77 per cent Singaporeans favour death penalty for drug trafficking: Shanmugam

In a press release on the Singapore Parliament on the nation’s method to narcotics, Okay Shanmugam, Minister for Home Affairs and Minister for Law, stated on Wednesday that Singapore’s coverage “is critical, it’s efficient, [and] it’s effectively supported by Singaporeans”.

The Indian-origin minister stated on the outset of the parliamentary speech that Singapore’s method “has been criticised by some, who’re serving to inmates to abuse the authorized course of”. He added, “They try to frustrate the authorized course of and stop the penalties from being carried out.”

Singapore metes out the death penalty for drug trafficking in some circumstances, and the quantity of narcotics that draws the death penalty may be very particular. There have been calls to finish the death penalty and sentence these convicted of drug trafficking to life imprisonment as an alternative.

However, Shanmugam knowledgeable the parliament that there was “robust public assist for our drug management method”.

Citing varied surveys, the Singapore house minister stated, “There is broad assist from our inhabitants as a result of we have now been upfront and open in regards to the rationale, circumstances, and safeguards on using the death penalty.”

He added, “Surveys performed by [the Singapore Ministry of Home Affairs] present that assist for the death penalty has, actually, gone up within the final 2 years.”

Shanmugam stated, “In a 2021 MHA survey, 74 per cent of the respondents agreed or strongly agreed that the death penalty needs to be used for probably the most severe crimes, together with drug trafficking.

“We redid that survey final yr in 2023; it now exhibits that 77 per cent of the respondents agreed or strongly agreed. This is a statistically important enhance of about 3 share factors.

“The 2021 survey additionally discovered that about 66 per cent of the respondents agreed or strongly agreed that the obligatory death penalty is an acceptable punishment for trafficking a major quantity of medication.

“In the 2023 survey, 69 per cent of the respondents, nearly 7 in 10, agreed or strongly agreed, once more a statistically important enhance. MHA will probably be publishing the complete report later this yr.”

Referring to criticism of the Singapore method to coping with narcotics, the minister stated on the outset of his speech that “these criticisms are with out advantage”.

After giving particulars of the rising public assist numbers for the death penalty in narcotics trafficking circumstances, he stated, “This is sort of exceptional as a result of members [of parliament] may typically come throughout activists saying: the death penalty is controversial, assist for it’s weakening, and so forth.

“In reality, on the contrary, we’re seeing the reverse. Support for the death penalty has, actually, elevated, [and] in a statistically important means. It exhibits that Singaporeans perceive the necessity for the death penalty, to take care of probably the most severe crimes.”

Citing “one more survey”, Shanmugam stated, “In 2023, the National Council Against Drug Abuse performed a survey. Almost 91 per cent expressed assist for Singapore’s drug-free method, and 87 per cent agreed that our drug legal guidelines are efficient in preserving us comparatively drug-free. We have these excessive ranges of assist as a result of Singaporeans belief the federal government to do the appropriate factor, and to do proper by Singapore.”

Informing fellow MPs of the amount of narcotics that attracted the death penalty, Shanmugam stated, “The death penalty is imposed on individuals who visitors specified quantities. For instance, an individual who traffics 15 grams of pure heroin — which is sufficient to feed the dependancy of about 180 abusers for per week — will face capital punishment.”

Data confirmed that the Singapore drug management coverage was “an efficient deterrent”, stated the minister.

He offered a cause-and-effect state of affairs: “The proof exhibits clearly that the death penalty has been an efficient deterrent. In 1990, we launched the death penalty for trafficking greater than 1.2 kg of opium. In the 4 years that adopted, there was a 66 per cent discount within the common internet weight of opium trafficked.”

Damage completed by narcotics world wide

In his ministerial assertion, Shanmugam mentioned the worldwide and regional drug scenario; the menace from the drug commerce, and Singapore’s method to that menace; makes an attempt to unfold misinformation and undermine elements of Singapore’s drug insurance policies; and the Singapore authorities’s plans to additional strengthen drug management insurance policies.

Shanmugam offered some slides for example his assertion. Telling the MPs in regards to the fallout of drug trafficking, he stated, “…In the [European Union], half of all homicides and greater than 1 / 4 of unlawful firearms seizures have been linked to drug trafficking. So, members can think about simply what number of lives have been misplaced.”

He stated, “In the port metropolis of Rotterdam [in the Netherlands], kids — some as younger as 14 years outdated — are being recruited as ‘cocaine collectors’, to get the medication from delivery containers.

“In January of this yr, the Mayor of Amsterdam, and also you see her referred to within the quote, Femka Halsema, stated that [the] Netherlands dangers changing into a ‘narco-state’. The unlawful drug commerce has grown ‘extra profitable, skilled, and ruthlessly violent’. Think of a mayor of a serious European metropolis saying that and what the implications are.”

Giving the instance of one other European nation, the Singapore house minister stated, “Sweden, thought-about one of many most secure locations on the planet, has additionally been severely affected by drug- and gang-related violence. Since 2013, the variety of deadly shootings has greater than doubled. In 2022, there have been 391 shootings, 90 explosions, 101 tried assaults with explosives. These have been linked to fights between legal gangs over medication and arms.”

Going over some knowledge on drug use and its ill-effects within the Americas, the minister got here to the area of which Singapore is a component. He stated, “Closer to house, in South-East Asia, the Golden Triangle — the place the borders of Myanmar, Thailand, and Laos meet — is a serious drug-producing area.

“The [United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime] reported in 2022 that East and Southeast Asia are ‘actually swimming’ in Meth. In 2022 alone, 151 tonnes of Meth was seized within the area.”

Singapore is a giant goal for medication flooding SE Asia

Covering the narcotics scenario in South-East Asia in some element, Shanmugam then stated, “With that, let me now flip to the scenario in Singapore, and the menace we face right here from the drug commerce. We are a giant goal for the medication that this area is being flooded with.”

As to why Singapore was such a giant goal for drug peddlers despite its zero-tolerance coverage, he stated, “Despite our stiff penalties, some traffickers attempt their luck due to the earnings they will earn. The avenue worth for medication is way greater in Singapore than many different components on this area. Our buying energy is way greater, our GDP is way greater, our wealth is way greater — so, it’s apparent.”

Drug traffickers, stated the minister, have been fairly “modern”. Law enforcement companies in Singapore had discovered narcotics hid in “fireplace extinguishers, furnishings, and even fruits”, he added.

To drive house how grave the issue was, Shanmugam stated, “Last yr, [the Central Narcotics Bureau of Singapore] seized about SGD 15 million value of medication, and dismantled 25 drug syndicates.

“The variety of drug abusers arrested elevated by 10 per cent from the earlier yr, whereas the variety of hashish abusers reached a 10-year excessive.

“The Health and Lifestyle Survey performed by IMH in 2022 confirmed that the imply onset age of illicit drug consumption in Singapore is 15.9 years outdated — that is the age of a Secondary Four pupil.

“Members can see that we aren’t exempt from the issues that different nations face.”

Shanmugam knowledgeable the House that the federal government took “an evidence-based method in direction of drug management”.

He stated, “In 2019, we modified our coverage to deal with serving to individuals who’re pure drug abusers. If they solely abuse medication, and haven’t dedicated different offences, they’re channelled to obtain remedy, and don’t get a legal document.

“The interventions are primarily based on the chance profile of the abuser. For instance, low-risk, first-time grownup drug abusers will usually endure counselling in the neighborhood, along with common urine or hair testing.

“This minimises disruption to their each day lives whereas guaranteeing that their dependancy points are addressed.

“Beyond the mandated supervision interval, the Singapore Prison Service (SPS) continues to work with Yellow Ribbon Singapore (YRSG) and its group companions, to assist the drug abusers. For instance, YRSG assists ex-inmates with profession teaching and job placement.

“And these efforts have produced some outcomes. From 1993 to 2021, our two-year recidivism charge for these launched from DRC decreased by greater than two-and-a-half instances from 73 per cent to 27.7 per cent.

“There are many examples of ex-drug abusers who’ve kicked the behavior, main new lives.”

Authorities take robust method in opposition to drug traffickers

On the federal government coverage on drug traffickers, Shanmugam stated, “While we search to assist abusers, we take a troublesome method in opposition to drug traffickers. We have zero tolerance for those that destroy the lives of others, for cash.”

The drawback of demand-and-supply when it got here to medication needed to be handled each via training and consciousness (for the consumers) and deterrence (for the sellers), he stated.

In the context of utilizing death penalty as deterrence, Shanmugam spoke of a 2021 research performed in components of SE Asia: “We are evidence-based, so I informed my ministry, let’s do a survey from the areas the place lots of our drug traffickers come [from], to see what the populations in these areas consider our penalties, and if our penalties are a ample deterrent…. So, we did a statistically, scientifically-valid research within the components [of SE Asia] which lots of our drug traffickers come from.”

He stated, “[The regional survey] confirmed that 87 per cent of these surveyed — that is 9 out of 10 — believed that the death penalty deters folks from trafficking substantial quantities of medication into Singapore; 83 per cent, 8 out of 10, believed that the death penalty is simpler than life imprisonment in deterring drug trafficking; and 86 per cent believed that the death penalty deters severe crimes in Singapore.

“The implications are that when the drug barons go round attempting to recruit folks to come back into Singapore, folks can be very cautious. Many would say ‘no’, and in the event that they do get tempted, they could say, ‘effectively, I’d solely visitors medication beneath a sure threshold quantity’. So, that makes it far more tough to visitors substantial quantities into Singapore.”

The minister stated, “So those that counsel that the death penalty will be changed by life imprisonment ought to take a look at these figures. The deterrent results of the 2 penalties are very totally different.”

Death penalty for drug traffickers, he stated, “is critical to guard our folks, stop the destruction of 1000’s of households, and stop the lack of 1000’s of lives. That is why we keep the death penalty.”

Without mincing phrases, Shanmugam stated, “[MPs] have to know — that is nothing in need of a struggle. I say that we’re combating a struggle, and utilizing that analogy, as a result of that’s the scale when it comes to victims and misplaced lives.”

Misinformation portrays drug traffickers as victims

Discussing the misinformation campaigns in opposition to Singapore’s drug management coverage, the minister stated, “The proof for our method is compelling. People can see what is occurring world wide, which is why I took a while to elucidate the scenario, nation by nation. Despite that, in recent times, there was a small group of people that try to mislead the general public with misinformation on drug traffickers and the death penalty.

“They search to evoke sympathy by presenting a picture of an unfair legal justice system stacked in opposition to drug traffickers.

“They publish movies, photos, tales from the trafficker’s childhood, sharing interviews with members of the family — ‘He’s bought a mom’; ‘He’s bought a sister’; ‘He’s had a baby’; ‘He had a childhood’; ‘Poor man’ — portraying the trafficker as a sufferer of unlucky circumstances. ‘He didn’t have cash and, due to this fact, he trafficked medication.’

“But they omit the info of the circumstances. They omit the accounting of the harms triggered to the victims of the traffickers. They glorify the trafficker. They don’t give any voice to the victims, the variety of lives misplaced or wrecked by medication. And the rationale the traffickers have been trafficking the medication within the first place, which is to earn money.”

In a scathing response to activist campaigns attempting to elicit public sympathy for drug sellers’ households, the house minister stated, “The victims [of the dealers] even have wives, sisters, kids, dad and mom. All of those folks can even endure.

“If you face monetary difficulties, if you happen to want cash, get a job. You don’t must visitors in medication to earn money.”

Shanmugam recounted one of many “surprising tales in Singapore” associated to drug peddling: “Early final yr, a person was convicted of committing incest along with his 17-year-old daughter after sharing Meth along with her. She turned reliant on him for sustaining her dependancy and didn’t come ahead with the reality for months.”

Many different chilling info associated to drug trafficking have been offered by the minister to his fellow MPs. “But,” he stated, “these info and pictures are normally lacking from the speeches [and] posts of those that marketing campaign in opposition to the death penalty. Instead, there are baseless allegations, one-sided claims, and half-truths.”

Ministry’s future plans to handle the drug drawback

In the final a part of his speech, Shanmugam spoke of the Home Ministry’s plans to handle the drug drawback.

“We shaped the Inter-Ministry Committee (IMC) on Drug Prevention for Youths final yr,” he stated. “Members of the IMC have began working anti-drug programmes to boost consciousness on the harms of medication and mobilise key group leaders to amplify our anti-drug messages.

“Let me share some examples: SportSG has begun to include preventive drug training into its programmes and curricula for our younger athletes, and to strengthen constructive life values to remind our youths about pursuing excellence whereas preserving their minds and our bodies wholesome.

“Our faculties will cowl drug-related subjects of their faculty curricula, by extending it to different topics, such because the General Paper.

“In the Institutes of Higher Learning (IHLs), these messages will probably be strengthened at varied junctures, resembling orientation classes and pre-departure briefings earlier than college students go on abroad journeys.

“Starting this yr, we’ll introduce a ‘Drug Victims Remembrance Day’ for our communities to rally collectively to remind ourselves of the hurt, the harm, and the trauma, which the households and family members of drug abusers endure and have suffered.

“In partnership with CNB, MOE faculties and IHLs will probably be organising varied actions, resembling classes, exhibitions, and talks on the Remembrance Day. There can even be an essay competitors for youths in post-secondary instructional establishments to encourage conversations and reflections on the influence of drug abuse.”

Remembrance Day actions would come with “a candlelight show to recollect the victims of drug abuse, not solely from Singapore however from all world wide”.

In conclusion, Shanmugam stated, “We have to reply robustly to [narcotics] challenges, in order that we wouldn’t have a era caught up with drug dependancy, in order that our kids can inherit a rustic that’s protected and free of medication, and have the identical surroundings that we get pleasure from in the present day.”