To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether it is the Government's policy to support the suspension of Brunei from the Commonwealth of Nations as a result of that country's legislation to make homosexuality a crime punishable by death.
Answered on
17 April 2019
The UK encourages all Commonwealth partners to protect and promote the values in the Commonwealth Charter, including its opposition to all forms of discrimination. We have made clear that nobody should face persecution or discrimination because of who they are or whom they love.
Brunei is one of several Commonwealth countries that imposes corporal and capital punishments. It has now introduced new potential penalties under the Sharia Penal Code.
We have raised our concerns with the Government of Brunei. We will continue to encourage Brunei to remove corporal and capital punishment from its statutes, to pass laws that decriminalise same-sex relations and protect LGBT people from all forms of discrimination.