Take Action for courageous Singaporeans

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• AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL Canada
• 28 October, 2008
• To: Singapore/Malaysia Network

Friends,

SINGAPORE

Amnesty International Canada today posted on its website (www.amnesty.ca) the latest appeal for Dr Chee and other anti-poverty campaigners who are facing four trials for their peaceful public gatherings. It is a shortened and updated version of the earlier appeal sent to network members. If possible, please approach your own local anti-poverty groups for support. Please support these courageous human rights defenders and opposition critics as they go into court " with heads held high".

Margaret John
Coordinator for Singapore and Malaysia


Take Action for courageous Singaporeans

Singapore: Canadian support for Dr. Chee and colleagues facing charges
Posted: 28 October 2008

SINGAPORE: Singapore opposition politician Chee Soon Juan (centre) stands along with supporters at a Singapore park designated by the government as a free-speech area in Singapore, 18 September 2006. Chee had entered the third day of a standoff with police after he was prevented from marching to the venue of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank meetings in Singapore 16 September. Any protest of more than four people is deemed an illegal assembly in Singapore, a prosperous Asian financial hub that maintains strict controls on freedom of expression.
OSLAN RAHMAN/AFP/Getty Images Government critics and human rights defenders, led by opposition leader Dr Chee Soon Juan, are facing criminal charges for participating in peaceful anti-poverty rallies. But important support for Dr Chee grows, as Canada's National Post calls the Singapore government "a bully" and former Canadian High Commissioner to Singapore Michael Berry follows up with a letter commenting on the "relentless harassment of Dr Chee...aided by an accommodating judiciary". And Canadian lawyer Robert Amsterdam is setting up an international group of lawyers to focus on Dr Chee.
The ruling People's Action Party, in power for half a century, has increasingly brought ruinous defamation and other suits against critics who call for human rights and democracy. Dr Chee has been repeatedly imprisoned. He and others have been bankrupted, thus barring them from seeking parliamentary seats and from leaving the country without approval. Their party, the Singapore Democratic Party, faces possible closure.
Four trials are currently scheduled against the anti-poverty campaigners, including Dr Chee and his sister,Chee Siok Chin. All are charged with assembly and procession without a permit. Permits are required for public gatherings of more than four people. Eighteen people facing the first trial stated that they would walk into court "with our heads held high...It is a fight that all who wish to see democracy and freedom in Singapore must undertake". Canadian lawyer Robert Amsterdam is providing legal advice from abroad. Singapore's lawyers rarely defend the opposition, and foreign defence lawyers for government critics have found it difficult to gain entry into Singapore.
Amnesty International has repeatedly called on the Singapore government to stop using restrictive laws and civil defamation suits to muzzle critics. Such actions impose restrictions on freedom of expression and assembly that violate international standards. The result is a climate of political intimidation and self-censorship in Singapore. Dr Chee Soon Juan and his colleagues resolutely state their determination to continue their campaign for human rights and democracy – at whatever the personal cost.
TAKE ACTION:

Please write to the President of Singapore

• Call for an end to the use of restrictive laws and civil defamation suits against critics;
• State that the stifling of criticism and debate is a clear violation of international law and standards on freedom of expression;
• Express your understanding that the government has claimed to be building an " open society" and ask the reason therefore for the continuing use of restrictive laws against peaceful critics and human rights defenders.

WRITE TO:

<ADDRESS>
President S R Nathan
Office of the President of Singapore
Orchard Road
Singapore 238823
Fax: 011 65 6737 5522
Email: [email protected]
Salutation: Dear President</ADDRESS>COPIES TO:

<ADDRESS>
His Excellency Mr Vanu Gopala Menon
High Commissioner for Singapore and Permanent Representative of Singapore to the UN
231 East 51st Street
New York, NY 10022, USA
Fax: +1 212 826 2964
Salutation: Your Excellency </ADDRESS>Please Send Messages of Support to:

<ADDRESS>
Dr Chee Soon Juan and colleagues
2A Jalan Gelenggang
Singapore 578187
Email: [email protected]

Singapore : Additional Information

News Releases

Singapore: Government misusing the law to muzzle critics (14 December 2006)

</ADDRESS>

 

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You see sooner or later the Speaker's Corner will be abolished

 

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AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL Canada

To Singapore/Malaysia Network
Friends,
SINGAPORE: Trial of Dr Chee Soon Juan and colleagues draws further international comment
Diane Francis's article in Canada's National Post (NP) (21/10), which you received earlier this week, drew a very strong, outspoken follow-up letter to the editor from Canada's former High Commissioner to Singapore, Michael Berry. Please see his letter below, in which he writes of the "relentless harassment of Dr Chee by the Singapore government, aided by an accommodating judiciary". Also below is a letter to the NP from Singapore's Consul General in Vancouver. In addition, I have included my own letter to the NP, unfortunately not published (at least so far).
Encouraging news for all of us, whether we are part of the campaign on Singapore within the country or worldwide: Canadian lawyer Robert Amsterdam, who is providing legal counsel to Dr Chee from outside Singapore, is establishing an international committee of lawyers to assist Dr Chee and to explore applicable international and humanitarian law options. Mr Amsterdam stated that it is "time for the world to stand up and staunchly defend this courageous man, who has made heroic personal sacrifices in the name of democracy".
This week, Dr Chee and colleagues have faced the court for their " illegal" peaceful gathering and procession on March 15, 2008 (World Consumer Day). They had gathered to show their concern about poverty in Singapore as opposed, for example, to high salaries of government ministers. Dr Chee's dignified and moving address to the court called for the judge to dismiss the charges on the grounds that the Constitution guarantees the right to "assemble peaceably and without arms". He also referred to standards required of judges as quoted by Canadian Chief Justice Beverly McLachlin, and to standards agreed to by Singapore as a member of the United Nations, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and the Commonwealth. In his address, Dr Chee stated: "What we have done is to care for our nation and our fellow men and women. You don't know how tempting it is to give up right now and just walk away...I have been jailed seven times....No matter how difficult it is, I will continue to have faith and believe that one day I will be able to persuade the courts to see the importance of what I am saying and working for".

All good wishes,
Margaret John
Coordinator for Singapore and Malaysia


Good for Diane Francis in bringing attention to the case of Dr. Chee Soon Juan and his ordeal in trying to bring real democracy to Singapore. The relentless harassment of Dr. Chee by the Singapore government, aided by an accommodating judiciary, is a repeat of what they did to J. B. Jeyaretnam, the former head of the Workers' Party there. Until his recent death, Mr. Jeyaretnam fought to reform Singapore's politics and force the government to let genuine democracy prevail. For the last 25 years of his life the Singapore government took him to court many times, and in the end, forced him into bankruptcy, as they have done to Dr. Chee.
Singapore may have become an economic success, but its political system is, in practice, authoritarian and no doubt will remain so as long as the former prime minster, Lee Kuan Yew, continues to be the eminence grise, especially since his son is now the prime minister.
Singapore has produced some very fine people who work in the public and private sectors, but even today they are virtually all cowed into silence about the need for the country to become a true democracy.
Michael Berry ( former Canadian High Commissioner to Singapore), Qualicum Beach, B. C.

Re: The Myth Of Singapore Democracy, Diane Francis, Oct. 21.
Diane Francis reported as fact Dr. Chee Soon Juan's unfounded contentions about Singapore. An example is her story about why he left his university. He was sacked after he misused research funds, and then tried to mislead an ensuing investigation. Ms. Francis stated that he sued his department head. In fact, he was sued by his department head for allegations that Dr. Chee had made in an interview. When challenged, he withdrew his defence to avoid being cross-examined.
Contrary to what Dr. Chee told Ms. Francis, there was no "secret" financial support given by Singapore to the "corrupt Suharto regime." Before the 2001 general election, he suggested that the prime minister and ministers had misused S$17-billion (US$10-billion) to help Indonesia and then misled Parliament and the public about it. This was totally false. When he was sued, he apologized publicly then retracted his apology but produced no evidence to back his allegations.
Singapore has a hard-earned reputation for clean government adhering to the highest standards of probity and integrity. When allegations are made against them, ministers have sued to protect their reputation and have (unlike Dr. Chee) taken the stand to be questioned publicly.
Foo Chin Kwok, Consul General of Singapore, Vancouver
AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL Canada
Re: The myth of Singaporean democracy (21 October) (Note: Not published)

Dear Editor,

Diane Francis's concern for Singapore's most prominent opposition government critic, Dr Chee Soon Juan, is shared by Amnesty International. She is right to condemn the persecution to which Dr Chee is subjected by the Singapore government. This is a courageous man who has been fired from his academic post, imprisoned several times, bankrupted, barred from seeking a parliamentary seat, and confined to Singapore -- unless given permission to leave..

His crime? He presses, through non-violent action, for human rights and democracy. His public actions are directed at the ruling Peoples' Action Party, which has held almost every parliamentary seat for half a century, during which period it has been responsible for lengthy detentions without trial of its critics. Ill-treatment, at times amounting to torture, has been meted out to political and criminal prisoners. And Singapore is believed to have one of the highest per capita rates of execution of any country worldwide, with executions often following trials that fall short of international standards for fairness. In recent years, it has increasingly used the law to penalise the opposition, thus giving the appearance of an acceptable legal process. It has been strongly condemned by prominent law associations such as the International Bar Association and Lawyers' Rights Watch Canada.

Amnesty International has repeatedly called on the Singapore government to stop using defamation suits and restrictive laws to muzzle critics and opposition party members such as Dr Chee and to silence peaceful government critics. The result is a climate of political intimidation and self-censorship within the country. It is a climate that stifles freedom of expression, deters the expression of views other than those of the People's Action Party and dissuades many Singaporeans from exercising their right to take part in public affairs.


Yours sincerely,

Margaret John

Coordinator for Singapore and Malaysia

 

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Human Rights goes on trial in
S'pore with Chee Soon Juan case

USNewswire
October 23, 2008
NEW YORK
TODAY, Thursday, Oct 23, Singaporean opposition party leader Dr Chee Soon Juan and others will stand trial for unlawful assembly charges, which lawyers believe may result in punitive prison sentences.
"This latest trial of Chee Soon Juan represents yet another showcase of fundamental human rights violations and constitutional manipulation that has become Singapore's darkest secret," said lawyer Robert Amsterdam, of Amsterdam & Peroff, who provides international legal assistance to Soon Juan.
"After suffering so many arbitrary arrests and charges, it's time for the world to stand up and staunchly defend this courageous man, who has made heroic personal sacrifices in the name of democracy."
Today Mr Amsterdam is announcing the formation of an international legal support committee, which will explore a wide variety of international and human rights law options to assist Soon Juan. So far, the committee includes the participation of law professor William Burke-White of the University of Pennsylvania, Bryan Schwartz, a constitutional law specialist from the University of Manitoba, US appellate lawyer David Rivkin, UK lawyer Alan Bates, and many other notable figures.
The Oct 23 trial concerns charges against 18 activists involved with Soon Juan's political party, the Singapore Social Democrats, for allegedly participating in an assembly without a permit on March 15, 2008 to protest rising housing costs. As a dissident, Soon Juan has been left alone to defend himself without local counsel, and will argue that the charges are unconstitutional given the guaranteed right to freedom of assembly as outline in Singapore's constitution.
A July 2008 report by the International Bar Association comments that "it certainly appears that Dr Chee has been made a target of the Singapore government, and that their criticism of him has gone far beyond a reasonable standard."
This trial comes on top of several ruinous defamation lawsuits against Soon Juan amounting to almost $1 million, forcing him to sell his home and possessions and serve jail time. Chee Soon Juan has already been imprisoned in Singapore seven times: four times for speaking in public, twice for contempt of court, and once for attempting to leave the country to attend a conference on democracy. He is currently barred from leaving Singapore, and faces six more trials through the next four months.
"Like I have seen in cases from Guatemala to Russia, we are witnessing the weaponization of law, whereby courts are used as a tool of repression in certain political cases," said Amsterdam. "No foreign government, NGO, or business should tolerate such heinous practices."