Page - 367 - 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 communityofStatesasawholeasanormfromwhichnoderogationispermitted andwhichcanbemodifiedonlybyasubsequentnormofgeneral international lawhaving the samecharacter.”50 Thereremains littledoubtthatdeathbystoningasamethodofexecutionisa violationoftheabsoluteprohibitionoftortureunderinternationalhumanrights law:It isamethodofexecutiondesignedtoinflictprolongedpainandsuffering, oftenresultinginaslowdeathfrombluntforcetraumaorextensivebloodloss.Its aimisthustoinflictseverephysicalandmentalpainorsufferingforthepurposes ofpunishment,perfectly fitting thedefinitionof torture inArticle1of theCAT. The victim is usually unable tomove, immobilised by being buried up to the chest in theground,addinganelementofpowerlessness.51 If Bruneidoes ratify theCAT, theSPCOwill be closely examinedby theUN CommitteeagainstTorture,asthetreatybodyresponsiblefor theinterpretation oftheCAT.However,mostlikely itsverdictwillnotcomeasaparticularsurprise –oneonlyneedstolooktowardstherecentConcludingObservationsadoptedon thesecondperiodicreportofMauritaniatofindoutwhattheCommitteethinks of such laws: The Committee notes with concern that the Criminal Code still contains provisions authorizing corporal punishment for crimes punishable by hadd penalties(publicstoningtodeath,whippingandamputation),forsomeofwhich there isnostatuteof limitations…TheCommittee isalsoconcernedabout the provisions of article 303 of the Criminal Code, which stipulates that ‘there is neither crime nor offence when the homicide, wounds and blows have been orderedpursuant to the law, by a legitimate authority’.…While there is a de factomoratoriumonthedeathpenaltyandcorporalpunishment,theCommittee remains concernedabout their persistence in the lawand their possibleuse in future.…[TheCommittee] calls ontheStateparty to: (i) amendtheCriminal Code to bring it into compliancewith the State party’s obligations under the Conventionandother internationalstandards, inparticularbyabolishinghadd and qisas penalties…The Committee also recommends that the State party abolish the deathpenalty and commutedeath sentences toprison sentences.52 Similarly, the former United Nations Human Rights Commission deemed executionbystoninga“particularlycruelor inhumanmeansofexecution”and called for its immediate abolition;53 and theHumanRightsCommittee, which 50 SeealsoNowak,CCPRCommentary,p. 157f. 51 Thepowerlessness is an importantcriterion for thedefinitionof torture, inadditionto the onesspelledout inarticle1CAT.SeeNowak/McArthur,CATCommentary,p. 76. 52 UnitedNationsCommitteeagainstTorture,Concludingobservationsonthesecondperiodic reportofMauritaniaof4September2018,CAT/C/MRT/CO/2,para. 34f. 53 UnitedNations Commission onHumanRights, Resolution 2005/59: TheQuestion of the DeathPenaltyof20April 2005,E/CN.4/RES/2005/59,para. 7(i). The impactof religiononuniversalhumanrights inBrunei’sSyariahPenalCode 367 Open-Access-Publikation im Sinne der CC-Lizenz BY 4.0