SINGAPORE - Singapore on Thursday angrily accused Washington of double standards on
human rights after a US State Department annual report criticised its tough
internal-security laws.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs
(MFA) said the US report again includes the same gross inaccuracies and
misrepresentations of the Singapore Government s policies that we have rebutted
in detail year after year.
The US report said Singapore's
continued use of the Internal Security Act (ISA), which allows for detention
without trial, gave the government broad powers to curtail citizens rights.
The ISA provides the government
with the power to limit, on vaguely defined national security grounds, the
scope of certain fundamental liberties that otherwise are provided for in the
constitution", according to the US report.
But it acknowledged that the ISA
has been used in recent years against alleged terrorists, and not members of
the political opposition.
We are disturbed by the double
standards applied to the US criticism of our (ISA), which is meant to address
threats to internal security, including threats to public order, communal and
religious harmony, and subversive and terrorist activities, Singapore s foreign
ministry said.
It asked how Washington can
reconcile its criticism of the ISA with the existence of US detention
facilities at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba.
By contrast to the Guantanamo
detention facilities, which exist outside the framework of US law, the ISA
provides a proper legal framework, and prescribes rules, for preventive
detention, the foreign ministry said.
The report also addressed
Singapore s use of caning as a punishment for certain crimes, and government
restrictions on public assembly and freedom of the press.
Singapore does not claim that our
system is perfect, or that our system would necessarily work in other
countries. Our government is held accountable to the public through democratic
elections and the rule of law, the MFA said.
It added that Singapore will
adapt its policies in the interests of its own people and as its society
evolves.
The Singapore Ministry of Foreign
Affairs has issued the following response to the US Department of State in
relation to the latter's Country Reports on Human Rights Practices 2011:
- We have studied the US Department
of State's country report on human rights practices in Singapore, and note with
disappointment that it again includes the same gross inaccuracies and
misrepresentations of the Singapore Government's policies that we have rebutted
in detail year after year.
- We are disturbed by the double
standards applied to the US' criticism of our Internal Security Act (ISA),
which is meant to address threats to internal security, including threats to
public order, communal and religious harmony, and subversive and terrorist
activities. The US, in its own fight against terrorism, has come to realise
that trade-offs between rights are inevitable. In this context we fail to
understand how the US reconciles its criticism of the ISA with the continued
existence of its own detention facilities at Guantanamo without applying a
double standard. By contrast to the Guantanamo detention facilities, which
exist outside the framework of US law, the ISA provides a proper legal
framework, and prescribes rules, for preventive detention.
- As the same misrepresentations
and inaccuracies are repeated year after year, it does not appear that the US
Department of State has paid any attention to the points that we have
repeatedly made in response to past years' country reports. This seems to
suggest that the US Department of State is really not interested in the facts,
and indeed does not want the facts to come in the way of the conclusions it
wishes to reach, pursuant to its own ideology. This approach undermines the
objectivity of the report.
- Singapore does not claim that
our system is perfect, or that our system would necessarily work in other
countries. Our government is held accountable to the public through democratic
elections and the rule of law. We will adapt our policies in the interests of
our people and as the balance of rights and obligations evolve in our society.
AFP
Business & Investment Opportunities
YourVietnamExpert is a division of Saigon Business Corporation Pte Ltd, Incorporated in Singapore since 1994. As Your Business Companion, we propose a range of services in Strategy, Investment and Management, focusing Healthcare and Life Science with expertise in ASEAN. We also propose Higher Education, as a bridge between educational structures and industries, by supporting international programmes. Many thanks for visiting www.yourvietnamexpert.com and/or contacting us at contact@yourvietnamexpert.com
No comments:
Post a Comment