Implementation of Phases Two and Three of Brunei’s Sharia Penal Code

Brunei’s decision to implement Phases Two and Three of the Sharia Penal Code runs counter to its international human rights obligations, including with respect to torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, the Trump administration said Tuesday.

“All governments have an obligation to ensure that all people can freely enjoy the universal human rights and fundamental freedoms to which they are entitled,” The U.S. State Department wrote in a statement. “The United States strongly opposes violence, criminalization and discrimination targeting vulnerable groups, including women at risk of violence, religious and ethnic minorities, and lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) persons.”

The United States said that it encourages Brunei to ratify and implement the United Nations Convention Against Torture, which it signed in 2015, and to sign, ratify, and implement the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. Sharia law, especially the second and third faces runs counter to standing international human rights law.

Sharia law, if fully implemented, also runs counter to the United States Constitution. Fox News Host Jeanine Pirro was suspended for two weeks in March after pointing that fact out on her show.