Epoch Times: International Lawyers Pressure Singapore over Freedom of Expression

Epoch Times Legal Correspondent

August 22, 2006

Lawyers from around the world are pressuring Singapore to respect freedom of expression and rule of law in upcoming trials of Falun Gong practitioners arrested for protesting rights abuses in China.

Lawyers from ten countries signed letters to the Singapore government this week, raising concerns about the legality of the three trials, the first set to begin on August 28. The letters urge resistance to Chinese communist regime pressure to restrict the rights of practitioners of Falun Gong, a spiritual practice that has been banned and persecuted in China since 1999.

"I initiated this letter hoping that the Singapore government will stop persecuting Falun Gong and will put the interests of the Singapore people, the constitution and the law before the interests of the Chinese Communist Party," says Terri Marsh, Executive Director of the Human Rights Law Foundation.

The trials involve charges brought against 11 Falun Gong practitioners who were arrested in July. Three of them were detained after peacefully protesting outside of the Singapore Chinese Embassy. The others were charged with illegally assembling to distribute leaflets in a different part of the city.

The leaflets contained information about human rights abuses perpetrated against Falun Gong in mainland China, and the banner some of the defendants displayed in front of the Chinese Embassy had read: "Stop Persecution of Falun Gong in China."

Both the embassy protests and the distribution of leaflets are activities that Falun Gong practitioners in Singapore have carried out routinely over the past seven years.

Some lawyers have found the timing of the recent charges suspicious. According to one letter, the accusations were filed nine months after the protests took place and just weeks before the visit of former Chinese Vice-Premier Li Lanqing to the island.

"This has led some to speculate that the arrests were geared in part to prevent practitioners of Falun Gong from staging a peaceful protest during the visit of Lanqing," says the letter.

This letter, signed by prominent rights attorneys and activists in the United States, also raises concerns about due process and the broader implications of the Falun Gong cases in terms of freedom of express, democracy, and rule of law in Singapore.

"We are very surprised and indignant to hear that Singapore, where a Constitution exists that guarantees the rights and freedom of expression and belief, is adopting decisions that impede the free exercise of those rights and liberties," says a second letter signed by lawyers from Malaysia, India, Spain, and Japan among others.

This second letter warns that the signatories, many of whom have filed cases accusing Chinese leaders of committing genocide in persecuting Falun Gong, will not hesitate to extend the legal actions to Singaporean officials for their complicity.

"The government of Singapore could in essence be collaborating and justifying the strategy designed by the Chinese Communist Party in its efforts to exterminate the peaceful Falun Gong practice," says the letter. It calls on Singapore to drop the charges.

"We urge the government of Singapore to dismiss the lawsuits filed against those individuals who have been unjustly accused, withdraw all charges and declare complete innocence to those involved," it says.

Below are copies of the two letters with the signatories' names:

Dear Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong:

We, the undersigned write as lawyers, human rights advocates, individuals, and groups interested in the protection of these basic rights, to raise with you our concerns about restrictions on free speech in Singapore.

In its 2003 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices, the U.S. Department of State indicated that Singapore "significantly restricted freedom of speech and freedom of the press" and expressed concern that the authoritarian government in Singapore "fosters an atmosphere inimical to free speech and a free press." By way of example, the report tells of a Chee Soon, Singapore national, who was convicted of violating the Public Entertainment and Meetings Act (section 2.b) when he publicly criticized the Singapore Government's enforcement of a ban on schoolgirls wearing the "tudung," a headscarf that some Muslims considered a religious requirement. The $1,715 (S$3,000) fine imposed on Chee affected his ability to participate in politics, and to exercise the rights of free speech and assembly more generally. In its Country Reports on Human Rights Practices of 2005, the U.S. Department of State renewed its criticism of the Singaporean Government for its significant restriction of the constitutionally enshrined rights to freedom of speech, expression and assembly.

Over the past few years, there have been a number of other well documented reports of harshly repressive actions taken against those seeking to exercise their free speech and assembly rights in Singapore, including the arrest on charges of sedition of a number of individuals for electronic postings on the Internet, including some who were using the Internet as part of the political process. These actions have been repeatedly denounced by many human rights organizations. The press organization Reporteurs Sans Frontieres (Reporters without Borders) ranks Singapore 147th out of 167 countries on press freedom in its Annual Report 2005. It cites as grounds for Singapore's low ranking: the complete absence of independent newspapers, radio stations and TV stations; the application of prison sentences for press offenses; media self-censorship; and the opposition party's lack of access to the state media. According to Amnesty International's 2005 Report on Singapore, freedom of speech and expression continues to be curbed by restrictive legislation and the threat of civil defamation suits against the government's political opponents. In its 2004 World Press Freedom Review, the International Press Institute, a global network of editors, media executives and leading journalists criticized Singapore's "paternalistic media control system" in its 2004 World Press Freedom Review.

Recently, the Singapore government arrested nine Falun Gong practitioners for their peaceful protest of the torture of persons in China. The charging document was issued nine months after the challenged behavior and a few weeks before the visit of former Chinese Vice-Premier Li Lanqing to Singapore. This has led some to speculate that the arrests were geared in part to prevent practitioners of Falun Gong from staging a peaceful protest during the visit of Lanqing. We believe that the freedoms of thought, speech, and assembly mark the cornerstone of an enlightened and democratic society. We believe these rights are recognized by national and international law. The right to free expression upholds the right of all to express their views and opinions openly and freely as is critical for democracy and public participation in political life.

For these reasons, the following lawyers, human rights advocates, individuals, and groups interested in the protection of these basic rights, especially in a free society such as Singapore, condemn the censorship and rights restrictions that the Government of Singapore has imposed, and state the following:

"We respectfully call on the Government of Singapore, as a representative government of a democratic republic governed by the rule of law and basic principles of human rights, to cease all actions that would unlawfully and unjustly curtail the ability of citizens and residents of Singapore to freely express their views and to freely associate with others for that purpose."

Signed,

Terri E. Marsh, Ph.D., Esq.
Executive Director
Human Rights Law Foundation
717 D Street NW, Suite 300
Washington, DC 20004

Theresa Chu, Esq.
Human Rights Law Foundation
717 D Street NW, Suite 300
Washington, DC 20004

Anthony D'Amato
Northwestern University School of Law
357 East Chicago Avenue
Chicago, IL 60611

William Aceves
The Center of Justice & Accountability
870 Market Street, Suite 684
San Francisco, CA 94102

Peter E. Mueller
East Asia Desk
IGFM/ISHR International Society for Human Rights
D-60388 Frankfurt am Main
Germany

D.J. McGuire
Co-founder and President of the China e-Lobby
President of the China Support Network, and
Vice President of the East Turkestan National Freedom Center

John Patrick Kusumi
Director emeritus
The China Support Network
415 E. Capitol St. SE, Suite 2
Washington, DC 20003

Second letter:

August 21, 2006

Lee Kuan Yew
MINISTER MENTOR
PRIME MINISTER'S OFFICE
ORCHARD ROAD
ISTANA ANNEXE
SINGAPORE 238823

Dear Mr. Lee,

We are writing this letter with deep concern and serious indignation for the attitude shown by the government of Singapore towards the peaceful citizens in that country who are exercising their rights of freedom of expression in order to expose the truth about the brutal persecution that the Chinese Communist Party is waging against millions of practitioners of the Falun Gong spiritual movement.

It has been confirmed that the government of Singapore has initiated legal proceedings against various individuals for the simple reason that they were distributing pamphlets in a peaceful manner in public places to expose the genocide committed against Falun Gong in China. This decision, which in any democratic state is clearly illegal, has caused great outrage throughout the entire international community, which is especially sensible to the atrocities that are being committed by the Chinese government and which also cannot understand or accept that honorable citizens are being denounced, fined and even deprived of their freedoms by a government such that of Singapore which claims to be democratic and respectful of all fundamental liberties.

For all of the above, International Human Rights Lawyers and the representatives of International Associations that investigate the Falun Gong genocide wish to firmly state the following points:

1) We are very surprised and indignant to hear that in Singapore, where a Constitution exists that guarantees the rights and freedom of expression and belief, is adopting decisions that impede the free exercise of those rights and liberties, and which also creates doubts about the existence of a true democratic system in Singapore.

2) Acting this way, the government of Singapore could in essence be collaborating and justifying the strategy designed by the Chinese Communist Party in its efforts to exterminate the peaceful Falun Gong practice, including torture and mass murder.

3) International lawyers who are coordinating these legal cases against Chinese communist leaders in this genocide, will not hesitate to initiate legal actions at the international level against all those individuals or authorities who in any way are direct and indirectly collaborating or are complicit in this genocide by repressive acts such as those that have taken place in Singapore.

4) At the same time, different independent international organizations and associations which defend Human Rights will not remain passive in front of illegitimate acts that violate the very Constitution of Singapore, and the International Norms of Rights and Liberties established by the United Nations, which could be denounced before the Human Rights Commission of the United Nations.

5) We ask the government of Singapore to show true evidence that it is a legitimate democracy and an independent country that is not subject to the requirements of the Chinese government. Therefore we urge the government of Singapore to dismiss the lawsuits filed against those individuals who have been unjustly accused, withdraw all charges and declare complete innocence to those involved.

We will be vigilant and closely follow the decision that your government takes. We trust that this letter helps to rectify these attitudes which without doubt are neither compatible with democracy nor the defense of human rights.

Signed:

Ma Jian, Attorney, Taiwan
Zhu Wanqi, Taiwan
Carlos Iglesias, Attorney, Spain
Clive Ansley, Attorney, Canada
Pascal Quadflieg, Attorney, Belgium
Lana Han, Attorney, USA

Co-signers:
Guo Guoting, Attorney, China
Terry Stenerson, Attorney, USA
Patrick M. O'Brien, Attorney, USA
Joshua Lanning, Attoney, USA
Stravos Tsakyrakis, Attorney, Greece
Keppy Wong Khai Pun, Attorney, Malaysia
Nik Mohamed Ikhwan, Attorney, Malaysia
Akira Yoshida, Lawyer, Japan
Chin-Nan Gu, Judge, Taiwan
Karen Chen, Attorney, Taiwan
Fran Wang, Attorney, Taiwan
Henry K.M. Chuang, Attorney, Taiwan
Tony Sihdu, Attorney, India