Asia's 'grim view on drug crime'

**troung** · 02 Dec 05,, 03:28

Asia's 'grim view on drug crime'
Death penalty record underscores region's tough policies
By Marianne Bray
CNN

Thursday, December 1, 2005; Posted: 5:43 p.m. EST (22:43 GMT)

Kim Nguyen, right, heads into Singapore's Changi Prison Thursday for her final visit with her son.
Image:

SINGAPORE DEATH PENALTY
• Singapore's death penalty dates to its days as a British colony. Murder, kidnapping, treason, firearms offenses and drug trafficking are punishable by death.

• Amnesty International said in 2004 that about 420 people had been hanged in Singapore since 1991, mostly for drug smuggling, giving the country of 4.4 million people "possibly the highest execution rate in the world relative to its population."

• Only six people sentenced to death in Singapore have been granted clemency since 1965.

HONG KONG, China (CNN) -- At dawn this Friday, a hangman at Changi prison in Singapore was to place a hood over the head of Australian drug trafficker Nguyen Tuong Van, put a noose around his neck before opening a trapdoor in a "long-drop" procedure that would snap his spinal cord.

The death sentence for the 25-year former salesman was handed down after he was arrested at Changi airport while transiting from Cambodia to the Australian city of Melbourne in 2002, carrying nearly 400 grams (14 ounces) of heroin.

The city-state enacted tough drug laws in 1975 which made the death sentence mandatory for trafficking in more than 15 grams (half an ounce) of heroin, 30 grams of cocaine or 500 grams of cannabis.

The mandatory penalty means trial judges have no option but to impose a death sentence on those who are convicted, according to a 2004 Amnesty International report.

But Singapore is not alone in taking a tough stand on drug crimes.

As more and more nations around the world abolish capital punishment -- out of 196 nations Amnesty keeps a tab on, just 75 retain the death penalty --the Middle East, North Africa and Asia favor it.

Asia is the region where the most executions are carried out, with China, Vietnam and Singapore heading the list, according to Amnesty International.

Of 20 countries in Asia, only four nations -- Bhutan, Cambodia, Nepal and East Timor -- have abolished the death penalty, according to the 2005 United Nations report.

Three other nations -- Sri Lanka, Laos and Myanmar -- still subscribe to the death penalty, but have not carried out executions in more than 10 years.

China is the world's leading executioner, Amnesty International says, with the group quoting a senior official as saying the nation executes around 10,000 people each year.

Across Asia, capital punishment is used widely for drug-related crimes in Bangladesh, China, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Vietnam and Thailand.

"Most places in Asia take a very grim view on drug crime," says Hugh Whitby, secretary at Amnesty International Hong Kong. "This is where trafficking goes on so that is why it's taken seriously."

East Asia -- particularly Cambodia, China, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam -- is a major source of opium and heroin for the world market, according to the U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime.

'We have a responsibility'
In an effort to stop Singapore from becoming a narcotics hub, more than 420 prisoners have been hanged in Singapore since 1991, most of them for drug trafficking, according to Amnesty International. That figure is "shocking," Amnesty said.

Singapore has the highest execution rate in the world relative to its population, according to a U.N. report on capital punishment published in July this year. An average of 6.9 people were executed per 1 million over 1999 to 2003, the report states. The figure is nearly twice as much as for the nation with the second-highest rate of executions, Saudi Arabia at 3.66.

Defending the city-state's stance, Singapore Foreign Minister George Yeo wrote to Australian counterpart Alexander Downer in November, saying the amount of pure heroin Nguyen was carrying would have provided 26,000 doses to drug addicts.

"We ... have a responsibility to protect the people of Singapore from the scourge of drug addiction, which has destroyed many lives and inflicted great suffering on many families," he wrote.

Few public records
With the exception of the United States, international execution statistics are difficult to obtain because nations with such penalties keep their records a closely guarded secret.

Vietnam's prime minister, for example, issued a decree in January 2004 that makes reporting and disseminating of death penalty statistics a "state secret," according to an Amnesty annual report on the country.

In a July 2005 report, U.N. head Kofi Annan lamented the lack of accounting for death sentences, saying many nations who use them did not give any information on the number imposed, appeals allowed, the age or the sex of the offender nor type of offence.

In a bid to cast some light on what is going on in the gallows, the Australian Coalition against the Death Penalty has kept a tally of reported executions.

While it is by no means representative, it shows that out of 242 reported executions in 2005, more than 10 percent were carried out for drug crimes in nations such as Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Singapore, Iran and China.

Behind China and Iran, Vietnam was the world's third-ranked executor, with 64 people reported killed in 2004. That same year it sentenced 88 people to death, half for drug offenses, according to Amnesty International.

The quantities of drugs that can trigger death across Asia can be small.

In Thailand, possessing 20 grams of more of a Class A drug (which includes ecstasy, amphetamines) at an exit point such as a sea- or airport is regarded as trafficking, and if found guilty, an offender will be punished with death

In Vietnam, tough laws introduced in 1997 mean that anyone found possessing 100 grams (3.5 ounces) of heroin or five kilograms (11 pounds) of opium will face the death penalty.

Indonesia -- under the spotlight because of a number of Australians implicated in drug crimes -- has 54 people under the sentence of death, with 30 of those facing execution convicted of drug-related crimes, Amnesty reports.

Australians split
The fate of Vietnamese-born Nguyen -- who was born in a refugee camp in Thailand and moved to Australia with his mother and twin brother when he was 6 months old -- had split the public back home.

Canberra repeatedly pleaded for clemency, arguing that Nguyen had no previous convictions and could help in any drug investigation if he was allowed to live.

That view has been echoed more widely by human rights groups, such as Amnesty International, who argue the right to life is a fundamental one.

But just two days before his scheduled execution, 47 percent of Australians agreed he should be hanged, 46 percent said he should not and 7 percent were undecided, according to a poll carried out by Roy Morgan International.

More than half (57 percent) of Australians believe that if an Australian citizen is convicted of trafficking drugs in a country where the death penalty applies, it should be carried out.

'It's their country, and if they choose to make those rules we should be prepared to travel under those rules," one respondent said.

**Leader** · 02 Dec 05,, 07:06

This is an interesting topic because on the one hand I don't think drugs should be illegal at all, but most drug traffickers are absolute scum so I really don't have any sympathy for their "plight."

**PacificBlue** · 02 Dec 05,, 09:16

The death sentence has been carried out. The media have been saying that towards the last few weeks of his life, he was calm and bravely facing his fate. From all the family statements, he seemed like a nice guy. I personally don't see why he got the sentence. He apparently helped the police in all their enquiries and helped catch other drug dealers. At worst, a life sentence.

But what's done is done.

**bonehead** · 02 Dec 05,, 10:16

Here is an idea. If you are a drug smuggler/dealer/user, stay the hell away from those countries.

**PacificBlue** · 02 Dec 05,, 12:03

The guy was like 22 years old.

Here is an idea. If you are a drug smuggler/dealer/user, stay the hell away from those countries.

Asian countries like sending a strong message to drug peddlers I guess. I heard China executes 10,000 people a year.

**indianguy4u** · 02 Dec 05,, 15:38

Originally Posted by bonehead

Here is an idea. If you are a drug smuggler/dealer/user, stay the hell away from those countries.

I have a better idea, "STAY AWAY FROM HIGHS". Everything else takes its own care. Dont think its tough

.

**THL** · 02 Dec 05,, 16:17

Originally Posted by Leader

This is an interesting topic because on the one hand I don't think drugs should be illegal at all, but most drug traffickers are absolute scum so I really don't have any sympathy for their "plight."

I felt hte same way - I could care less if they want to legalize drugs - I think we should and tax the heck out of them. Same token, since they are illegal and it is common knowledge that they are illegal, I think there should be stricter penalties. Whether or not I agree with a law, if it is a law, there should be no mercy for someone breaking that law.

**Shek** · 02 Dec 05,, 16:30

More background on this. The guy was an idiot to try and smuggle in the drugs. He made a life or death choice and got called on it.

Originally Posted by www.rofasix.blogspot.com

22 November 2005
Waiting for Execution in Singapore

Family flies out for final days is a story out of Australia about a mother and brother of condemned heroin smuggler Nguyen Tuong Van visiting him before his execution in Singapore. Nguyen was arrested in Singapore's Changi Airport on December 2002 trying to board a flight to Australia with 396 grams of heroin strapped to his body and in his hand luggage.

Now the bleeding hearts are wringing their hands over the pending execution and the Australian government, the UN and “human rights” organizations have pleaded for clemency.

I asked an old flight school buddy for his take on the situation. He was born in Asia, and now lives in Australia.

I think you will find his comments interesting and his perspective quite different from what is being portrayed in the press:

Dear NOTR,

The death penalty for trafficking illegal drugs was legalized about 30 years ago. If one is caught with over 15 gm of heroin, or 30 gm of cocaine, or 500 gm of marijuana, the punishment is the hangman's noose. There are warning signs posted all over the SGP airport and other international airports. If one travels in an Singapore Airline aircraft, an announcement will be made before touch down in SGP, to dump any forms of drugs, leave it under the seat or toilet etc. Any one who steps off the plane, is considered stepping on the sovereignty of Singapore (SGP) and will be subjected to SGP laws. This warning is posted at every airport in Oz and on Ozzie passports. In fact, soon after SGP passed the death penalty for drug smuggling, the other South East nations followed (Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia and Indonesia)

Ngyuen Tong Van was found with nearly 400 gm of heroin strapped to his body. This is a clear sign of guilt. If he had placed it in his luggage and claimed that someone switched or planted it there, he may get the life sentence. There are many who are foolish like he was. There have been Europeans and Africans who swallowed condoms filled with heroin. But, the X-ray and sniffer dogs get them.

He has virtually no chance to escape the gallows. SGP has the highest rate of executing drug traffickers in SE Asia. SGP makes no exceptions to crime. SGP has a population of 3 million (stagnated growth, perhaps shrinking) plus nearly a million expatriates/foreign workers. She cannot allow her young population to become drug addicts.

The background to harsh anti-drug laws goes back more than a century ago. In the 19th century, SGP was used as a drug trafficking center by the British and her rival Dutch Colonial powers.(Spain and Portugal also played a minor role too). They were masquerading as British and Dutch East India Trading Company respectively. Both these 2 countries had colonial intentions. They wanted China as part of their Empire. They also wanted the rich spices (most of all tea), grains for rice/wheat, soy beans silk, fine porcelain etc They wanted the plants as well as the leaves to no avail. The tea plants, the mulberry plants and the special silk worms etc were forbidden for export.

So, they used opium as the best means of WMD to bring an entire nation to their knees. SGP became the half-way house for the British fleet, Indonesia for the Dutch, Macau for the Portuguese and Philippines for the Spanish.

This was highly effective. But the Japanese Imperial Army beat them to it. The Japanese walked into China (The Rape of Nanking, Chungking etc) and nearly took over the country.

SGP was also affected. Many became opium addicts. Some of the old Opium Dens (as it known) had been preserved to show the young people what nearly happened to their nation and China.

Australia does not have the death penalty. Politically, the Oz government always plays on a "so-called concerned approach" to her citizens being held for alleged crimes committed oversea. But it is the news media that always gets into the act first. The news media will create the scenario that her Oz citizens got arrested wrongfully. The media will suggest the Oz government does not care for the welfare of her citizens getting into trouble whilst traveling overseas.

The Oz government was then forced (many times over) to get into some kind of concerned act (probably lip service.)

Now back to the current series of Ozzies being arrested oversea for drug smuggling. Early last year, Miss Schapelle Corby was arrested in Bali (a very popular and cheap holiday retreat in Indonesia, only a few hours flying time away.) She claimed that someone had planted marijuana in her mini- surfboard bag during the transit between Oz and Bali airport. There were so much media coverage that the whole nation felt that she was clearly an innocent victim and those Indonesian laws were flawed etc. Then suddenly, a diversion (probably planted by the government or even the media) that drug lords had baggage handlers switched her bag at Brisbane Airport for transit to Sydney.

The baggage handler at Sydney missed picking her bag and thus ended up in Bali. What baloney! At the same time, there were some 6 ozzies in jail - one each in Bali and SGP (Ngyuen), two in Cambodia and Hong Kong, all arrested for drug trafficking. BUT, no mention of these 6, Schapelle was given fully extended media coverage because she was the only FEMALE. She helped raise the TV station VIEWING RATING. She received 10 years jail, thus escaping death by the firing squad.

Next, came the Bali Nine. And now Michelle Leslie.(who was freed).

The Oz government knew about the Bali 9's modus operandi. The AFP (Australian Federal Police) was tracking them. The Oz government tipped off the Indonesian police when they (Bali 9) were on the last stop over before flying off to Oz.

The Ozzie anti drug laws are too lax. In Oz, if arrested these 9 could be out in 3 years time (only to start trafficking again.) Having them caught in a foreign Southeast Asian country is the next best thing to deal with drug traffickers. It was the intentions that these criminals be punished by a foreign country where the laws were stricter.

Best regards

posted by NOTR - 11/22/2005-[Permalink] | Comment (0) | Trackback (0)

**TopHatter** · 02 Dec 05,, 17:07

Now the bleeding hearts are wringing their hands over the pending execution and the Australian government, the UN and “human rights” organizations have pleaded for clemency.

Never mind the naked greed that this fool obviously has for trying to bring in HEROIN!
This was not several pounds of sugar he was smuggling in get past strict customs and tax laws.

Moronic bleeding heart idiots.

**Dreadnought** · 02 Dec 05,, 17:14

Singapore has some very strange laws. This is no different. But do notice you do not hear much of crime in that country on a regular basis. Pehaps the young man in question should have known that if he gets caught it will cost him his life. I dont agree with what became of him but at the same time maybe he should have thought about the consequences before hand.