Brunei absolute monarchy killing LGBTQ people

This video about Los Angeles in the USA says about itself:

Breaking Up With The Beverly Hills Hotel

12 February 2013

Dear Beverly Hills Hotel:

It’s over. And we are never, ever getting back together. Like ever.

That is, until your owners change their homophobic ways.

The Beverly Hills Hotel is owned by the nation of Brunei, where it is illegal to be gay.

Take a stand against homophobia — don’t eat, meet or sleep at the Beverly Hills Hotel!

Sign the petition here.

Translated from Dutch NOS TV today:

“Death penalty threatens for LGBTQ people in Brunei from next week on”

In the tiny Asian oil state Brunei, on Borneo, the death penalty for gays threatens from next week on. According to human rights organization Amnesty, new, strict … legislation will enter into force in the country on 3 April. With this, people who have sex with someone of the same sex can be stoned to death. And for people who steal something, in the worst case, amputation of a body part threatens. This also applies to children.

The penalties are in new sections of Brunei’s sharia law …

‘Sharia law’ is not by any means something monolithic, something uniform all over the Muslim world. Like, eg, the Bible and the Bhagavad Gita, the Quran is a religious book, not a legal book. There are different schools of thought among Muslim legal scholars.

Eg, in Saudi Arabia, an absolute monarchy like Brunei, judges can basically make up their own ‘sharia law’. As these judges are nominees of the royal family, they usually interpret that harshly.

Homosexuality is already punishable in Brunei, but is now punished with up to ten years in prison.

Similarly to other countries which used to be part of the British empire.

Amnesty reacts furiously. “To introduce such cruel and inhumane punishments is in itself terrible”, says a Brunei investigator of the human rights organization. She adds that Brunei should not even see some cases as crimes. “Including sex with someone of the same sex. Brunei must immediately stop their plans for these penalties.” …

Sharia was planned to be introduced in three phases: the first part contained fines for, eg, extra-marital pregnancy or not praying on Friday. Under heavy international pressure, the country did not continue with the introduction of the other two phases, but now Brunei intends to do so. …

Homosexuality is illegal in Brunei and can be punished with up to death by stoning.

As this blog reported, the absolute monarch of Brunei has banned Christmas.

The princely dynasty of Brunei are traditionally allies of the British empire. The present Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah was educated at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst in the United Kingdom. Like his father, he has been knighted by Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom, of which Brunei was a protectorate until 1984. He holds an honorary commission in the Royal Air Force of the United Kingdom as an Air Marshal. He is also an Honorary Admiral of the Royal Navy of the United Kingdom, a title given to him by Queen Elizabeth II when he took the salute at the passing out parade of the 2001 summer term at Britannia Royal Naval College, Dartmouth, the Royal Navy’s officer-training school in the United Kingdom. He has an English residence at Binfield Manor in Berkshire. In 1962, a rebellion against absolute monarchy in Brunei was put down by British troops from Singapore.

The full title of His Majesty is Kebawah Duli Yang Maha Mulia Paduka Seri Baginda Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah Mu’izzaddin Waddaulah ibni Al-Marhum Sultan Haji Omar ‘Ali Saifuddien Sa’adul Khairi Waddien, Sultan dan Yang di-Pertuan Negara Brunei Darussalam.

The princely family has been accused of sexual abuse.

Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah is one of the richest men in the world. The spoils of the country’s oil riches are shared between His Majesty and the Shell oil corporation.

This video says about itself:

Brunei Shell Petroleum – AGAINST HUMAN RIGHTS

6 August 2008

BRUNEI SHELL PETROLEUM COMPANY SDN BHD mistreat an employee and his family.

The United Kingdom maintains a military base in Seria, the centre of the oil industry in Brunei, with 1,500 soldiers.

Brunei is a former British colony and retains very close links with this country. Since the handover of Hong Kong in 1997, Brunei hosts the only remaining British military base in the Far East: here.

To make a long story short: the absolute monarch is Brunei is a staunch ally of the British empire … err … Commonwealth, of NATO, and of the Western ‘free world’.

Apparently, it is very possible to be both a close buddy of the Western ‘free world’, and to ban Christmas.

The NOS article continues:

“Sultan lived as a playboy”

Observers see the age of the sultan as a possible cause for the stricter religious rules. “He is getting a little older and would therefore try to collect some points to end up in heaven despite all his sins”, says correspondent Michel Maas.

The sultan has a past that is difficult to reconcile with his current piety. Together with his brother Jefri, he lived for years as a playboy and wasted billions of dollars.

They bought jets and other planes that they filled with polo horses or with models and actresses whom they flew in from all over the world and rewarded richly. “Jefri had a yacht called ‘Tits’ and the two speed boats on board were called ‘Nipple 1’ and ‘Nipple 2′”, says Maas.

Fortune has shrunk considerably

The extravagant lifestyle of the two came to light when the sultan deposed Jefri as finance minister, because he allegedly stole 13 billion euros. Jefri, in turn, sued some of his British lawyers who allegedly had misled him. Maas: “During the trial all the dirty details of the playboy brothers were discussed, much to the delight of the British tabloids.”

The brothers had wasted tens of billions of euros in twenty years. In the 1990s, the sultan was forced to take things a bit easier. All his income came from oil, of which the mini-state had more than enough for decades. But now the fortune of the sultan has shrunk considerably and the end of the large oil field of Brunei is coming into view.