Singapore Wants Inmate Healthy for Execution: Daily Brief
The absurd cruelty of the death penalty; misinformation law could silence critics in Greece; Kyrgyzstan’s legal review process excludes citizens; involve communities in climate change discussions; and new sports rules can protect gender diversity.
A day before he was scheduled to be hanged in Singapore for a drug offense, Nagaenthran Dharmalingam, a man with a mental disability, was spared from execution after he tested positive for Covid-19. This story highlights the cruel absurdity of capital punishment and the extra challenges faced by those with intellectual and psychosocial disabilities in accessing true justice.
Greece recently adopted a new regulation that criminalizes the spreading of ‘fake news’, punishable with up to five years in prison. The law doesn’t clearly define what fake news entails. There is a serious risk that this law could be used to punish journalists, civil society, and anybody who criticizes the government policies, restricting free speech and silencing critics.
The annulment of parliamentary elections in Kyrgyzstan in October 2020 set off a series of concerning political developments. A new constitution passed in April 2021 gives the president extensive powers to appoint several senior officials, and could allow the president to intimidate critics. Most recently, the government announced a review of laws over a short period, limiting how much citizens can engage with this process.
Not every impact of climate change can be solved with new technologies. Front-line communities with deep knowledge of their lands are carrying out successful adaptation strategies. Governments should include communities in climate change discussions to ensure lasting solutions.
For decades, sport governing bodies have imposed harmful regulations on women’s participation in sport through “sex testing”. These rules target women athletes with some variations in their sex characteristics. But new policies from the International Olympic Committee could change this. The new guidelines were developed after years of consultation with athletes, and they set out how sports governing bodies can protect the rights of transgender athletes, as well as athletes born with variations of their sex characteristics.