Cancellation of International Human Rights Day March
SFD Media Release
9 Dec 2010
Cancellation of International Human Rights Day March
Singaporeans For Democracy (SFD) will cancel its scheduled march for 1pm from Speakers' Corner to Parliament House on 10 Dec 2010 to commemorate International Human Rights Day. SFD has still not received the results of its appeal for a permit to march.
We appealed because no written reasons were provided by the Singapore Police Force (SPF) when denying SFD's initial application for a permit to march. Please refer to their letter.
We note that an SPF spokesperson cited "law and order considerations" to the media for denying SFD a permit to march on International Human Rights Day. We also note that media reports cited the SPF as advising the organiser to hold the event at Speakers' Corner.
Speakers' Corner is not a Marching Corner. Marches are symbolic, they travel from one point to another point and the choice of destinations have meaning. In this case, SFD wants to point out that human rights issues in Singapore are best resolved via changes in law that need to be made in Parliament. That's why the end destination is important and that is why we chose Parliament.
The SPF should provide detailed reasons to the relevant applicant for any permit rejected. Stock answers such as "law and order considerations" are not helpful. Providing detailed reasons are important as the march circumstances for each application may be different. If reasons are provided in a timely manner then steps can be taken to ensure such "law and order considerations" are met in cases where an initial application is rejected. Without such clarifications, when permits are rejected, applicants are unable to re-design their march and successfully apply again for the relevant permit in a timely manner.
Because SFD has been denied a permit, it regrets its unable to lawfully march on International Human Rights Day.
Meanwhile, we at SFD are optimistic the Minister for Home Affairs will approve our appeal and that we can organise a march at the next opportune date.
Dr. James Gomez
Executive Director
Singaporeans For Democracy
