reinstate a moratorium on the use of the death penalty.
Chijioke Stephen Obioha, who was sentenced to death for drug trafficking inApril 2007, is due to be hanged on 18 November.
Under international law, the death penalty may only be used for "the mostserious crimes" which has been interpreted to mean only crimes involvingintentional killing. Drug-related offences do not fall under the thresholdof "most serious crimes". Furthermore, under domestic law, the deathpenalty is not mandatory for drug-related offences.
"The death penalty is not an effective deterrent relative to other forms ofpunishment nor does it protect people from drug abuse," said LaurentMeillan, the acting regional representative of the UN Human Rights Office."The focus of drug-related crime prevention should involve strengthening
the justice system and making it more effective."
"I urge the Singapore Government to halt the execution of Mr. Obioha andcommute his death sentence, taking the important first step ofre-instituting a moratorium on the use of the death penalty," he added.
Several States called on Singapore to abolish the death penalty during itshuman rights review in Geneva in January 2016.