Response to Statement Presented to MHA on 9 October 2023

1. A statement was presented to MHA on 9 October 2023, along with a petition signed by a number of people, including family members of those who have been sentenced to death in Singapore. The petition called for executions to be halted and for an immediate moratorium on the death penalty to be imposed; and the statement also claimed that these prisoners are living in poor prison conditions.

2. Singapore’s position on capital punishment is well-known, and has been articulated several times. One such document, setting out the reasons why we have the death penalty, can be found here .

3. More lives have been saved as a result of our strict approach to drug trafficking. People who traffic drugs do so to make money while knowing the consequences. Those who have been caught trafficking beyond the capital threshold, and who have been sentenced to death, have been given full and due process in Court – where they were able to put forth their defences.

4. Capital punishment has been discussed many times in Singapore, including in Parliament, where it has been accepted. The Leader of the Opposition also does not object to it being a sentencing option for drug traffickers . It is also clear from the studies done by MHA that there remains strong domestic support for the death penalty, including for drug trafficking.

5. On prison conditions, this has been debated in Parliament in a Ministerial Statement in July 2022 . The prison regime and prison environment is kept intentionally austere and spartan, and meets the essential needs of inmates.