Members of Brunei's LGBT community attempt to flee the country after the government announced the implementation of strict anti-gay laws. The rules that will come into effect on Wednesday authorize death by stoning for those who engage in sex with people of the same gender. The international community, including the United Nations, has denounced these measures as a violation of human rights.
The legislative reform of the Penal Code means consummating the conservative turn of this Muslim nation of Southeast Asia governed with an iron fist by Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah, who serves as the highest representative of Islam in the country.
The new Penal Code includes stoning for crimes of homosexuality and adultery; mutilation of the hand or foot for theft; capital punishment for blasphemy, defaming the name of the prophet Mohammed and apostasy; and flogging for abortion, among others.
The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet, said this week that the application of these laws "would be a serious setback for human rights in Brunei.
"The new Penal Code is brutal at its core in imposing these archaic methods of punishment for acts that should not be considered crimes," Phil Robertson, Human Rights Watch's deputy director for Asia, said Wednesday.
The Prime Minister's office, occupied by the 72-year-old sultan, famous for his affluent life and various love scandals, announced the measure on Saturday with a brief statement stating that the sharia will help maintain "peace and order" and aims to "educate, respect and protect the legitimate rights of all individuals of all races and faiths.
Matthew Woolfe, founder of The Brunei Project, said that changes in the penal system create fear and anxiety among the inhabitants, many of whom dare not speak or do so under conditions of anonymity.
Among them is a brunian, who is in the process of applying for asylum in Canada and left the country for fear of the future that awaited him as a transgender.
The American actor George Clooney renewed, in a column published by Deadline, the boycott against Brunei's hotels, including Beverly Hills in Los Angeles, Plaza Athenee in Paris or Eden in Rome, a measure to which other celebrities, politicians and collectives in favor of human rights have joined.
"Every time we stay, gather or eat at any of these nine hotels, we are giving money to those who choose to stone or whip their own citizens to death for being gay or accused of adultery," Clooney wrote. British singer Elton John supported Clooney's appeal.
I didn't know this country existed but I learned another country, but I wouldn't wanna visit it
I learned a new country today but not for the good stuff
