The ICJ has urged the government of Singapore to bring to trial or release the nine persons detained under the Internal Security Act without charge or trial on 19 April 1988.
Of these nine persons, eight were arrested immediately after making a public statement denouncing their detention last year and accusing the government of ill treatment during their detention. The reason for the arrest of the ninth person a lawyer is not clear but it is feared that he may have been detained for helping the eight prepare their statement.
In this statement they have claimed inter alia that following their detention last year:
- they had been intimidated by implicit and explicit threats against their safety if they spoke about their conditions of detention;
- were subjected to harsh, intensive interrogation which included deprivation of sleep in some cases for seventy hours;
- being forced to stand for hours in very cold interrogation rooms and being repeatedly hit hard in the face and other parts of the body;
- were compelled to appear on television and coerced to make statements supporting the government’s allegations concerning them.
They concluded their statement by denying all accusations made by the government at the time of their detention last year and demanding that they be allowed to prove their innocence in an open trial.