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Amnesty International Report 2017/18

destroyed, most of them in Rio de Janeiro 

city and surrounding municipalities in the 

Baixada Fluminense region.

CHILDREN’S RIGHTS

Juvenile detention facilities remained 

overcrowded and detainees suffered 

inhuman and degrading conditions.

In Ceará state, torture by state officials was 

recurrent inside juvenile detention facilities. 

During the year, there were at least 20 riots 

and 37 escapes from units in Ceará. Out of 

200 formal reports of torture of adolescents 

inside juvenile detention units in Ceará 

between 2016 and September 2017, only 

two reports resulted in a formal inquiry by the 

state for further investigation. Reports of the 

chaotic state of the juvenile justice system in 

Ceará resulted in a formal visit by Brazil’s 

National Human Rights Council in 

September.

Early in the year, Espirito Santo state held 

1,198 juvenile detainees in a system with 

capacity for only 754, a rate of overcrowding 

of more than 39%. Of the state’s 13 detention 

facilities, only four were operating within their 

intended capacity.

On 3 June, seven boys aged between 15 

and 17 were killed by other teenage 

detainees during a riot in a juvenile detention 

facility in Lagoa Seca, Paraíba state.

On 13 November, four young boys were 

killed by hooded men who entered a juvenile 

justice system facility where the boys were 

detained.

1. Brazil: Law leading to military impunity sanctioned (

AMR 

19/7340/2017

)

2. Brazil: Police killings, impunity and attacks on defenders: Amnesty 

International submission for the UN Universal Periodic Review – 27th 

session of the UPR working group, May 2017 (

AMR 19/5467/2016

)

3. Brazil: Over 90 men killed in Brazilian prison riots (

AMR 

19/5444/2017

)

BRUNEI 

DARUSSALAM

Brunei Darussalam

Head of state and government: Sultan Hassanal 

Bolkiah

Lack of transparency made independent 

monitoring of the human rights situation 

difficult. Phased amendments to the 

Shari’a Penal Code, if implemented, would 

provide for the death penalty and corporal 

punishment, such as caning and stoning 

which amount to torture and other ill-

treatment, for a range of offences. The 

amendments would further restrict the 

rights to freedom of thought, conscience 

and religion and discriminate against 

women.

BACKGROUND

Several amendments to the Shari’a Penal 

Code remained pending and were subject to 

phased implementation. Brunei completed 

phase one of the amendments which dealt 

with crimes punishable by prison sentences 

and fines. If implemented, phase two will 

cover crimes punishable by amputation; 

while phase three will deal with crimes 

carrying the penalty of stoning to death.

FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION

On 27 July, government employee Shahiran 

Sheriffudin bin Shahrani Muhammad was 

removed from his post and charged under 

Section 4(1)(c) of the Sedition Act for posting 

comments on Facebook deemed “offensive” 

to the Ministry of Religious Affairs. Journalists 

and online activists continued to self-censor 

for fear of prosecution.

WOMEN’S RIGHTS

Shari’a Penal Code amendments included 

provisions which, if implemented, would 

further discriminate against women, 

including by criminalizing pregnancy outside 

marriage and forcing unmarried Muslim 

women to live in their guardian’s home.

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DEATH PENALTY

Although abolitionist in practice, death by 

hanging was maintained as punishment for 

several offences including murder, terrorism 

and drug-related crimes. Penal Code 

amendments, if implemented during phase 

three, would impose death by stoning as 

punishment for offences including “adultery”, 

“sodomy” and rape. Stoning to death or 100 

lashes, depending on the offender’s marital 

status, would be imposed on Muslims and 

non-Muslims who commit “adultery” with a 

Muslim.

RIGHT TO EDUCATION

Stateless children and children who were not 

citizens of Brunei faced barriers to basic 

rights, including education. While primary 

education was free and accessible to citizens, 

stateless and non-citizen children had to 

apply for permission to enrol and were often 

required to pay monthly fees.

RIGHTS OF LESBIAN, GAY, BISEXUAL, 

TRANSGENDER AND INTERSEX PEOPLE

Consensual same-sex sexual relations 

remained a criminal offence with “intercourse 

against the order of nature” punishable by up 

to 10 years’ imprisonment under Article 377 

of the Penal Code. Amendments to the Penal 

Code would, if implemented, allow a 

mandatory punishment of death by stoning 

for consensual same-sex activity (see above).

COUNTER-TERROR AND SECURITY

Suspects were detained without trial under 

the Internal Security Act. In February, four 

Indonesian nationals were detained under 

the law for alleged links with the armed group 

Islamic State (IS) and subsequently deported.

BULGARIA

Republic of Bulgaria

Head of state: Rumen Radev (replaced Rosen 

Plevneliev in January)

Head of government: Boyko Borisov

Summary detentions, pushbacks and 

abuses at the border continued. The 

necessary services were not provided to 

migrants and refugees, including to 

unaccompanied children. A climate of 

xenophobia and intolerance sharply 

intensified. Roma continued to be at risk of 

pervasive discrimination.

REFUGEES’ AND MIGRANTS’ RIGHTS

The number of refugees and migrants 

entering Bulgaria declined, but reports of 

frequent pushbacks, excessive use of force 

and theft by border police continued. 

Irregular border crossing remained 

criminalized resulting in administrative 

detention of migrants and refugees, including 

unaccompanied children, who arrived in 

greater numbers. Human rights organizations 

documented numerous allegations of ill-

treatment of refugees and asylum-seekers 

and substandard conditions in detention 

facilities.

In February, local authorities in the town of 

Elin Pelin refused to receive a Syrian family 

that had been granted humanitarian status in 

Bulgaria. The Mayor publicly warned that 

“Muslims from Syria [were] not welcome” 

and refused to register the family or issue 

them with identity documents. Other 

municipalities expressed a similar 

unwillingness to accommodate refugees.

In July, the government adopted the 

Regulation on Integration of Refugees; 

however, this fell short of providing an 

effective mechanism for integration. 

According to UNHCR, the UN refugee 

agency, the Regulation failed to address the 

persistent problem of unco-operative 

municipalities or to propose measures to 

create more favourable conditions for 

integration in local communities. It also failed 

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