A United States (US) official said that the Sultanate's continuous efforts to protect the rights of religious minorities through its constitution, which allows for other religions to be practised in "peace and harmony" are being commended, amid several concerns on religious minorities raised in the US Department of State's latest report on International Religious Freedom (IRF).

Mark Dieker, Charge d'Affaires of the US Embassy in Brunei Darussalam, said in a statement yesterday that the 2015 IRF Report is not just about exposing the limitations on religious freedom around the world, but also a chance to highlight the positive work by governments and civil society to protect religious minorities, promote freedom of worship, and respect religious diversity.

The 2015 IRF report, which can be publicly accessed on www.state.gov, also highlighted several issues on the exercise of religious freedom in Brunei, as can be seen from the US Government's observations.

The report revealed that the US Ambassador to Brunei Darussalam, along with other US Government officials, expressed their concerns to high-level officials in the Brunei Government that full implementation of the Syariah Penal Code (SPC), including the severe penalties in the remaining two phases, would undermine several of the country's international human rights commitments, including the freedoms of religion and of expression, and prohibitions on punishment.

The report also stated that the ambassador, together with several US Government officials, also urged high-level Brunei government officials to defer the implementation of phases two and three of SPC, and encouraged the government to ratify the UNCAT (United Nations Convention against Torture), in addition to the signing and ratification of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR).

Meanwhile, Shaarik Zafar, the US Department of State's Representative to Muslim Communities, told local media representatives yesterday that his visit to the Sultanate reflects the US Government's commitment to an enduring relationship with Brunei on the issues of human rights, as well as trade and economic diversification efforts.

When asked about concerns raised by the US Government in the latest IRF Report on Brunei, Shaarik, said Brunei is a "unique case" where Civil Penal Code and Syariah Penal Code run parallel in a dual system.

"I can't think of any other country that has the (system)... so when you are looking to develop and implement this, you want to be careful and make sure that you are doing it carefully," he said, adding that it is not in the US Government's interests to dictate how another country should manage its own affairs.

Shaarik also said that the human rights issue was discussed during his series of meetings with top government officials, in view of the fact that Brunei is one ofthe 12 signatories to the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade agreement.

Shaarik said that Brunei stands to gain a wide scope of economic benefits in the TPP, which will also help the countryto bolster its efforts for economic diversification away from hydrocarbons and oil resources.

"This TPP agreement is so important because for the first time, you are going to have a major trade deal that covers 60 per cent of the global GDP, where you are going to have labour standards, environment standards and human rights standards that you would have never seen before," he said.

Shaarik revealed that he talked about the other benefits of the TPP during his meetings here.

He also cited economic opportunities in the Halal and Syariah-compliant finance industries which can be tapped into, especially with a significant Muslim population in the US.ang Berhormatukuran and Doa SelamatAATHP in Kuala Lumpur

Source:
@BRUDIRECT.COM

by BruDirect.com

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