[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----worldwide

[Rick Halperin]

March 29


BRUNEI:

George Clooney calls for hotel boycott over Brunei LGBT death penalty



Film star George Clooney has called for a boycott of nine hotels because of 
their links to Brunei, where homosexual acts will from next week be punishable 
by death.

In an opinion piece written for Deadline, Clooney decried Brunei's announcement 
that from April 3 the country will stone or whip to death citizens caught 
committing adultery or having gay sex.

"Let that sink in. In the onslaught of news where we see the world backsliding 
into authoritarianism this stands alone," Clooney said.

He called for the public to join him in immediately boycotting nine hotels -- 
3 in the UK, 2 in the US, 2 in France and 2 in Italy.

They include the Beverly Hills Hotel and the Bel-Air in Los Angeles, the 
Dorchester in London and Le Meurice in Paris.

Clooney said the Brunei Investment Agency owns the hotels, which he described 
as some of the "most exclusive" in the world. He even admitted he had stayed in 
some, until he found out who owned them.

"Every single time we stay at, or take meetings at or dine at any of these nine 
hotels we are putting money directly into the pockets of men who choose to 
stone and whip to death their own citizens for being gay or accused of 
adultery," he said.

"Are we really going to help pay for these human rights violations? Are we 
really going to help fund the murder of innocent citizens?"

Brunei is a small oil-rich kingdom of just over 450,000 people on the island of 
Borneo, close to the more moderate Islamic nations of Indonesia and Malaysia.

In May 2014, Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah announced he would be imposing a new penal 
code based on Sharia law, an Islamic legal system which outlines strict 
corporal punishments.

At the time, the government's website quoted the Sultan as saying that his 
government "does not expect other people to accept and agree with it, but that 
it would suffice if they just respect the nation in the same way that it also 
respects them."

The roll out of the new laws was at the Sultan's discretion and on December 29 
it was quietly announced that capital punishment for homosexual sex would be 
imposed in April. Theft will be punished by amputation under the new laws.

"Brunei must immediately halt its plans to implement these vicious punishments, 
and revise its Penal Code in compliance with its human rights obligations. The 
international community must urgently condemn Brunei's move to put these cruel 
penalties into practice," Rachel Chhoa-Howard, Brunei Researcher at Amnesty 
International, said in a statement.

(source: CNN)

*******************

If Brunei executes gays, it would be the 5th nation doing so----Between 7 and 
11 nations with large Muslim populations have laws providing for the death 
penalty for gay sex or otherwise allow such executions.



Many fewer countries actually impose the death sentence — by this blog’s count, 
probably four of them, which would expand to five if Brunei goes ahead with its 
plan to implement its law providing for executions for gay sex as well as for 
adultery.

7 is the number of countries that definitely have laws providing the death 
penalty for gay sex or that otherwise allow such executions to occur. (Iran, 
Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Somali, Yemen, Sudan, and part of Nigeria)

The list grows to 11 countries if four nations are included where it’s 
theoretically possible to interpret the laws as allowing executions for gay 
sex. (Mauritania, Pakistan, Qatar and U.A.E.)

The death penalty for gay sex is no longer on the books in Afghanistan. Because 
of military defeats, the Islamic State (ISIS) can no longer act impose the 
death penalty by acting as a de-facto government.

EXECUTIONS

Here is this blog’s best-information-available list of countries/regions where 
executions for gay sex are carried out:

Nations with such laws on the books; executions have been carried out in the 
recent past:

1. Iran

Iran is No. 2 in the world for frequency of executions of any kind, behind 
China. Those include executions for homosexual activity, although the facts are 
often unclear or misrepresented.(See, for example, “Bogus hanging in Iran, 
bogus tweets in Egypt” and “Series of public hangings in Iran, including 2 for 
sodomy.” When a man in Iran is hanged after being convicted of rape and sodomy, 
media coverage often wrongly describes the punishment as execution for 
homosexuality. )

2. Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia is No. 3 among the world’s most avid executioners, with 90+ in 
2014. At least in the past, beheadings were imposed for homosexual behavior, 
including three men in 2002. Imprisonment and lashings are a more common 
punishment for same-sex activity.

Nations with no such law on the books; executions are carried out by militias 
and others:

3. Iraq

The ILGA report of 2015 noted that “Iraq, although [the death penalty is] not 
in the civil code, clearly has judges and militias throughout the country that 
issue the death sentence for same-sex sexual behaviours.” For example: Iraq has 
become a death trap for gay men (September 2012)

4. Somalia

Erasing 76 Crimes report: A gay teenager was reportedly stoned to death in 
2013, but those reports have not been verified.

ILGA report: A 2016 account about the central and southern portions of the 
country, controlled by the Islamist militant group Al-Shabaab: “ ‘Al-Shabaab’s 
beliefs stem from a Salafi-Wahhabi strand of Sunni Islam (an ultra conservative 
movement within Sunni Islam). They enforce a strict interpretation of Shariah 
law. Shariah law explicitly forbids homosexuality — the punishment for those 
“found guilty” is at a judge’s discretion, and may be punished by death.’ 
Writing in 2014, the Somali artist and writer Diriye Osman, now resident in the 
UK, says to come out in Somalia one must be prepared for, ‘…physical abuse, 
ceaseless harassment, imprisonment or death.’ Osman’s own family threatened him 
with violence upon learning that he is gay. In early 2017, it is reported that 
al Shabaab … murdered 2 individuals on account of their sexual orientation.” 
Erasing 76 Crimes comment: Those two killings are described as murders, but 
they might better be labeled as executions, since they were done by the group 
in charge in that region.

EXECUTIONS? MAYBE

Here is this blog’s best-information-available list of countries/regions where 
executions for homosexual activity might or might not be carried out:

Nations with such laws on the books; no recent executions reported

5. Sudan

Erasing 76 Crimes report: In Sudan, the death penalty is in frequent use, but 
there are no recent reports of executions for same-sex intimacy. In 2014, Sudan 
ranked at No. 6 worldwide in number of executions (23+) for various offenses, 
just below the United States, with 35, according to Amnesty International.

ILGA report: “2006. Sudan applies the death sentence for some consensual 
same-sex sexual activity, and as such, it is virtually impossible for any 
SOGI-based group to even consider registering as a NGO.” No specific executions 
cited.

6. Yemen

Erasing 76 Crimes report: Yemen is No. 7 in frequency of executions overall, 
but the death penalty apparently has not been imposed recently for homosexual 
activity. Researchers for Canada’s Immigration and Refugee Board reported more 
than 10 years ago, “Information on whether such sentences have been carried out 
was not found.” More recently an article on Yemen’s gay community in The Tower 
magazine stated, “Traditionally, that death penalty is not enforced, but 
citizens have been imprisoned for their sexual orientation.”

ILGA report: “2001. Although Article 58 of the Constitution asserts the rights 
on citizens to form associations, the criminal law confers the death penalty 
for male and female ‘homosexuality’ and life for sexual and gender minorities 
is extremely challenging.” No specific executions cited. Also, “The situation 
in Yemen has become progressively worse for sexual and gender minorities since 
the takeover of much of the country by the Houthi militia in 2013. An article 
from August 2015 goes into some detail on the environment for LGBT.” That 
article is from Erasing 76 Crimes: “4 murders of gay men in Yemen.”

A nation with such a law on the books in part of the country; no verified 
executions for homosexual activity

7. Nigeria

Erasing 76 Crimes report: The BBC reported in 2007, “More than a dozen Nigerian 
Muslims have been sentenced to death by stoning and for sexual offences ranging 
from adultery and homosexuality. But none of these death sentences has actually 
been carried out as they were either thrown out on appeal or commuted to prison 
terms as a result of pressure from human rights groups.”

ILGA report: “Several Northern Nigerian states have adopted Islamic Sharia 
laws, criminalising sexual activities between persons of the same sex. The 
maximum penalty for such acts between men is death penalty, while the maximum 
penalty for such acts between women is a whipping and/or imprisonment.” No 
specific executions cited.

PENDING LAW, NO EXECUTIONS

A nation that is about to have such a law on the books; no executions reported

1. Brunei Darussalam This is the description of Brunei in ILGA’s 2017 report:

“Since 2014, Brunei Darussalam has been phasing in its Syariah Penal Code Order 
(SPC Order 2013), despite learned critiques of its human rights deficits. The 
second and third phases of it were due to be in place in 2015 and 2016 (at 
which point the death penalty for consensual same-sex sexual behaviour was due 
to apply – for both men and women).

To date, it appears that Brunei has not produced its procedural code, without 
which it cannot proceed to the 2nd and 3rd phases. It is also the case that the 
last execution by the State in Brunei was in 1957. However, Human Rights Watch 
warn that the current Sultan is particularly ardent.”

As of early 2019, there were no reports that the full Syariah Penal Code Order 
had been implemented.

According to news reports, Brunei is preparing to adopt the Syariah law 
providing the death penalty for consensual same-sex intimacy, effective in 
April 2019.

NO EXECUTIONS; HARSH SHARIA PENALTY NOT IN EFFECT

Mauritania, Pakistan, Qatar and U.A.E.

The ILGA report of 2017 summarizes: “it would be valid to say that the death 
penalty is ‘allowed’, or evidence of its existence, occurs [because of] its 
potential application by Shari’a courts in Pakistan, Afghanistan, the United 
Arab Emirates, Qatar and Mauritania, … [but] these States have less severe 
penalties encoded in their penal laws, and there appears to be no data to 
suggest the death penalty has been implemented in those States for consensual 
same-sex sexual acts between adults and in private.” A U.S. Department of State 
cable from 2009, released by WikiLeaks in 2011, indicated that Mauritania has 
never imposed the death penalty for homosexual activity or any other crime.

NO LONGER ON THE LIST

Afghanistan

The ILGA report of 2019 states: “A new Penal Code came into force on 14 
February 2018. … it explicitly criminalises same-sex sexual conduct though the 
punishment [previously, the death penalty] has been reduced. .. all sexual 
contact outside marriage was punishable with a maximum of the death penalty and 
a high-profile Islamic scholar [had] claimed that ‘there was broad consensus 
amongst scholars that execution was the appropriate punishment if homosexual 
acts could be proven’.”

ISIS

This article was revised Feb. 13, 2019, to remove Daesh/the Islamic State / 
ISIS / ISIL from the list. At its height, ISIS repeatedly executed men accused 
of homosexuality. For example, from 2015: ‘Islamic State’ has reported 15 LGBTI 
executions. After years of armed struggle, ISIS remains an international 
pariah, but no longer deserves to be considered a de facto nation.

(source: 76crimes.com)








PHILIPPINES/MALAYSIA:

Presidential Palace assures help for Filipinos on death row in Malaysia



Malacanang assured Filipinos on death row in Malaysia that the government is 
responding to their cases.

Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo said in a Palace briefing that the 
government would not abandon them.

“Oh definitely we will not [abandon them]. We will always respond to the call 
of distress from any OFW (overseas Filipino worker),” he noted.

His comment was sought after Buhay Rep. Lito Atienza said 48 Filipinos are 
facing death penalty in Malaysia, where executions are done through hanging.

Panelo said Labor Secretary Silvestro Bello III is already attending to the 
cases of the Filipinos on death row in Malaysia.

“I think the Secretary of Labor is doing something about that. We’re waiting in 
fact for his report,” he said.

In 2018, Malaysia has moved to abolish the death penalty – a decision that 
could save thousands of people on death row.

(source: Philippine Daily Inquirer)