People Will Be Stoned to Death for Adultery and Gay Sex: New Law in Brunei Shocks the World

LGTB activists and Human Rights advocates from all over the world have been struck with the news of the latest measure the Kingdom of Brunei has taken against homosexuals: public stoning to death.

A recent resolution was established to punish both same-sex relationships and people who commit adultery, causing international outrage and alarm among human rights advocates and the general public.

Actually, the atrocious legislation was approved back in 2014, but with the discriminatory laws entering into effect this April 2019, the discussion about how to prevent this crime against humanity has resurfaced around the globe.

BARBARIC PRACTICES

The new penal code of the tiny Southeastern Asian kingdom gives death by lapidation a legal status within its frontiers, apart from making it mandatory for groups of Bruneian Muslims to witness this brutal form of execution.

Needlessly to say, this marks a critical step back in human rights that the entire community of nations should strongly condemn.

The announcement by the Bruneian government was made very discreetly on December 29, 2018, through a statement in the country’s Attorney General’s website which also informed that people found guilty of stealing will have their upper limbs amputated.

“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.”

-Amnesty International Southeast Asia Researcher Rachel Chooa-Howard, Amnesty International, March 27, 2019.

Brunei is no stranger to retrograde legislation and authoritarian rule by the country’s Sultan Hassanai Bolkiah, 72, who is the second longest-reigning monarch in the world, with UK’s Queen Elizabeth II holding the first place.

OUTDATED AND CRUEL POLICIES

Other outdated when not barbaric policies in the 450.000 inhabitants nation have been championed by the Head of State, one of the world’s wealthiest individuals, but this step will effectively turn Brunei into a human rights pariah state.

“So long as people face criminalization, bias, and violence based on their sexual orientation, gender identity or sex characteristics, we must redouble our efforts to end these violations,” UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric told Reuters.

“Everyone is entitled to live free and equal in dignity and rights,” Dujarric added.

THE SULTAN DOESN'T EXPECT THE REST OF THE WORLD TO UNDERSTAND

Sultan Hassanai Bolkiah saw this criticism of the new policies coming, and he demanded from the world to stay out of the country’s affairs, even if they don’t agree with his actions, as he expected.

The United States has also criticized the implementation of the criminal laws in Brunei, urging the UN to apply its Convention Against Torture in support of the citizens submitted to this reign of horror.

LGBT RIGHTS IN THE UNITED STATES

American actor George Clooney has used his platform to call for a boycott of luxury hotels belonging to the Eastern nation in the US and elsewhere.

Even when such cruel discriminatory legal measures are unimaginable in the US, the country is far from been free from hate crimes against the LGBT community, including bully, harassment, and physical attacks.

While there is still a lot to be done to guarantee the LGBT individuals equal treatment in the US, the community could be about to make history in politics, with the first openly gay presidential hopeful announcing his intention of running for the 2020 elections as a Democrat.

The 37-year-old mayor of South Bend, Indiana, Pete Buttigieg, is expecting to become the first married gay man to run for US president, but first, he has to secure the Democratic Party nomination.