Laws allowing the stoning of homosexuals and adulterers entered into force in the Sultanate of Brunei

The Sultanate of Brunei, north of the island of Borneo, imposed on Wednesday severe punishment based on the Sharia o Islamic law, such as stoning or mutilation of extremities, applied to various crimes, such as theft, homobaduality or adultery.

The reform of the penal code, officially announced for the first time Saturday by the sultan Hbadbad Bolkiah, does not appear in any of the media of this small but prosperous nation of Southeast Asia.

The new order includes stoning for homobadual crimes and adultery; mutilation of the hand or foot in case of theft; capital punishment for blasphemy, defamation of the name of the Prophet Muhammad and apostasy; and flogging for abortion, among others.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Michelle BacheletHe said this week that the implementation of these laws "would be a serious setback for human rights in Brunei".

"The new Criminal Code is fundamentally brutal in imposing these archaic methods of punishment on acts that should not be considered crimes.said Phil Robertson, deputy director for Asia at Human Rights Watch.

For his part, the 72-year-old Sultan, famous for an opulent life and several love scandals, defended the fact that the measure would maintain "peace and order" and aim to "educate, respect and protect legitimate rights of all individuals ". of all race and faith. "

The sultanate, prosperous thanks to its huge reserves of oil and gas, began to introduce sanctions based on Islamic law in 2014, with a first series of amendments for less severe penalties.

But the successful international campaign of boycott against the commercial cadre under the high patronage of the Sultanate, including a chain of luxury hotels in the United States and Europe, has resulted in the temporary suspension of the introduction of punishments. the most severe and corporal punishment, by the end of 2016.

The American actor George Clooney renewed, in a column published Thursday by the media Deadline, the boycott against the Brunei trade, a call that was then joined by other celebrities, such as the British singer Elton John, the community for human rights homobaduals or various agencies politicians.

Although the current Penal Code provides for the death penalty, Brunei has not carried out any executions since 1957 and the last sentence was issued in 2017 for a narcotics offense.

The new legislation will mainly apply to citizens professing the Muslim religion, who represent 70% of the population of the Sultanate, or about 300,000 indigenous people, although in some cases it will also be used with foreigners or religious believers. Other beliefs, mainly Buddhists. and Christians.