Brunei says it will not enforce death penalty for gay sex in dramatic U-turn after widespread criticism

Brunei has announced it will not enforce the death penalty for gay sex – a significant U-turn on policy for which it faced widespread criticism.

The small southeast Asian country’s Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah extended a moratorium on the sentence in a bid to alleviate an international backlash led by high-profile individuals such as George Clooney and Sir Elton John.

Brunei provoked an uproar when it rolled out its interpretation of Islamic laws, or Sharia, on 3 April, punishing sodomy, adultery and rape with death, including by stoning.

The tiny oil-rich state has consistently defended its right to implement the laws, elements of which were first adopted in 2014 and which have been rolled out in phases since then.

But in a rare response to criticism levied at the country, the sultan said the death penalty would not be imposed in the implementation of the Syariah Penal Code Order (SPCO).

Some crimes already command the death penalty in Brunei, including premeditated murder and drug trafficking, but no executions have been carried out since the 1990s.

“I am aware that there are many questions and misperceptions with regard to the implementation of the SPCO. However, we believe that once these have been cleared, the merit of the law will be evident,” the sultan said in a speech ahead of the start of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan.

“As evident for more than two decades, we have practised a de facto moratorium on the execution of death penalty for cases under the common law. This will also be applied to cases under the SPCO, which provides a wider scope for remission.”

The massively wealthy sultan, who once piloted his own 747 airliner to meet former American president Barack Obama, often faces criticism from activists who deem his absolute monarchy to be despotic, but it is unusual for him to respond.

The sultan’s office released an official English translation of his speech, which is not common practice.

“Both the common law and the Syariah law aim to ensure peace and harmony of the country,” he said. “They are also crucial in protecting the morality and decency of the country as well as the privacy of individuals.”

The law’s implementation, which the United Nations condemned, sparked celebrities and rights organisations to seek a boycott on hotels owned by the sultan, including the Dorchester in London and the Beverley Hills Hotel in Los Angeles.

Several multinational companies have since put a ban on staff using the sultan’s hotels and some travel companies have stopped promoting Brunei as a tourist destination. The Police Federation, which represents more than 119,000 officers in England and Wales up to the rank of chief inspector, also lent its support by moving its annual bravery awards away from the Dorchester hotel.

Brunei has signed but not yet ratified the UN Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment and has rejected all recommendations to this effect in its human rights review at the UN in 2014, Amnesty International has said.

Under international human rights law, corporal punishment in all its forms – such as stoning, amputation or whipping – constitutes torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading punishment, which is barred in all circumstances.

Additional reporting by Reuters