New laws in the country of Brunei that will take place next month will make gay sex and adultery punishable by stoning and amputation, alarming human rights groups.
Laws Announced Quietly
The new laws in Brunei, a small East Asian country between two Malaysian states on Borneo in Borneo, were announced “in a discreet notice” on its attorney general’s website.
People Can Be Stoned, Whipped There
Even before this, it was illegal to be homosexual in Brunei — people faced 10 years in prison. But with these new changes, Muslims who are found guilty of things like sodomy, adultery and rape could be whipped or stoned to death.
Amnesty International Speaking Out
The human rights group Amnesty International, who called the Islamic laws for participating in gay sex and other crimes as “vicious,” is opposed to the measures, which were first proposed in 2013.
Ruler Is Rarely Questioned
Hassanal Bolkiah is the ruling sultan in Brunei. According to the Daily Mail , Bolkiah has full executive authority in Brunei, where criticism of laws or policies is rare.
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Sharia Penal Code Includes Amputation
Under Brunei’s new and updated Sharia Penal Code, people could have a right hand amputated for the first offense of theft. A person could lose their left foot for a second offense. The Daily Mail says Brunei’s new Sharia Penal Code, which takes effect April 3, also applies to children.
Islamic Criminal Laws Are Implemented In Brunei
According to The Daily Mail , Brunei was the first country in East Asia to introduce Islamic criminal law. Amnesty International has called the new code a “deeply flawed piece of legislation.”
‘Consensual Sex’ Under Fire
Amnesty International’s Brunei researcher, Rachel Chhoa-Howard, says some of the new offenses shouldn’t even be offenses, “including consensual sex between adults of the same gender.”
Amnesty International: Penalties Are ‘Appalling’
Chhoa-Howard went on:
“To legalise such cruel and inhuman penalties is appalling of itself.”
“Brunei must immediately halt its plans to implement these vicious punishments and revise its penal code in compliance with its human rights obligations.”
“The international community must urgently condemn Brunei’s move to put these cruel penalties into practice.”