Brunei’s new law permits stoning gay people to death
United Nations condemns the new penal code
“Under international law, stoning people to death constitutes torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment and is thus clearly prohibited.”
— Rupert Colville, spokesperson for the Office of the UN High Comissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR). He continued, “Application of the death penalty for such a broad range of offenses contravenes international law.” The statement was made in response to Brunei’s new penal code, which permits the punishment of death by stoning for a range of offences, including same-sex sexual relationships, adultery, rape, extramarital affairs and publicly declaring oneself to be non-Muslim. Brunei, which has a majority Muslim population and is phasing in Sharia law, previously had a 10-year prison sentence as the maximum punishment for sex between persons of the same gender.
Image Credit: Sam Garza / Wikimedia
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