The International Bar Association’s Human Rights Institute (IBAHRI) condemns the implementation of the Syariah Penal Code in Brunei – due to come into effect on 3 April 2019 – which permits stoning and whipping to death of anyone convicted of engaging in consensual same-sex sexual activity. Further, the IBAHRI condemns the use of capital punishment for rape and adultery, as well as amputation for robbery. Such sentences amount to cruel, inhuman and degrading punishment.
IBAHRI Co-Chair, The Hon Michael Kirby AC CMG, commented: ‘It is an affront to accused persons and a terror to prisoners, alongside their lawyers, family members and fellow citizens, who are all exposed to engagement with such punishment. It is a horror story that contemporary rulers are even considering restoration of these shocking punishments in today’s world of the internet, science, the global response to disease and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. It is an affront to universal human rights involving “cruel, unusual and degrading treatment and punishment”. The civilised world will not be silent in the face of these reports from Brunei.’
The IBAHRI opposes the criminalisation of homosexuality and laws that impose penalties for consensual, adult, private sexual conduct. The IBAHRI Council Resolution on sexual orientation and human rights, passed on 27 May 2010, opposes discrimination, violence and other breaches of human rights directed against people on the grounds of their sexual orientation. Laws that criminalise and impose penalties for consensual sexual conduct between members of the same sex infringe the human rights of LGBTI+ communities and violate their rights to equality, non-discrimination and human dignity.
Anne Ramberg Dr jur hc, IBAHRI Co-Chair, commented: ‘International human rights law is clear that the death penalty should only ever be used for the most serious of crimes. Same-sex consensual sex and adultery should not constitute a crime of any description, let alone the most serious crimes. Furthermore, there is developing consensus that the death penalty should never be used, as indicated by the recent UN vote of 121-35 countries in favour of establishing a moratorium on executions with a view to abolishing the death penalty. At a time when the world is moving towards complete abolition of the death penalty, it is extremely concerning that the authorities in Brunei are seeking to take such a retrogressive step.’
The IBAHRI opposes the use of the death penalty in all circumstances, calling for its total abolition since 2008. The IBAHRI Council Resolution on the abolition of the death penalty, adopted on 15 May 2008, recommends that countries retaining the death penalty should ensure that it is applied strictly in accordance with international standards and, in particular, within the limits laid down in Article 6 of the UN International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.
Baroness Helena Kennedy QC, Director of the IBAHRI, further raised concern regarding the application of punishments in relation to adultery: ‘The use of corporal punishment, such as stoning and whipping, whether to death or not, constitutes cruel, inhuman and degrading punishment. Such sentences for adultery are almost always applied in a discriminatory manner, with women being the main recipients. Adultery laws themselves are archaic, patriarchal, misogynistic and have no place in today’s world.’
The IBAHRI calls on the government of Brunei to suspend immediately the implementation of the Syariah Penal Code and to revise the code to reflect Brunei’s international human rights obligations.
ENDS
Notes to the Editor
- The International Bar Association (IBA) – the global voice of the legal profession – is the foremost organisation for international legal practitioners, bar associations and law societies. Established in 1947, shortly after the creation of the United Nations, it was born out of the conviction that an organisation made up of the world's bar associations could contribute to global stability and peace through the administration of justice.
In the ensuing 70 years since its creation, the organisation has evolved from an association comprised exclusively of bar associations and law societies to one that incorporates individual international lawyers and entire law firms. The present membership is comprised of more than 80,000 individual international lawyers from most of the world’s leading law firms and some 190 bar associations and law societies spanning more than 170 countries.
The IBA has considerable expertise in providing assistance to the global legal community, and through its global membership, it influences the development of international law reform and helps to shape the future of the legal profession throughout the world.
The IBA’s administrative office is in London, United Kingdom. Regional offices are located in: São Paulo, Brazil; Seoul, South Korea; and Washington DC, United States, while the International Bar Association’s International Criminal Court and International Criminal Law Programme (ICC & ICL) is managed from an office in The Hague, the Netherlands.
The International Bar Association’s Human Rights Institute (IBAHRI), an autonomous and financially independent entity, works to promote, protect and enforce human rights under a just rule of law, and to preserve the independence of the judiciary and the legal profession worldwide.
For further information please contact:
Romana St. Matthew - Daniel
Press Office
International Bar Association
4th Floor, 10 St Bride Street,
London EC4A 4AD
Mobile: +44 (0)7940 731 915
Direct Line: +44 (0)20 7842 0094
Main Office: +44 (0)20 7842 0090
Fax: +44 (0)20 7842 0091
Email: romana.daniel@int-bar.org
Website: www.ibanet.org