Health Care Professions Condemn New Brunei laws


Geneva, Switzerland, 12 April 2019 – The World Health Professions Alliance has condemned new laws, recently put in place by the Brunei, which it considers to be inhumane and discriminatory, and in breach of international human rights agreements.  The new penal code, introduced on 3 April, imposes death by stoning for adultery and gay sex, as well as amputations for theft and public flogging for abortion.

‘ICN joins our colleagues in the health professions in strongly condemning discrimination against and violence towards vulnerable groups, and considers the death penalty to be cruel, inhuman and unacceptable’, said Howard Catton, Chief Executive Officer of the International Council of Nurses (ICN). ‘We call on the government of Brunei to uphold the human rights of all’.

Dr. Otmar Kloiber, Secretary General of the World Medical Association, said ‘The World Medical Association warns all physicians in Brunei, that participating in such punishments, even advising or preparing for, would constitute a gross violation of medical ethics’.