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Joint Local Statement following an execution in Singapore on 3 July 2026

The Delegation of the European Union issues the following statement, together with the diplomatic missions of the EU Member States and the diplomatic missions of Norway, Switzerland and the United Kingdom in Singapore.

Following the execution of a 44-year-old Malaysian citizen on 3 July 2026, the EU Delegation and the diplomatic missions of the EU Member States, Norway, Switzerland and the United Kingdom reiterate our strong opposition to the use of capital punishment in all cases and in all circumstances.

This is the thirteenth execution carried out in Singapore this year.

The death penalty is incompatible with the inalienable right to life and the absolute prohibition of cruel, inhuman or degrading punishment.

International human rights law restricts the use of capital punishment to the most serious crimes, understood as crimes of extreme gravity involving intentional killing. Resorting to the death penalty to prevent drug production and trafficking does not meet this threshold. There is no conclusive evidence that the death penalty contributes to curbing or preventing drug trafficking more than other types of punishment. Furthermore, it is a definitive punishment that makes possible miscarriages of justice irreversible.
 

Singapore received numerous recommendations relating to its use of the death penalty during the 52nd session of the Universal Periodic Review Working Group of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva on 12 May 2026. Alongside the many UN Member States that intervened, we call for Singapore to adopt a moratorium on all executions as a first step towards its full abolition.