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Brunei Travel: Ready to be stoned to death? How will WTTC and UNWTO respond?

March 30, 2019 by Forimmediaterelease

Brunei is becoming a deadly place to visit starting April 3, specially if you are member of the LGBT Community.

Next week the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) will have their annual summit in Seville, Spain. Tourism leaders from around the globe will meet and listen to keynote speaker U.S. President Obama. Will President Obama, UNWTO Secretary-General Zurab Pololikashvili, or WTTC CEO Gloria Guevara say something on what is developing in Brunei?

No country in the world so far issued travel warnings against Brunei. U.S. authorities have a level 2 travel advisories against Germany or the Bahamas but find travel for Americans perfectly safe when a new law threatens citizens and visitors, including children to be subject to death by stoning for same-sex sexual acts and amputation for robbery. Such a law will come into effect in Brunei Darussalam on April 3.

Brunei is a tiny nation on the island of Borneo, in 2 distinct sections surrounded by Malaysia and the South China Sea. It’s known for its beaches and biodiverse rainforest, much of it protected within reserves. The capital, Bandar Seri Begawan, is home to the opulent Jame’Asr Hassanil Bolkiah mosque and its 29 golden domes. The capital’s massive Istana Nurul Iman palace is the residence of Brunei’s ruling sultan

“Pending provisions in Brunei’s Penal Code would allow stoning and amputation as punishments – including for children, to name only their most heinous aspects,” said Rachel Chhoa-Howard, Brunei Researcher at Amnesty International.

“Brunei must immediately halt its plans to implement these vicious punishments and revise its Penal Code in compliance with its human rights obligations. The international community must urgently condemn Brunei’s move to put these cruel penalties into practice.”

These punishments are provided for in newly-implemented sections of the Brunei Darussalam Syariah Penal Code that are due to come into force on 3 April 2019, according to a discreet notice on the Attorney General’s website.

“To legalize such cruel and inhuman penalties is appalling of itself. Some of the potential ‘offences’ should not even be deemed crimes at all, including consensual sex between adults of the same gender,” said Rachel Chhoa-Howard. “These abusive provisions received widespread condemnation when plans were first discussed five years ago.”

Amnesty expressed grave concerns over the Penal Code when the code’s first phase was implemented in April 2014.

“Brunei’s Penal Code is a deeply flawed piece of legislation containing a range of provisions that violate human rights,” said Rachel Chhoa-Howard. “As well as imposing cruel, inhuman and degrading punishments, it blatantly restricts the rights to freedom of expression, religion, and belief, and codifies discrimination against women and girls.”

Stoning and a hunt to kill members of the LGBT community is not an isolated problem in Brunei alone. Brunei is joining countries like Iraq, Iran, Saudi Arabia or Tanzania.

Background

Brunei Darussalam has signed but not yet ratified the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, and has rejected all recommendations to this effect in its human rights review at the UN in 2014.

Under international human rights law, corporal punishment in all its forms, such as stoning, amputation or whipping, constitutes torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading punishment, which is prohibited in all circumstances.

Acts of torture and other ill-treatment are absolutely proscribed in the main international human rights instruments, most of which Brunei has not signed or ratified. In addition, this prohibition is also recognized as a peremptory rule of customary international law, meaning that every state is bound by it even if they are not a party to a relevant human rights treaty. All acts of torture constitute crimes under international law.

While Brunei retains the death penalty in law, it is abolitionist in practice. One new death sentence was imposed in 2017, for a drug-related offense.

Just a few years ago the Sultan of Brunei told UNWTO Secretary-General and WTTC CEO: “We will do our best to support tourism. Tourism is of strategic importance for Brunei and based on two principal resources: the country’s pristine rainforest in the heart of Borneo, and its spiritual and cultural heritage. Environmental protection and conservation must, therefore, lie at the heart of any tourism development, the Sultan had stressed.

Travel News | eTurboNews

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New cruise ship touches the sea for the first time in Turku

March 19, 2019 by Forimmediaterelease

Costa Crociere celebrated the technical launch of the new flagship Costa Smeralda at the Meyer shipyard in Turku, Finland.

During the ceremony, the ship officially touched the sea for the first time. The celebration, which saw the participation of the top management of Costa Cruises and the Meyer shipyards, followed the protocol established by the maritime tradition, with the flooding of the basin where the ship has taken shape in recent months.

Costa Smeralda technical launch Costa Smeralda, which will enter service from October 2019, will be the first Costa ship powered by liquefied natural gas (Lng), the cleanest fossil fuel in the world. Its use represents an environmental change that will improve the quality of the air, almost totally avoiding the emissions of particulate matter and sulfur oxides, both at sea and in port.

Lng will also reduce nitrogen oxide and CO2 emissions. In this way Costa Smeralda and its twin, which will be delivered in 2021, will contribute to achieving the sustainability objectives set by Costa Crociere and Carnival Corporation & plc, which provide for a 25% reduction in the carbon footprint by 2020.

“It is with great enthusiasm that we celebrate such an important moment,” said Neil Palomba, general manager of Costa Crociere. “Costa Smeralda represents a great innovation for the international market and an important step towards the definition of new standards for the entire sector. It is a new generation ship and will be a tribute to the best of Italy and our excellence. It was designed with passion and attention to detail to offer an unforgettable holiday experience.”

The name of the ship recalls one of the most beautiful tourist destinations in Sardinia. The names of bridges and public areas are dedicated to famous places and squares in Italy.

Costa Smeralda will also have its museum, the CoDe – Costa Design Museum, dedicated to the excellence of Italian design. “Designing and building Costa Smeralda together with Costa Crociere’s colleagues is an exciting experience,” commented Jan Meyer, CEO of the Meyer shipyard in Turku. “I believe it will be a unique and innovative ship, both from an engineering and design point of view, I am convinced that guests will appreciate all the attractions and services on board.”

The technical launch is the moment when the ship reaches its natural element, water. Construction will continue with the final phase of interior fittings ».The sister ship, also built at the Meyer shipyard in Turku, is scheduled for 2021. The Costa Smeralda debut is scheduled for October20, 2019.

Travel News | eTurboNews

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