A guest blog post by Alison Kuah.

The Universal Periodic Review (UPR) is a mechanism of the United Nations Human Rights Council. Every four years, a UN Member State has its human rights record ‘peer reviewed’ by other states.

On 27 January 2016, the Singapore government sent an inter-agency delegation for its second UPR in Geneva, Switzerland.

Different countries made recommendations to Singapore on a range of human rights issues. Notably, many recommended an immediate moratorium on the death penalty with a view to abolition, an end to judicial caning, the reform of laws permitting detention without trial (such as the ISA) and the repeal of section 377A of the Penal Code.

Hearteningly, many of these recommendations reflected the work which the Alliance of Like-Minded CSOs in Singapore (ALMOS) had done to put the issues that we face on the ground onto the global map. The day after the UPR session, ALMOS organised a press conference with representatives from AWARE, Sayoni, HOME, We Believe in Second Chances and Function 8. Some of the key issues discussed are set out below.

Women’s rights

A number of countries called for an end to marital immunity for rape, recognising that marriage is no excuse for domestic violence. Singapore’s ambassador Chan Heng Chee said that Singapore is reviewing the law in this area. AWARE intends to continue to engage Singapore government on this subject to get rid of this archaic aspect of the law.

Furthermore, AWARE and fellow organisations have called for a comprehensive anti-discrimination law to eliminate all forms of discrimination in employment.

Some countries (Haiti and Jamaica) recommended that Singapore take steps to end discrimination against single mothers, while others called for Muslim women be given a choice whether they want to be governed by civil or Sharia law.

LGBT rights

15 nations including the United Kingdom, France, Canada, Sweden and United-States recommended that Singapore cease discrimination against LGBT community, and also to repeal section 377A. While Ambassador Chan reiterated the claim that Singapore does not discriminate against LGBT people, this was opposed by Jean Chong of Sayoni at the ALMOS press conference. In addition to s377A, she brought up the censorship of LGBT content in the media, and the rights of LGBT persons to register societies, enjoy family lives and be protected from workplace discrimination. More about Sayoni’s statement is here.

Migrant workers

33 countries gave recommendations relating to the rights of migrant workers. Most were quite general. A number recommended Singapore ratify the International Convention of Migrants and Their Families.

At the ALMOS press conference, Jolovan Wham of HOME said that HOME has been campaigning to include domestic workers in the Employment Act, and highlighted abusive practices in the construction and shipping industries. Other recommendations were to allow migrant workers to switch employers easily, to standardise housing for migrant workers, and protect the rights of domestic workers who are deported because of HIV or pregnancy. Read more about HOME’s statement here.

Death penalty and corporal punishment

At least 28 states recommended a moratorium on the death penalty with a view to abolishment. These states were diverse, e.g. UK, Namibia, South Africa and Chile. South Africa and Spain specifically recommended a prohibition of execution of mentally or intellectually disabled people. Some states, such as Germany and Switzerland, also recommended an end to judicial caning.

The Ministry of Law defended Singapore’s use of the death penalty and corporal punishment on the grounds that it promotes safety. From ALMOS, Damien Chng of We Believe in Second Chances spoke about the need more for statistics on the use of these punishments, broken down by specifics like age, nationality, offence, ethnicity and socio-economic background and more stats on drug traffickers arrested and charged. He emphasised that the government has not dealt with the weakness of the deterrence argument for the death penalty, nor with the inevitability of mistakes resulting in execution of the innocent.

Detention without trial

A number of countries raised concerns about laws enabling detention without trial, such as ISA and CLTPA. At the ALMOS press conference, Chng Suan Tze of Function 8 highlighted how detention without trial can be abused, has been abused in the 1960s and 1980s, against dissenters and people critical of government policies.

While detainees have access to lawyers, she argued, many lawyers are afraid to take on such cases for fear of being arrested. Furthermore, the advisory board is not independent because it is conducted behind closed doors. In the past during Operation Coldstore and Spectrum, those detained have never been put on trial ;requests for a Commission of Inquiry have never been accepted; and the names of those who have been detained has not been released.

Joint recommendations

ALMOS also raised a number of points as a collective.

First, one consistent recommendation from numerous countries was that Singapore establish a national human rights institution in accordance with the Paris Principles that will oversee the human rights standards that Singapore has acceded to.

Second, ALMOS argued that since Singapore claims to already be in compliance with core human rights conventions of which is it not currently a party, it should proceed with ratification. For instance the ICCPR: http://www.ohchr.org/en/professionalinterest/pages/ccpr.aspx

Thirdly, ALMOS echoes the call for greater freedom of information and sharing of data. We need to have systematic, reliable and disaggregated data.

Finally, they stressed that the UPR process is not over, and ALMOS will continue to engage the government, including during the June session of the UPR where there will be a final adoption of recommendations accepted.

About the author: Alison Kuah is an intern at AWARE.