Serious international human-rights concerns arise from the Singapore Government’s recent arrest and deportation of several Myanmar nationals living in the city state. 

They were using Singapore as a platform to galvanise support for armed violence against the Myanmar government (“Several Myanmar nationals arrested for supporting armed violence, will be deported: MHA”; July 10).

Singapore is justified in protecting its national security and public order. The deportation, however, raises the question of whether the country has acted in conformity with its international human-rights obligations by taking adequate steps to ensure that those deported would not be subject to torture upon returning to Myanmar.

Article 15(1) of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities — which Singapore is party to — provides that “no one shall be subjected to torture, or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment”. 

States deliberately used the term “no one” in drafting the convention, in contrast to the rest of the treaty, which refers to “persons with disabilities”. As such, they made it clear that the provision is intended to apply not just to persons with disabilities, but to all persons.

Furthermore, Article 4(1) of the convention requires state parties to adopt all appropriate legislative, administrative and other measures to put in place the rights recognised in the convention. They must also ensure that public authorities and institutions act in conformity with the convention.

The prohibition against torture is a peremptory norm of international law that is binding on all states. It takes precedence over all other treaty obligations, including the Association of South-east Asian Nations’ Convention on Counter-Terrorism.

In September last year, an independent international fact-finding mission set up by the United Nations Human Rights Council found consistent patterns of serious human-rights violations by Myanmar security forces, including torture of detainees. 

That same month, Ms Fatou Bensouda, the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, opened a preliminary examination against Myanmar into the alleged deportation of Rohingya people from Myanmar to Bangladesh, and potentially other crimes against humanity. 

Earlier this month, Ms Bensouda requested authorisation from judges at the International Criminal Court to open an investigation into the alleged deportation, other inhumane acts and persecution against the Rohingya. 

Given the serious concerns about the Myanmar government’s involvement in torture, did the Singapore authorities take steps to ensure that the Myanmar nationals would not be tortured before deporting them?

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