Will Minister Shanmugam face the families most impacted by the death penalty?

World Day Against The Death Penalty 2023

What happened on 9 October at MHA?

On 9 October 2023, a day before World Day Against the Death Penalty, families of death row prisoners past and present (and TJC members who went with them) were denied entry by the Ministry of Home Affairs’ security post when they went to deliver a letter and a petition containing 1,721 signatures.

The petition calls for executions to be halted, and an independent review to be undertaken on the impacts of the death penalty, and has been signed by people from all walks of life across Singapore.

Our team arrived at the MHA security counter around 5PM and informed the officers that the family members, including some who came all the way from Malaysia for this, were requesting a meeting with Minister Shanmugam and wanted deliver the petition to him.

After much persistence from our team, a security officer signed a receipt acknowledging that the petition was received, around 5:12 PM, but maintained there was no possible way that entry could be granted, as there was no prior appointment made through email.

TJC members questioned whether this regulation was stated on MHA’s website or somewhere else. A security officer answered that this was not stated anywhere, as it is part of their internal policy.

When they were told they couldn’t meet the Minister, the families asked if a representative from the Minister’s office could receive the petition on his behalf and pass it to him. But this was denied as well. They were not even allowed to pass security and go to the visitor’s centre.

We asked that the Minister’s office respond to the petition and letter within a week by email, to:

(a) acknowledge that they received the petition, and

(b) inform the families when an appointment could be granted

Security officers responded that no promise could be made on whether the petition would even reach the Minister’s office, but mentioned that they would communicate the request to his office

While we were asking the security officers our questions, a few members noticed that there were calls being made from inside the security room.

Although none of us could catch what was being discussed, it was ultimately clear that whomever was on the line determined that the voices of more than 1,700 Singaporeans didn’t deserve to be attended to at the time, and they refused to the people most impacted by the death penalty that day.

The families have since emailed Minister Shanmugam and his office the petition and signatures that they went to deliver that day. They have asked for an in-person meeting, since the security said all appointments have to be made via email. They are yet to hear back.

Will Minister Shanmugam face the families, or will he continue to look away from the pain his policies cause?