The International Network of People who Use Drugs stand in solidarity with peer-led networks and civil society organisations today in condemning Singapore’s execution of Tangaraju s/o Suppiah, another casualty of the unjust, excessive, oppressive, and ineffective war on drugs.
Our opposition to the death penalty is based on moral and practical grounds. Capital punishment is a violation of the Declaration for Human Rights, especially its fundamental tenets on the right to life and that no one be subject to cruel, inhuman, or degrading punishment. There is no proof that the death penalty operates as a deterrent, or that it reduces crime at all. Judicial systems are subject to human error: and reports of mistaken identity, false or misleading evidence and forced confessions are not uncommon. But the death penalty, once carried out, cannot be reversed. It is effectively government-sanctioned murder and puts a stain on the reputation of countries that retain the death penalty, particularly for drug supply that is a consensual process.
Our deepest sympathies go towards the family, loved ones and allies of Tangaraju Suppiah. Each life lost to prohibition is lost potential and unrelentingly tragic.
INPUD joins others today to call upon governments to urgently establish a moratorium on future executions with a view to abolish the death penalty and to commute all death sentences, particularly for drug offences.