An interesting piece in Asia Times Online highlights the recent efforts on behalf of Dean Peroff and Robert Amsterdam to gain observer status for the Singapore Democratic Party, led by dissident Dr. Chee Soon Juan, from the Liberal International. With the pressures of the economic crisis stirring protests in many countries, the authoritarian rulers of Singapore have clamped down even further on the population with the passage of the Public Order Act (POA), allowing virtually any arrest for any public demonstration.
The SDP's nomination was championed by Dean Peroff, from the international law firm Amsterdam & Peroff. In passing the unanimous motion, Peroff maintained that Singapore's political order was authoritarian, autocratic, run by a one-man system and that SDP's new observer status to Liberal International would be an important first step towards reaching out to the broader international community for the cause of promoting basic human rights and freedom of expression in Singapore.
"SDP has signed an agreement with the Commonwealth countries, where Singapore is a party, to include respect for fundamental human rights and civil liberties," said Chee, who has also hired Amsterdam & Peroff to take up his case against the government, whose members have recently filed law suits against news publications that have run Chee's critical comments. "We are trying to pursue this and some of the international community would hopefully pay more attention and encourage Singapore to be part of the civilized world." Robert Amsterdam, a human-rights lawyer who has represented individuals against oppressive states across the globe, including in Nigeria, Venezuela, and Russia, has recently taken up Chee's case. He sees the passage of the POA as symptomatic of the lack of basic civil liberties in Singapore and said that the new law would have wide-reaching implications beyond providing greater protection to the upcoming APEC conference.
"Democratic countries in Asia need to ask themselves if they accept the POA that further tears away whatever small rights ... that remain in Singapore," said Amsterdam. "Suppressing opposition in Singapore is a full time occupation for the pro-disciplinary regime," he added.
He said the motivation for undermining human rights by repressive regimes, whether in military run Myanmar or nominally democratic Singapore, often boils down to money. "They clamp down on human rights and distort information because it is profitable for them to do it. It is not just a thirst for power; it is to gain a financial interest," claimed Amsterdam. The PAP-led government opaquely manages two of the world's largest sovereign wealth funds, which have seen their holdings badly hit by the global economic crisis.
