Ex-political detainees urge Singapore to scrap security law
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Ex-prisoners urge Singapore to scrap security law
SINGAPORE — Former political prisoners in Singapore have demanded the abolition of a British colonial law allowing detention without trial after neighbouring Malaysia vowed to repeal similar legislation.
In a rare public message, carried by an independent website and reported in pro-government media Tuesday, 16 former detainees held under the Internal Security Act (ISA) said it was time to abolish the controversial law.
"Singapore inherited the ISA from Malaysia. This law has been in existence for more than half a century and its impact on society is both crippling and pernicious," the petitioners said.
The ISA, first implemented by Britain after World War II to fight communist insurgents in colonies collectively known as Malaya, was retained by Singapore after it became independent from the Malaysian federation in 1965.
The ISA has been denounced by critics in both nations as a tool to stifle dissent, but Singapore rejected calls for its abolition after Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak announced last week that his government would repeal it.
In a statement on Friday, Singapore's Ministry of Home Affairs said the ISA remained "relevant" against threats of subversion, racial and religious extremism, espionage and terrorism.
"No person has ever been detained only for their political beliefs," the ministry said.
The Singapore petitioners included Chia Thye Poh, who spent 26 years in detention and was one of the world's longest-held political prisoners along with South Africa's democracy icon and former president Nelson Mandela.
Chia was a 1960s socialist intellectual and opposition MP who was accused of being a communist subversive, a charge he firmly denied.
Seven of the signatories were detained in 1987 for an alleged Marxist conspiracy against the government of Singapore's founding leader Lee Kuan Yew, who was prime minister from 1959 to 1990.
Lee, 88, stepped down in May as an adviser to the cabinet of his son, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, following a general election in which the ruling party lost six seats and garnered an all-time low of 60 percent of the vote.
Since the campaign for the May polls, government critics have become increasingly bolder in their demands for greater political freedom in Singapore.
Last month's presidential election, in which former deputy prime minister Tony Tan won by a slim margin against three rivals with just 35 percent of the vote, was seen as a further sign of public support for reforms.
"Singapore has many existing laws that will deal with acts of terrorism," the petitioners said, citing the penal code and laws specifically directed at terrorism, firearms and explosives possession and illicit fund transfers.
"These laws provide severe punishments which include death, life imprisonment and caning."
There was no immediate reaction from the home ministry to the petition.
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Former detainees: Abolish the ISA 
TUESDAY, 20 SEPTEMBER 2011 A statement issued by Singapore's former ISA detainees
We welcome Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak’s announcement that his government would repeal the Internal Security Act (ISA) and the Emergency Ordinance. He said the changes are aimed at “having a modern, mature and functioning democracy which will continue to preserve public order, ensure greater civil liberties and maintain racial harmony.” We look forward to the Malaysian Prime Minister fulfilling his promise to his people.
Singapore inherited the ISA from Malaysia. This law has been in existence for more than half a century and its impact on society is both crippling and pernicious. Its life began soon after the Second World War as the Emergency Regulations in 1948 when the British used it to put down strong anti-colonial movements. In 1955, the Preservation of Public Security Ordinance incorporating the Emergency Regulations was passed. When Singapore joined Malaysia in 1963, the Federation of Malaya’s Internal Security Act 1960 became part of our law.
The Ministry of Home Affairs claims that:
“ … A person arrested under the ISA in Singapore may be held in custody for up to 30 days after which an Order of Detention or Restriction Order must be issued or else the person must be released unconditionally.
In Malaysia, the period of custody is up to 60 days…” (ST 17.9.2011)This comparison is irrelevant because political detainees in Singapore have been imprisoned for periods which far exceed those in Malaysia. Dr Chia Thye Poh was imprisoned for 26 years. Dr Lim Hock Siew was imprisoned for 20 years. Mr Lee Tee Tong was imprisoned for 18 years and Dr Poh Soo Kai and Inche Said Zahari for 17 years.
The Ministry further claims that the Advisory Board is a safeguard against abuse under the ISA.
The protection accorded by the Advisory Board is spurious, if not a farce. Several of us have appeared before such a board and can confirm that the board did not examine witnesses and evidence against the detainee. In 1987, appearances before the board lasted not more than a few minutes each. Furthermore, detainees were discouraged from appearing before the board by ISD officers. Many were advised that appearing before the board would jeopardise their chances of early release.
Singapore has many existing laws that will deal with acts of terrorism. We have the Penal Code, the Sedition Act, Corrosive and Explosive Substances and Offensive Weapons Act, Vandalism Act and after 9/11, the Terrorism (Suppression of Bombings) Act and the Terrorism (Suppression of Financing) Act. These laws provide severe punishments which include death, life imprisonment and caning.
In 1991, then Deputy Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said, “Singapore will seriously consider abolishing the Internal Security Act if Malaysia were to do so”. He made this response to seven Malaysian journalists in his office when asked why the ISA was still needed in Singapore even though the Communist Party of Malaya no longer posed a threat. (ST 3.2.1991.) Now that Malaysia is repealing the ISA, we call upon PM Lee Hsien Loong to translate his 1991 statement into reality and keep in step with the aspirations of our people for a mature and functioning democracy. Indefinite detention without trial is an affront to the human rights of citizens and an assault on our justice system.
Dated this 19th day of September 2011.Dr Lim Hock Siew
Dr Poh Soo Kai
Said Zahari
Lee Tee Tong
Loh Miaw Gong
Chng Min Oh @ Chuang Men-Hu
Tan Sin alias Tan Seng Hin
Toh Ching Kee
Koh Kay Yew
Vincent Cheng Kim Chuan
Teo Soh Lung
Yap Hon Ngian
Tan Tee Seng
Low Yit Leng
Wong Souk Yee
Tang Fong Har
Three of Singapore's longest-held ex-political detainees in a recent photo. From left : Dr Chia Thye Poh (32 years), Dr Poh Soo Kai (17 years), Dr Lim Hock Siew (19 years). Seated is the late Mr Tan Jing Quee, twice detained under the ISA.
(From left): Activist Isrizal Mohd Isa, ex-detainees Vincent Cheng, Chia Thye Poh, Wong Souk Yee and Teo Soh Lung.
http://yoursdp.org/index.php/news/singapore/4966-former-detainees-abolish-the-isa
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Malaysia opens up. When will Singapore? FRIDAY, 16 SEPTEMBER 2011 Singapore Democrats
The Malaysian Government took a decisive step towards democracy when Prime Minister Najib Razak announced that the notorious Internal Security Act would be repealed and laws restricting freedom of assembly would be changed to meet international standards.
Singapore's activists called for ISA to be abolished (2009).
This development is significant because the ISA and other anti-democratic laws are shared by Malaysia and Singapore. They were devised by the British during colonial rule to detain without trial independence fighters.
The ISA has since been repeatedly used by both the PAP and Barisan Nasional to imprison opposition leaders, trade unionists, journalists, and student activists who have opposed their rule.
In Singapore national leaders like Mr Chia Thye Poh, Dr Lim Hock Siew and Mr Said Zahari were cruelly snatched from their families and locked up without being given a chance to defend themselves in a court of law. Mr Chia was imprisoned for 23 years, Dr Lim 20 and Mr Said 17 years.
In the early 1960s, Mr Lee Kuan Yew had worked with the Malaysians and British to detain his archrival Mr Lim Chin Siong who was the PAP's popular leader and much loved by Singaporeans. (Read Lim Chin Siong vs Lee Kuan Yew: The true and shocking history)
Many others were not only locked up but also brutally beaten. The late Ho Piao, a trade union leader, was severely tortured by ISD officers. His ordeal is documented in the 1978 Amnesty International Report. According to the report, Ho was tied to a wooden chair, strangled, and repeatedly punched and kicked in the head.
Ho testified: "They pulled me from the floor and tied me to the chair. Another group came in to torture me. The torture went on for four days. I did not eat or sleep for four days."
More recently Mr Vincent Cheng, now SDP's Vice-Chairman, was acused of plotting to violently overthrow the PAP Government and detained under the ISA. During his incarceration, Mr Cheng was punched and slapped by ISD officers to get him to confess to acts he did not commit (watch Vincent Cheng's vidoes below).
His fellow ISA detainee Ms Teo Soh Lung, also a Singapore Democrat who stood as a candidate in the last elections, has now written a book Beyond the Blue Gate detailing her experience behind bars. She and other detainees have called for a commission of inquiry to look into the abuse of the law.
The Singapore Democrats have long called for the ISA to be abolished. The ISA and laws such as the Public Order Act which bans public protests are put in place solely to prop up PAP's undemocratic rule
The Malaysian Government has seen that trying to repress the people's aspirations to freedom in today's world is futile, serving only to keep the country backward and uncompetitive.
When will the PAP realise the same?Malaysia to abolish unpopular security law
Eileen Ng
The Associated Press
16 Sept 2011
Malaysia will abolish an unpopular, colonial-era security law allowing detention without trial and relax other measures curbing the media and the right to free assembly, Prime Minister Najib Razak announced Thursday.
The policy changes are the boldest by Najib since he took the helm in April 2009 and are seen as a move to bolster support for his ruling coalition ahead of general elections, which are not due until 2013 but are widely expected next year.
Najib said the Internal Security Act, which allows indefinite detention without trial, would be replaced with two new anti-terrorism laws that would ensure that basic human rights of suspects are protected. He pledged that no individuals would be detained for their political ideologies.
Critics have long called for the security law to be repealed, saying that the government has abused it to silence dissidents.
Najib said the government also would lift three emergency declarations and amend police laws to allow freedom of assembly according to international norms. He said a law requiring annual printing and publishing licenses would be repealed, giving more freedom to media groups.
The move to have a more open democracy is "risky but we are doing it for our survival," he said in speech on national television.
The speech was to mark Friday's anniversary of the 1963 union of peninsula Malaysia with Sabah and Sarawak states on Borneo, six years after the country's independence from British rule.
"It is time for Malaysians to move forward with new hope," he said. "Let there be no doubt that the Malaysia we are creating is a Malaysia which has a functional and inclusive democracy."
Najib's National Front has been working to regain public support after suffering its worst performance in 2008 polls, when opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim's alliance wrested more than one-third of Parliament's seats amid public allegations of government corruption and racial discrimination.
The National Front's popularity recently took a dip after authorities arrested more than 1,600 demonstrators and used tear gas and water cannons against at least 20,000 people who marched for electoral reforms in Kuala Lumpur on July 9.http://yoursdp.org/index.php/news/singapore/4961-malaysia-opens-up-when-will-singapore