Singapore: Execution of dual national on drug offences must be halted, says UN expert

GENEVA  – Singapore must urgently halt the execution of Masoud Rahimi Mehrzad, a dual Singaporean-Iranian national, on drug-trafficking charges, a UN expert* said today.

Mehrzad’s execution has been scheduled at dawn on 29 November. His family were given seven days’ notice of the execution and some have so far been unable to see him.

Mehrzad returned to Singapore to complete his National Service and was arrested in 2010 on drug trafficking charges.

“I have repeatedly ** called on Singapore to halt executions for drug offences which are illegal under international human rights law on multiple fronts,” said Morris Tidball-Binz, the Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions.

“I reiterate once again that under international law and only crimes of extreme gravity involving intentional killing meet the threshold for application of the death penalty and that mandatory death sentences are inherently over-inclusive and unavoidably violate human rights law.”

“Additionally, there is a lack of any persuasive evidence that the death penalty contributes more than any other punishment to curbing or preventing drug trafficking.”

The expert also expressed concern over reports that Mehrzad’s family in Iran have not yet been able to travel to Singapore to visit him before his execution and a request to have a video call has reportedly been denied. “The suffering thus caused to the family is unbearable,” the expert said.

“I once again urgently call on the Singaporean authorities to halt the execution of Masoud Rahimi Mehrzad and commute his death sentences to imprisonment consistent with international human rights law and standards,” Tidball-Binz said.