PETALING JAYA: The Singapore government has been urged to immediately impose a moratorium on all executions in the island republic.
A Singapore Prison Services (SPS) officer, who had served at the execution chamber in Changi prison, had revealed the brutal and unlawful methods used by the hangmen there last November, Lawyers for Liberty said in a statement today.
The executors have brutal procedure whenever the rope breaks during a hanging, it added.
“The prison officer is instructed to pull the rope around the neck of the prisoner towards him,” LFL adviser N. Surendra said.
“Meanwhile, another prison officer will apply pressure by pulling the body in the opposite direction.
“The first officer must then kick the back of the neck of the prisoner with great force in order to break it. The officers are told to kick the back of the neck because that would be consistent with death by hanging.
“The officers are told not to kick more than two times, so that there will be no tell-tale marks in case there is an autopsy. Strict orders are also given not to divulge the above to other prison staff not involved in executions.”
Surendran urged Singapore to hold an investigation or a Commission of Inquiry into this matter.
He said it should hand over a copy of the findings to Malaysia, many of whose citizens have been executed in Changi or are facing execution.
The former Padang Serai MP also asked Singapore to reveal the number and identities of Malaysian prisoners who have been executed using this brutal method in Changi.
“Agree to compensate families for the unlawful execution of their loved ones,” he said. “We further call upon the Malaysian government to take urgent steps to protect the safety and basic rights of all Malaysian prisoners now on death row in Singapore.”
