The European Parliament strongly condemned on Thursday 18 April the entry into force on 3 April in Brunei of the “retrograde” Sharia-based penal code, urging the authorities to repeal it immediately and ensure that its laws are in line with international law and standards (see EUROPE 12228/24).
In the joint resolution adopted by the Greens/EFA, ECR, GUE/NGL, ELDD, S&D, EPP and ALDE groups by a show of hands, MEPs condemned "the use of torture and cruel, degrading and inhuman treatment under all circumstances” and the death penalty.
In particular, they are calling on Brunei to decriminalise homosexuality, which, under this new penal code, is punishable by the death penalty. MEPs believe that the Sultanate should promote political dialogue with key stakeholders in civil society, human rights organisations, faith-based institutions and professional organisations in order to strengthen and protect human rights within his territory.
The European Parliament is also calling on the EU to act. It invites the European External Action Service and EU delegations to closely monitor the situation, hold discussions with the authorities, and to strengthen EU support for civil society organisations and defenders of human rights.
In the event of an effective implementation of the Penal Code, the EEAS will have to consider adopting restrictive measures in respect of serious human rights violations, including freezing assets and a visa ban, Parliament added. According to them, “for as long as the current penal code is in force, the European Union institutions should consider blacklisting hotels owned by the Brunei Investment Agency".
MEPs also want the restart of negotiations over the EU-Brunei Partnership and Cooperation Agreement—currently suspended—to be made conditional on the criminal code's compliance with international law and international human rights standards.
The EU and its Member States must respect the international legal framework regarding access to asylum procedures and humanitarian protection for aggrieved parties of the current Brunei Criminal Code, say MEPs.
The Sultan of Brunei has justified it to MEPs
The Sultan of Brunei sent a letter and a memo, dated 15 April, to the European Parliament to clarify his country's position.
According to him, Brunei, “like all other independent countries, enforces its own rule of law reflecting our own culture and religious values”. “Realisation of international human rights must be considered in a national context, bearing in mind the diversity and different politic, economic, legal, social, cultural, historical and religious backgrounds of the world we share” he added.
Trying to reassure Europeans, he said that the Sharia criminal law system “focuses more on prevention than punishment”. Its purpose is “to educate, deter, rehabilitate and nurture”. Criticised for the criminalisation of adultery and sodomy, the Sultan justified it on the basis of the need to “safeguard the sanctity of family, lineage and marriage of individual Muslims, in particular woman”.
See the letter and memo from Brunei (via the Washington Post): https://bit.ly/2KMZ7eU. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)