Commonwealth Secretary-General Condemns Brunei For Gay Death Penalty

Baroness Scotland, the Secretary-General of the Commonwealth, has condemned Brunei’s decision to install cruel new laws that would sentence gay people to death by stoning, reports the i newspaper.

Brunei is a member of the Commonwealth and was a British colony until 1984. The small Southeast Asian country has decided to implement harsh Islamic laws that would punish male homosexuality and adulterers with death by stoning, lesbians with 100 lashes of the whip, and thieves with amputation.

There have been calls from British MPs for the country to be removed from the Commonwealth.

Read our more detailed analysis of the situation in Brunei here.

Baroness Scotland has “strongly urged” the Sultan of Brunei to reconsider these laws, reminding the country it has “committed itself to upholding the values and principles of the Commonwealth Charter which underscores a commitment to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and other relevant human rights covenants and international instruments.

“I have communicated my concern to the Government of Brunei,” she added, “strongly urging it to reconsider the introduction of the punishments proposed under the new Penal Code which, if implemented in its current form, will potentially bring into effect cruel and inhuman punishments which contravene international human rights law and standards.

“The Commonwealth Secretariat is ready and willing to provide Brunei Darussalam with technical assistance and to advise on the formulation of a revised Penal Code in accordance with the values and principles of the Commonwealth Charter and in compliance with international human rights law and obligations including on the issue of harmonisation.”

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