The U.S. State Department said they are “concerned” about a Brunei law being enacted next week punishing homosexual sex or adultery with death by stoning, adding it is “inconsistent with international human rights obligations.”
“The United States is concerned with Brunei’s decision to implement Phases Two and Three of the Sharia Penal Code. Some of the punishments in the law appear inconsistent with international human rights obligations, including with respect to torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment,” the State Department said in a statement to The Daily Beast.
“We have encouraged Brunei to ratify and implement the United Nations Convention Against Torture, which it signed in 2015, and to sign, ratify, and implement the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights,” they added.
Former Vice President Joseph R. Biden, who hasn’t announced whether or not he will run for president in 2020, condemned the Southeast Asian country’s new law.
“Stoning people to death for homosexuality or adultery is appalling and immoral. Every single person on earth is entitled to be treated with dignity and to live without fear. There is no excuse — not culture, not tradition — for this kind of hate and inhumanity,” the Delaware Democrat tweeted.
One of the first lawmakers to denounce the law was Republican Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas, who called the law “barbaric,” adding, “America should condemn this immoral and inhumane law, and everyone should be united against it.”
SEE ALSO: Ted Cruz condemns ‘barbaric’ Brunei law punishing homosexuality with death
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