Getting stoned in Brunei

George Clooney speaks out...  

Why is it that, so far, the loudest protest against the Sultan of Brunei has come from the world of show business? Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah has  adopted a strict interpretation of Sharia Law that will come into force on April 3. Sodomy and adultery will be punishable by whipping and lapidation (stoning to death), while theft will incur amputations. Owing to previous objections the law had been temporally put aside, but the Sultan has just pushed it through with minimal publicity. However, it did not go unnoticed, as he may have hoped. Hollywood superstar, George Clooney, immediately decried the barbarity of the law and called for the boycott of the Sultan's many luxury hotels.

Tokenism is not enough  

Of course, politicians have started to voice their concerns, but often these objections are tame and wish-washy. Few have the courage of Xavier Bettel, the Prime Minister of Luxembourg, for instance. He recently shocked delegates at the EU-Arab League Summit in Egypt by pointing out that he could be legally killed or imprisoned in many of the represented countries. Laws such as these are an affront to the civilised world and a gross violation of human rights.Not only is tokenism not enough, it gives the false allusion that something significant is being done.

Clooney's advice can have limited results  

George Clooney set a brave example and gave concrete suggestions on how to respond. He pointed out that while it is difficult to shame these sort of regimes, it is easy enough to hit them where it hurts, namely their pockets. Unfortunately, it is only rich people who can do this. They can inflict pain on the Sultan's luxury hotels and financial services, while countries and large corporations could perhaps target their oil industry. The Sultan is one of the richest men on earth. His subjects, who consist of less than half a million people, enjoy huge benefits, but at the expense of their human rights. The Sultan seems poised to weather the storm. 

The UN, political and religious leaders must do more...

Gay sex can incur the death penalty in Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Mauritania, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen, but homosexuality is illegal in 73 countries and of those, only Kenya and Botswana have pending court rulings to decriminalise it. Adultery fares even worse and it is even illegal in some US States. Consensual sex amongst adults is their business, not the state's. Boycotts are not enough. It is time the UN, politicians and religious leaders do more to combat this bigotry and violence. As long as they fail to, they will be part of the problem.