Singapore will not allow the annual meetings of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank (WB) this year to be marked by protests, which has been staple to such meetings.  It also threatened a crackdown on activities of advocacy groups and civil society organisations that monitor the IMF-WB.
The wealthy city-state is host of the 2006 Annual Meetings of the Boards of Governors of the IMF-WB Group that will be held September 19-20. Singapore's Home Affairs Minister Wong Kan Seng had reportedly said that certain civil society actions may "attract severe punishment, including caning and imprisonment." Singapore has banned public demonstrations, and the last police license for a demonstration was issued in the late 1980s. Activists interpreted this as a veiled threat and wrote a letter to Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, asking him to withdraw the warning and allow full access to the groups during the meetings. "Many groups are concerned about these threats and intimidations, but are determined not to let such threats undermine actions being planned," said Rukshan Fernando of the Bangkok-based Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development (FORUM-ASIA) in an email message to the Inter Press Service news agency (IPS).

Civil society groups were also alarmed by statements made by the government that it would only allow peaceful protests by foreign organisations, and that local groups will not be able to participate.  Activists argued that peaceful protests are universal rights that should be extended "to all people, including Singaporean people and organisations."

Activists say that if implemented, the threats to place restrictions on civil society activities could jeopardise civil society engagement with various inter-governmental bodies on strategic issues such as trade, aid, debt, sustainable development, human rights, peace, and human security.

We consider statements such as the one reportedly made by Mr. Wong Kan Seng, Singapore Home Affairs Minister, that certain civil society actions may attract severe punishment, including caning and imprisonment as veiled threats towards civil society, Forum-Asia, ALTSEAN, Think Center, and ARENA said in their February 8 letter to the Singapore government.

Dozens of organisations have endorsed the letter so far. These include Focus on the Global South, the Halifax Initiative Coalition in Canada, and Jubilee South The 184-member IMF and WB hold its annual meetings outside of Washington D.C. once every three years.  These meetings are the largest gathering of global financial representatives in the world.  The meetings often discuss and plot the course of global economic development and policies, as well as simultaneously attracting oppositional activities from advocacy groups, notably with street protests, some of them lately marred by violence.

Some 16,000 people are expected to come for the meetings, with 300 to 500 non-governmental organisations to be accredited by the IMF and World Bank.

The Singapore government is keen to use the opportunity to promote tourism, and has prepared a visual arts extravaganza that will take place for the first time in Southeast Asia.

Source: 

Mekay, E. (2006, March 6). Activists concerned over Singapore's "caning" threat. Retrieved from Inter Press Service <>.