Brisbane rally to protest against Brunei’s decision to punish LGBT people by death by stoning

Tuesday, April 09, 2019

This Saturday there will be a rally in Brisbane condemning the actions of the Brunei Government in passing laws to make death by stoning the punishment for those engaging in homosexual acts or adultery.

While Brunei is tiny, with a population of 400,000, it is oil rich. It Sultan is believed to be one of the world’s richest men. Members of Brunei’s LGBT community are reported to be fleeing Brunei.

The UN has condemned the changes as a breach of fundamental human rights.

Virgin Australia has ended its reciprocal arrangement with Royal Brunei Airlines, just as Royal Brunei Airlines is soon to restart flying into Brisbane.

Celebrities such as Elton John and George Clooney have called for a boycott of hotels owned by the Sultan of Brunei. A hotel ultimately owned by the Sultan of Brunei, is the Royal on the Park, in Alice Street, Brisbane. Like other Brunei owned hotels, it has closed its social media accounts.

Brunei joins the list of countries in which the death penalty can be imposed for homosexual acts:

Afghanistan
Iran
Mauritania
Nigeria
Pakistan
Qatar
Saudi Arabia
Somalia
Sudan
Yemen

The International Academy of Family Lawyers, of which I am a Fellow, has condemned the move by Brunei:

“The International Academy of Family Lawyers in conjunction with their Asia-Pacific Chapter condemns the introduction of the Brunei revised penal code, which stipulates the death penalty for offences including adultery and extra marital sexual relations and homosexual acts.

The IAFL is an international organisation of over 810 practising lawyers from 57 countries who are recognised by their peers as the most experienced and skilled family law specialists in their respective countries.

The IAFL reaffirms our support of efforts towards ensuring human dignity within all relationships, full equality of the LGBTI community and in issues concerning marriage, families, parenting and ending domestic violence throughout the world.

“There is no place in any penal code to criminalise sexual acts between consenting adults and the cruel and inhuman and degrading punishments contained in the Brunei legislation have no place in any modern legal system. This legislation is an affront to international human rights and the IAFL strongly condemns its introduction”.

The IAFL joins other international voices to urge the Brunei government to revisit this legislation and to remove these penalties from its statute books.”