Last week, the Sultan of the oil-rich Brunei, Hassanal Bolkiah, announced the start of a new criminal code based on sharia law that will impose barbaric punishments like amputation and stoning for offenses that includes being gay and pregnant outside of marriage.
A Los Angeles Times news report said “Under the first phase, fines and jail terms were introduced Thursday for offenses that include failure to attend Friday prayers, indecent behavior and pregnancies outside of marriage.
“A second phase of the law, which will come into force later this year, provides for severing of limbs and flogging for property crimes. A third phase set for late 2015 will allow the justice system to sentence offenders to death by stoning for crimes including adultery and gay sex.”
The report said Bolkiah celebrated the new legal code as obedience to “God’s command, as written in the Koran.
The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights condemned the Brunei legal code. So did the Human Rights Campaign, a U.S.-based group that advocates for gay and transgender rights.
The Sultan of Brunei owns the Beverly Hills Hotel and Hotel Bel Air in Los Angeles and Dorchester hotel chain.
Branson said his family and Virgin Group of companies, which include an airline, with more than 50,000 employees worldwide will stay out of Dorchester Hotels “until the Sultan abides by basic human rights.”
A number of events at the Beverly Hills Hotel including the pre-Oscars party have been cancelled in protest of Bolkiah’s anti-gay and anti-women laws.
Human Rights is in the agenda of the 24th ASEAN Summit to be held in Nay Pyi Taw, Myanmar May 10 and 11. Let’s see if anyone of the 10 leaders will dare take up Bolkiah’s stone- age criminal code the ASEAN Charter which stresses “adherence to the principles of democracy, the rule of law and good governance;respect for and promotion and protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms.”
In fact, ASEAN has an Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights (AICHR) to supposedly promote and protect human rights, and regional co-operation on human rights among in the member states (Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Viet Nam).
The ASEAN Human Rights Declaration states that “Every person has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion. All forms of intolerance, discrimination and incitement of hatred based on religion and beliefs shall be eliminated.”
It also provides that “Every person charged with a criminal offence shall be presumed innocent until proved guilty according to law in a fair and public trial, by a competent, independent and impartial tribunal, at which the accused is guaranteed the right to defence.”
Bolkiah’s new criminal code makes a mockery of the Human Rights Declaration that he signed.
The silence of ASEAN as a group as well as that of other ASEAN members is deafening.
“……..A third phase set for late 2015 will allow the justice system to sentence offenders to death by stoning for crimes including adultery and gay sex………….”
i do believe anyone who violates any law is surrendering whatever rights he has especially criminals who take advantage of the helpless or anyone who has no ability to protect himself from any harm or abuse. sultan bolkia’s celebration of God’s command (Allah’s for Muslims) is timely and the first to “enjoy” this celebration should be the politicians who, instead of fulfilling their sworn duties to the people are the very first to abuse the power vested in them.
It’s the people of sultan bolkiah themselves who will be the ones to suffer the most. they’re the ones most affected and feeling the sting. celebration of Allah’s command may serve to make fundamentalist muslims more hardened. in nigeria, more than 200 young girls have already fallen victims, snatched at school and not allowed to have western style of education. the girls have been said to have been sold already as wives and slaves. instead of having the girls educated as good muslims able to devout their own households to muslim principles, and so, bring up future generation to be educated as well in the teaching of Allah, the girls were liquidated instead. for profits. sold for money. more arms and ammunitions will be bought.
Bolkiah should start by beheading his sex-maniac brother Prince Jeffrey (remember his personal wax figures of him and some women engaging in sex?) who still maintains a huge harem of foreign models, actresses, beauty queens in his palace. Jeffrey had 2 Pinay wives, Evangeline Del Rosario, a noob Hollywood producer and is also divorced to singer Ayen Munji-Laurel (after marrying singer-model-actor Franco Laurel).
Although Jeffrey had “returned” all his assets to the state in exchange for non-indictment in a $15-billion embezzlemet scandal, he still maintains a lavish lifestyle with his three OFFICIAL wives.