Free K.C. Chew

To the Editors of The Crimson:

Recent news reports have drawn the attention of Harvard students to the plight of Chew Kheng Chuan '82, who has been imprisoned in Singapore since May 8 on charges of participating in a "Marxist conspiracy" against the government. Singapore's Internal Security Act (ISA) permits the indefinite detention, without charge or trial, of any person suspected of posing a threat to national security.

Chew was one of 22 persons arrested under the IS in May and June of 1987, during a government crackdown on dissent. These arrests marked the first time in a decade that new arrests had been made under the IS, although one prisoner, Chia Thye Poh, has been held without trial since 1966 on account of his nonviolent political opinions. Chew Kheng Chuan and the others arrested with him in 1987 had never publicly supported the use of violence; rather, they were apparently arrested for their involvement in various church and student groups, community activities and peaceful political opposition.

Chew and the other detainees were subjected to intensive and exhaustive questioning, sometimes lasting up to 72 hours at a time. During breaks between periods of questioning, they were held in solitary confinement under continuous fluorescent lighting. The state-owned television station later broadcast deceptively edited videotapes which claimed to show the detainees "confessing" to a Marxist plot against the government.

Most of the detainees, including Chew Kheng Chuan, were released by September 1987. On April 19, 1988, however, eight of the former prisoners were rearrested, along with their defense attorney, after they publicized a statement repudiating their televised "confessions" and claiming that they had been threatened and mistreated in prison. On May 8, 1988, Chew himself was rearrested, supposedly for helping to edit the detainees' statement. On July 16, he was served with a one-year detention order.

Many prominent Harvard administrators and faculty members have already protested to Lee Kuan Yew, the prime minister of Singapore, about Chew Kheng Chuan's arrest. Students can contribute to the growing public pressure for his release by writing to:

The Honorable Lee Kuan Yew

Office of the Prime Minister

Istana Annexe

Orchard Road

Singapore 0922

(Postage is 45 cents for one ounce.) In addition, students should contact their homestate House members and urge them to support House Resolution 328, which condemns the Singaporean government's use of the Internal Security Act to imprison its political opponents. Jeff Rigsby   Harvard-Radcliffe Amnesty International   Bill Haines   GSAS Amnesty International   Andy Schapiro   Law School Amnesty International   Erik Hall   K-School Amnesty International