Page - 366 - in Menschenrechte und Gerechtigkeit als bleibende Aufgaben - Beiträge aus Religion, Theologie, Ethik, Recht und Wirtschaft

© 2020, Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht GmbH & Co. KG, Göttingen ISBN Print: 9783847111658 – ISBN E-Lib: 9783737011655 StoningasamethodofexecutionwasintroducedinBruneithroughtheSPCO, and is currently legal and/or practiced by at least seven other States, though reliablereportsarerare;43 inaddition,it ispracticedregionallyorextrajudicially in a handfulmore. Like inmost States with sharia legal orders, Brunei limits stoningtocertainoffences:extramaritalsexualintercourseinvolvingatleastone Muslimparty,44extramaritalrape,45andsexual intercoursebetweentwomen,or analsexofanunmarriedheterosexualcouple, regardlessof their religion.46The deathpenalty is foreseen forother crimes aswell, though theusualmethodof execution inBrunei ishanging.47 Theabsoluteprohibitionof torture is oneof the core elements of the inter- nationalhumanrightssystem.Enshrinedfromthebeginning inArticle5of the UDHR,andgivenaprominentplaceinArticle7ICCPRaswellasregionalhuman rights treaties,48 itwas strengthened in1984by theadoptionof a special treaty (CAT),which includes inArticle 1 the following legaldefinitionof torture: “ForthepurposesofthisConvention,theterm‘torture’meansanyactbywhichsevere painorsuffering,whetherphysicalormental, is intentionally inflictedonapersonfor suchpurposes as obtaining fromhimor a thirdperson informationor a confession, punishinghimforanactheorathirdpersonhascommittedor issuspectedofhaving committed,or intimidatingorcoercinghimorathirdperson,or foranyreasonbased ondiscrimination of any kind, when suchpain or suffering is inflicted by or at the instigationoforwith the consentor acquiescenceof apublic official orotherperson acting inanofficial capacity.”49 Aboveall, however, theabsoluteprohibitionof torture is consideredanormof ius cogens. According to Article 53 of the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties, ius cogens is “a norm accepted and recognized by the international 42 Amnesty International, Death Sentences and Executions 2017, see: https://www.amnesty. org/download/documents/act5079552018english.pdf, 20. 43 Death PenaltyWorldwide, see: http://www.deathpenaltyworldwide.org/country-filter.cfm? region=&method=Stoning&language=en(accessedonMay20th2019). 44 SPCO2013, section68f. 45 Ibid, section75f. 46 Ibid, section82. 47 DeathPenaltyWorldwide,Brunei. 48 Article3of theEuropeanConventionfor theProtectionofHumanRightsandFundamental Freedomsof4November1950;Article5(2)oftheAmericanConventiononHumanRightsof 22November 1969; Article 5 of theAfricanCharter onHuman andPeople’s Rights of 27 June1981; torture is likewise prohibited inArticle 20 of theCairoDeclaration onHuman Rights in Islamof5August 1990of theOrganisationof IslamicCooperation,but all rights contained inthisDeclarationaresubject tosharia (Article24). 49 Foralegalanalysisofthedefinitionoftorturesee,e.g.,ManfredNowak/ElisabethMcArthur, The United Nations Convention against Torture: A Commentary, Oxford 2008, p. 28, at p. 66ff.;ManfredNowak,ChallengestotheAbsoluteNatureoftheProhibitionofTortureand Ill-Treatment,in:NetherlandsQuarterlyofHumanRights23/4,December2005,pp. 674–688. ManfredNowak/Anna-MariaSteiner366 Open-Access-Publikation im Sinne der CC-Lizenz BY 4.0