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<p>I raised UK concerns about hudud punishments during my visit to Brunei Darussalam
in August 2018. More recently I raised these issues on Friday 29 March in a letter
to the Deputy Foreign Minister. Additionally the British High Commission in Bandar
Seri Begawan regularly discusses the introduction of the Sharia Penal Code with the
Government of Brunei.</p><p>We will continue to encourage and work with the Bruneian
Government, as with many other countries, to remove corporal and capital punishment
from their statutes. We will also urge them to take steps to decriminalise and pass
laws to protect LGBT people from all forms of discrimination.</p><p>The UK believes
in the right to live with dignity, free from violence or discrimination irrespective
of a person's sexual orientation. The International community must uphold the universality
of human rights; the criminalisation of same-sex relations is wrong.</p><p>The UK
is committed to combating discrimination and violence against LGBT people throughout
the Commonwealth and ensured that last year's Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting
Communique included the most progressive language yet on LGBT rights, complimented
by an historic speech from the Prime Minister, and backed up with major programme
spending on gender equality and LGBT rights.</p><p>Foreign and Commonwealth Office
travel advice has been updated to alert British citizens of the introduction of the
new local laws in Brunei and we continue to lobby against the use of such punishments.</p>
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