singapore, the statement added.
The UN Human Rights office added, “The use of the death penalty for drug-related offences is incompatible with international human rights law. Countries that have not yet abolished the death penalty may only impose it for the ‘most serious crimes’, which is interpreted as crimes of extreme gravity involving intentional killing.”
Furthermore, it urged the Government to “immediately halt execution plans” and consider granting clemency to the two men, as well as commuting their sentences to prison terms.
It also called upon Singapore to review “its long-standing position on the death penalty in light of increasing evidence showing its ineffectiveness as a deterrent and to consider implementing a moratorium on all death sentences pending such review.”
Nagaenthran, who is said to have an IQ of 69 and to suffer from an intellectual disability, has been on death row for 11 years. He was arrested for drug trafficking when he was 21, and sentenced to death for importing 42.72g of heroin into Singapore. At his trial, he claimed he had been coerced by a man who assaulted him and threatened to kill his girlfriend.
His case landed in the international spotlight last year, with many local activists and international figures calling for his pardon, including the Prime Minister and King of Malaysia. He had originally been scheduled to hang on Nov 10. But his execution was delayed when he tested positive for Covid-19 on Nov 8.
On Monday night, a candlelight vigil at Hong Lim Park was held for Nagaenthran and Datchinamurthy.
In 2015, Datchinamurthy, also a Malaysian national, was sentenced to hang after having been found guilty of smuggling 44.96gm of diamorphine into Singapore in 2011. /TISG
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