In yet another draconian law that the kingdom of Brunei is often slammed for, gay sex and adultery will be punished with death by stoning April 3 onwards. Homosexuality is already illegal in the kingdom, but will attract a capital punishment now on.
A notice on the law was posted on the Brunei attorney general's website on December 29, 2018 and also said that that cases of theft would see people losing a hand and a foot by amputation. The notice also clearly states that a "group of Muslims" must be witness to the crimes in order for the offender to face punishment.
The Sultan of Brunei, Hassanal Bolkiah, first ordered the implementation of the sharia law in 2014, but the process has been gradual. At the time, the sultan had said that the move was a "a great achievement" for the kingdom.
While the date for the implementation has been set for April 3, a spokesman for the Brunei religious affairs ministry said that things would be finalised only after Bolkiah made an announcement on the same.
"Only after the event we will know regarding the date of the implementation of the new laws," he told the Agence France-Presse. "In terms of readiness, at the moment we are prepared to enforce the amputation of the hand for stealing only. That is all."
As the implementation date nears, Brunei's policy has been slammed by many. Amnesty International urged the kingdom to "immediately halt" the penalties and said that they were "deeply flawed."
"To legalise such cruel and inhuman penalties is appalling of itself," Brunei researcher Rachel Chhoa-Howard said in a statement. "Some of the potential 'offences' should not even be deemed crimes at all, including consensual sex between adults of the same gender."
Phil Robertson of Human Rights Watch has also made his displeasure evident and warned that there would be serious consequences of it. He said that the law "will quickly drive the country towards human rights pariah status in the eyes of foreign investors, tourists, and international agencies," and added: "If this ill-considered plan goes forward, there is every reason to believe the global boycott Brunei movement will re-start."
The move has also invited they ire of Richard Grenell, the US ambassador to Germany. "This new law violates the UN's Universal Declaration of Human Rights. It should be widely condemned," he tweeted. Grenell became the first openly gay spokesperson for a Republican presidential candidate in 2012.
Sebastian Kurz, chancellor for Austria also spoke of the law and tweeted: "I call on the Sultanate of #Brunei to withdraw the death penalty by stoning f homosexual acts between consenting adults. The same goes for other countries which have the same cruel & inhuman laws. No one should be criminalized based on their sexual orientation or gender identity."
Brunei is known for stringent sharia laws and Alcohol is already banned in the kindgom. The Sultan also banned showy Christmas celebrations and it is also an offence to have children out of wedlock and failing to pray on a Friday. All these are punishable offences in the kingdom and there are fines and jail terms for them.
While the sultan is known to introduce these stringent laws for the residents of Brunei, he seems to have little control over his brother Prince Jefri Bolkiah, who had embezzled $15m from the state when he was a finance minister in the 1990s. His lifestyle is also said to be quite salacious, involving a number of foreign mistresses.
