Today marks twenty years since Australian man Van Nguyen was executed by hanging in Changi Prison, Singapore.

He was only 25 years old.

Born on 17 August 1980 in a refugee camp in Thailand, Van grew up in Australia with his mother and twin brother. He had the opportunity to attend university but was unable to accept the offer due to financial difficulties.

Van was arrested in December 2002 at Changi Airport in Singapore, for carrying 396 grams of heroin, an act carried out to pay off debts and assist his brother. He was convicted in March 2004 and – caught by Singapore’s severe drug laws – received a mandatory death sentence.

Van’s case attracted significant international attention. Australian lawyers Lex Lasry and Julian McMahon worked with Singaporean lawyers to advocate strongly for Van but were unable to overcome the mandatory nature of his sentence. Van’s case raised questions about how the mandatory death penalty undermines the right to a fair trial.

In the lead up to his execution in 2005, friends and supporters ran the Reach Out Campaign, which urged the Singapore Government to commute Van’s sentence. At public events, Van’s friends gave out tracings of his hand and encouraged others to trace their own hands and write messages of support on them for Van. These hands were displayed on the steps of the State Library of Victoria (pictured above) and sent to the then President of Singapore.

Two decades on, Singapore's mandatory death penalty continues to claim lives. Van's story reminds us why this work matters – and why we must keep fighting to end the cruelty of capital punishment.

A constitutional challenge to Singapore’s use of the death penalty

In early November 2025, seven people, including family members of three people executed in Singapore and local activists, filed a constitutional challenge against Singapore’s mandatory death penalty for drug offences.

The applicants contend that the mandatory death penalty violates constitutional rights to life and equal protection of the law, and infringes upon judicial powers.

The challenge is being brought in the context of executions in Singapore gathering pace, with 17 carried out in 2025, including three last week – the highest number since 19 people were executed in 2003. This contrasts sharply with regional trends: in 2023, Malaysia abolished the mandatory death penalty for drug offences, while Pakistan removed the death penalty entirely for such crimes.

The hearing for the challenge will be held in chambers tomorrow, Wednesday 3 December. CPJP is closely monitoring this landmark challenge, which represents a crucial test of Singapore's willingness to reconsider its harsh mandatory sentencing regime.

On 10 October – World Day Against the Death Penalty – CPJP, alongside seven international partners, submitted a critical stakeholder report to the UN Human Rights Council examining Singapore's death penalty practices ahead of its fourth Universal Periodic Review in 2026.

Our joint submission highlights alarming trends since executions resumed in March 2022. Of the now 42 people who have been put to death in that period, 15 of the 17 people killed in 2025 received drug-related convictions – offences that fail to meet the ‘most serious crimes’ threshold under international law. Singapore is one of only four countries known to be actively executing for drug-related offences, joining China, Iran, and Saudi Arabia.

We have documented serious procedural concerns: Singapore's mandatory death sentencing removes judicial discretion, creating a ‘lethal lottery’ that disproportionately affects minorities and, in some cases, reverses the burden of proof through presumptions. Recent executions have proceeded despite ongoing court proceedings, violating international safeguards requiring all legal processes to conclude first.

Our submission also addresses Singapore's failure to implement disability rights protections for those on death row, despite being party to the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

Prior to June 2024, people on death row were given at least seven days’ notice before execution. However, for people who had previously received a notice (even years prior), this period has been reduced to four days, allowing them barely enough time to say goodbye to family and friends or to exercise any remaining legal rights. For some, the limited time available has resulted in the difficult choice of one or the other.

The government also tightly controls the public narrative, using legislation to restrain efforts to raise awareness about the use of the death penalty in Singapore or to present information that differs from the government narrative, effectively silencing civil society voices.

Among other recommendations, our joint submission calls for an immediate moratorium on executions, ratification of key human rights treaties, an end to restrictions on freedom of expression, and ultimately, the complete abolition of the death penalty.

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The first such event CPJP has hosted in many years, we brought together members of the legal, academic, and human rights communities to raise awareness about our work, with a focus on Singapore.

Australia’s longstanding, bipartisan opposition to the death penalty emerged from the collective outrage over Van Nguyen’s execution in 2005, and the 2015 executions of Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran in Indonesia. In 2018, the Australian government released its strategy for abolition of the death penalty, which opposes the death penalty in all circumstances for all people.

At our event, the Hon. Mark Dreyfus KC MP spoke eloquently about the injustice of the death penalty, and Australia's commitment to leadership on worldwide abolition, closing with a reminder that: “We must continue to pursue all avenues available to achieve the universal abolition of the death penalty. We must keep alive the memory of Van Nguyen and let our advocacy be his legacy.”

Kirsten Han brought the human cost into sharp focus, describing her work supporting families through executions: "Even adults can barely wrap our heads around the cruelty of the death penalty," she said, recounting how she couldn’t explain October’s execution of Pannir Selvam Pranthaman to his five-year-old nephew.

Kirsten described capital punishment as "a system that thrives on silence and invisibility. The more out of sight, the more out of mind, the easier it is to get the public to accept... The Singapore Government has been getting away with this bloodthirsty policy because of this secrecy."

Despite the heartbreak – "I've held too many weeping mothers and sisters… I've watched too many family members stroking the cold faces of loved ones they weren't allowed to touch until after the State had killed them" – Kirsten emphasised that "being an abolitionist is also a story of great stubbornness, of a refusal to lose hope... After 15 years in the anti-death penalty movement, I've learned that change does not come easily. But the other thing I have learned is that we cannot underestimate the power of solidarity."

The Hon. Justice Lex Lasry AM reflected on Van's case with anger that remains two decades later: "The suffering that Singapore caused all the people who were close to Van, to his family, was so far out of proportion to the wrong that he had done, that their conduct, in my opinion, is unforgivable and perhaps even grotesque." He emphasised that Van "was literally a dead man walking” from the moment he was caught at Changi Airport, with no judicial discretion to consider his cooperation, remorse, or reform.

Justice Lasry argued Singapore must be held accountable: "The Singapore Government needs to be pressured and shamed by the international community into retreating from its policy of capital punishment. Political diplomacy and respectful commentary simply won't work." He called for Australia to "more actively lead regional abolitionist coalitions and argue the case with countries like Singapore, and with countries like the United States. We must speak as a country."

As Kirsten reminded us, we cannot underestimate the power of solidarity. These powerful testimonies reinforce why CPJP's work is vital – supporting activists on the ground, amplifying the stories of families, and urging Australia to lead with moral courage in ending the death penalty.

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