Southeast Asia: Positive steps towards ending death penalty in several Southeast Asia states amplify isolation of Singapore and other executing countries

A growing number of states across the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) are taking positive steps towards reducing the use and scope of the death penalty, creating new momentum towards abolition in a region historically associated with strong support for this cruel punishment, said Amnesty International ahead of the World Day Against the Death Penalty on 10 October. The progress taken by many countries highlights the isolation of Singapore as an outlier in the region, as executions globally remain confined to a small group of countries.

Over the past 20 years, a wave of reforms and decreases in executions across the now 11 ASEAN member states have changed the picture of the death penalty in the region, moving it closer in line with the three countries fully abolitionist in law (Cambodia, Philippines, Timor-Leste), details Amnesty International’s new briefing, Changing Tides: Reform and resistance on the death penalty in ASEAN. Earlier this year, Indonesia marked 10 years without executions, while Malaysia and Thailand are poised to do the same in 2027 and 2028. Brunei Darussalam and Laos have also maintained hiatuses in executions, with death sentences imposed sparingly in recent decades. However, Myanmar, Singapore and Viet Nam remain staunch in their use of the death penalty.

“The number of executing countries across ASEAN has steadily decreased, with just Myanmar, Singapore and Viet Nam recording executions in the past five years” said Joshua Ericsson, Executive Director of Amnesty International Malaysia.

“This shift underscores the growing isolation of states that continue to carry out executions and justify the retention of this cruel punishment as uniquely effective for public safety. The reforms across ASEAN prove that this is not a tenable position. When human rights are put at the centre of criminal justice responses, the foundations of the death penalty begin to crack. States must move from consolidating execution hiatuses toward formal moratoriums and, ultimately, full abolition in law.”