Conscientious objection to military service
General Counsel of Jehovah's Witnesses (2001 Report)/ HRWF International Secretariat (11.10.2001) - Website: http://www.hrwf.net - Email: info@hrwf.net - To date, ministers of religion or conscientious objectors are not granted exemption from military service. Young male Jehovahs Witnesses of draft age are imprisoned for refusing to perform military service. Further, since reserve duty is also mandatory, male Witnesses are exposed to prison terms until they are past draft age, which is 40 years old.
Approximately 31 male Jehovahs Witnesses are in detention for refusing to serve in the military. Singapore has spoken against the concept of conscientious objection. However, there may already exist potential forms of alternative non-military service.
According to the definition of civil defense in Section 2 of the Civil Defense Act, civil defense limits its actions to situations of national or civil emergency other than measures amounting to an actual combat. The definition of civil defense emergency points to typical civil emergencies such as floods, fires, and earthquakes. Section 4 lists further functions to be performed by the Singapore Civil Defense Force, all of which encompass non-military activities. The supreme command of this force is under the direction and control of the Commissioner of Civil Defense who is appointed under the Civil Defense Act and is ultimately accountable to the Minister of Home Affairs.
Also, according to the National Service Act, there are apparently non-military options available to young recruits. According to the Enlistment Act, the proper authority is empowered, under Section 11 of the Enlistment Act, to transfer an enlistee from one form of service to another, from one force to another or from one unit to another. The two listed units are the Singapore Police Force and the Singapore Civil Defence Force. Both of these units appear to be managed under the Ministry of Home Affairs, which is not under the Defense Ministry. However, some forms of service within the Singapore Police Force may require carrying or using firearms.
Until now, no conscientious objector who is one of Jehovahs Witnesses has been enrolled under these provisions at the time of enlistment. Upon identifying themselves, Jehovahs Witnesses are automatically channeled through a set administrative procedure under the Ministry of Defense tailored for Jehovahs Witnesses. They are charged under the Singapore Armed Forces Act and sentenced to military detention. Recently, two persons who were assigned to the Singapore Civil Defence Force as new enlistees were rerouted to the above procedure when they refused to take the country oath of allegiance prescribed under the Enlistment Act in its current form. One of them did not refuse the oath-taking per se. He had requested an exemption or a modification of the oath, but the request was rejected.
National anthem: Expulsion of Jehovah's Witnesses children
General Counsel of Jehovah's Witnesses (2001 Report)/ HRWF International Secretariat (11.10.2001) - Website: http://www.hrwf.net - Email: info@hrwf.net - In 2001 three children who are Jehovahs Witnesses were indefinitely suspended from public school for not singings the national anthem and for not taking the national pledge. For instance, one 15-year-old girl who is one of Jehovahs Witnesses was indefinitely suspended effective May 21, 2001. She enrolled in a private school on June 26, 2001.
This makes 55 children who have been suspended for various durations since 1990, of whom 15 were indefinitely suspended since 1999. To prevent a confrontational approach and to seek continuity especially for those students who were due for major examinations at the end of the year, the children finally enrolled in private schools or obtained private tutoring. There were technically no expulsions except for one case in 1977. The indefinite suspension could effectively be considered as an expulsion since the children were not allowed to return to their classes unless they compromised their own conscientious stand. It appears that the schools have deliberately avoided the use of expulsion in favor of indefinite suspension.
Singapore expels four Falun Gong members for vigil
WRSN (27.04.2001) HRWF International Secretariat (27.04.2001) - Website: http://www.hrwf.net - Email: info@hrwf.net - Singapore said on Friday it will expel four members of the Falun Gong spiritual movement who had been jailed for obstructing police in a New Year's Eve vigil.
Fifteen adherents -- 13 Chinese nationals and two Singaporeans -- were arrested on December 31 for holding an illegal assembly commemorating members the movement says died in jails in China.
Seven were sentenced to four weeks in jail in March for obstructing police and the others were given the maximum fine of $555 for holding a rally without a permit.
The jailed members were released on Wednesday.
One member will have her permanent resident status revoked because of active involvement in various illegal gatherings for which she was previously warned, the immigration department said.
Two others will have their student passes canceled while a third student, whose pass had expired and extended his stay on a tourist visa for the court case, will not get that renewed.
Another Chinese national had her employment pass canceled by her employer and has already left the country.
Arrangements would be made to allow those expelled to settle personal matters efore leaving.
Falun Gong, which Chinese authorities have denounced as an evil cult and banned, is legally registered in Singapore but the city-state requires all organizations to seek a permit to gather in public.
The movement, also known as Falun Dafa, combines meditation and exercise with a doctrine loosely rooted in Buddhist and Taoist teachings.
