Whoops
There are a couple of errors in The Australian’s editorial tomorrow. The first:
And there is no explanation, no justification, that can excuse any nation from killing an individual who has broken the law. There never has been and there never will be.
I think they mean for. To say there is nothing that can excuse you from some thing is precisely the opposite of saying nothing can excuse you for it. The sentence as published says every nation must execute every individual who breaks the law: a ridiculous suggestion, and obviously a mistake because the editorial is strongly — and rightly — opposed to the death penalty.
The second:
The Howard Government has not questioned Singapore’s right to apply its own laws, and neither should it. We have simply, repeatedly, unavailingly begged for clemency.
With that one little word, The Australian admits what everyone knows: that it regards itself as part of the Howard Government. Or perhaps it’s just a telling typo.
I wonder if Singapore, in a moment of Monty Python goodness, will now give Van Nguyen clemency, even though he is now dead…
I can’t believe the amount of posturing that is going on over this matter. Van Nguyen has been turned into a martyr for being a drug trafficker. Everyone knows that if you get caught in Singapore carrying drugs you are quite literally fucked.
If this is the outcry over just one man caught in Singapore, what is the din going to be like over the ‘Bali 9′ convictions, where at least 4 or 5 will go before the firing squad. I think I might go camping for a few weeks at that time.
Fucked? Literally? Is this before or after the hanging? =)
Yes Craig, Van Nguyen has been turned into a martyr, but this has all been so unnecessary. I still can’t understand why the US and France have managed to extricate citizens from death row in Singapore, but Australia has left all protests until the last minute.
Howard now says - “Let this be a lesson to all young Australians”. Of course it’s a lesson, but the big boys who engage these young traffickers still get away free because they have legitimate business covers for their trafficking. Immediately one mule is caught, he/she is replaced with another one. This is not slowing down the drug war.
Singapore has 6,000 troops in Australia engaged in military exercises. We have plenty of bargaining power, but as usual Howard will not ruffle international feathers as he likes to be seen as “doing something” regardless of how ineffectual it really is. It always looks impressive on the surface though.
Julia, have you got details or links on the French and US citizens who were granted clemency?
Craig. This information was in the Age or SMH, yesterday and in the Australian today. Prior to writing the above, I went to reconfirm clarification from these media sources and the references had been cut. Reuters also had this information and the link has now disappeared.
http://web.amnesty.org/library/Index/ENGASA360012004?open&of=ENG-SGP supplied this information as well and again when I went to retrieve it - no information could be found.
This is not the first time a controversial piece of information has been published and within a couple of hours has been censored.
Could it be that they had run with a potentially false piece of information, realised it was false and then withdrew it? Seems more plausible than a conspiracy theory that the media are doing the government’s bidding.
Craig. Yes of course - anything’s possible.
The difference between Australia and France is that France’s GDP is at least 3 times the size of our GDP, and they are actually a significant power, and we are not. The USA does not really need any explaining. They could probably get their citizens off in any country around the world, bar China, North Korea, Iran etc.
The problem with using Singapore’s troop deployments as a bargaining chip is that it would lead to the demise of the Five Powers agreement, and, therefore, the only defense treaty we have outside of ANZUS. The effect of this would be to abolish any real independence we might retain from the United States government, and any leverage we have period.
It would also mean that we have exactly zero reliable friends in South East Asia remaining.
I still think Nguyen did deserve a lot of sympathy, not because of the circumstances of his arrest (he damn well knew what would happen if he got caught), but because facing certain death at his young age should not be wished on anyone. But there is no justification for gratuitously spitting on our only real ally in South East Asia to save a single life of somebody who was not innocent, and knew exactly what he was doing.
The same, I might add, holds for the Bali Nine, except the difference is the Indonesian justice system can certainly be paid off if we need to get our citizens out of trouble. Indeed, I think we have an obligation to bribe the judges, given it was actually the Australian Federal Police who blew their cover and got them arrested in Bali, rather than in Australia on the trip back.
As I don’t believe in Execution I think he should have been given life in Changi. He was a drug trafficker after all. Whats with all the total strangers who never met him crying? I saw them on the news.
I’d say Singapore is vital to Australia’s security because of its role in the US Pacific alliance system, rather than its independence from it. The Five Power Defence Arrangements look good on paper but in practice our defence policy is now yoked to US intelligence sharing and power projection.
Singapore’s lobbying helped get Aus admission to the East Asian Summit, its students help subsidise our universities and the trade/investment flows are in Singapore’s favour (they’re our 8th largest trading partner, we’re their 11th; then ).
In short we need them, not vice versa.
As for their military units up in Queensland, they could always find somewhere else; Singaporean units already train in Taiwan, Indonesia and the US. The real loser would be Rockhampton’s economy.