UN Authority Figures

UN General Assembly First Committee on Disarmament and International Security Rapporteur: Brunei Darussalam


Brunei is one of the few countries where the legal system is based on sharia law, a code based on interpretations of the Quran by Islamic scholars. The Penal Code was amended in 2014 to more strictly adhere to sharia law. Since then, human rights in Brunei have been perceived to be under attack. Image: Brunei security forces
Source: The Borgen Project, October 5, 2017

Mission of the First Committee on Disarmament and International Security of the General Assembly: "The First Committee deals with disarmament, global challenges and threats to peace that affect the international community and seeks out solutions to the challenges in the international security regime." (General Assembly - Disarmament and International Security website, "First Committee")

Term of office: 2018-2019

Brunei Darussalam's Record on Disarmament and International Security:
"The law does not specifically prohibit torture, and the government did not ratify the UN Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, which it signed in 2015. Caning may be ordered for 95 offenses under 12 different pieces of legislation including secular law, and it is mandatory for some offenses... Religious enforcement officers under the Ministry of Religious Affairs are responsible for enforcing sharia (Islamic law). By law they have the same powers of arrest as police..."
(U.S. State Department's Country Report on Human Rights Practices 2017, Brunei Darussalam)

CONVENTION OF THE ORGANIZATION OF THE ISLAMIC CONFERENCE ON COMBATING INTERNATIONAL TERRORISM: "Peoples' struggle including armed struggle against foreign occupation, aggression, colonialism, and hegemony, aimed at liberation and self-determination in accordance with the principles of international law shall not be considered a terrorist crime." Ratified by Brunei Darussalam.

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