Brunei

Brunei has recently introduced Shariah law, which stipulates the death penalty for numerous offences, including adultery and sodomy, as well as extramarital sexual relations for Muslims, insulting any verses of the Quran, blasphemy, and declaring oneself a prophet or non-Muslim.

The Prime Minister merely said: ‘The decision to implement the (penal code) is not for fun but is to obey Allah’s command as written in the Quran.’

Rupert Colville, spokesperson for the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, pointed out that criminalisation and application of the death penalty for consensual relations between adults in private violates a host of rights, including the rights to privacy, to equality before the law, the right to health and freedom from arbitrary arrest and detention.

Ghana

Although it is not clear whether Ghana enforces its anti-gay laws, you can still get three years in prison for being gay. In 2007, a 63 year old British man was deported after pleading guilty to ‘unnatural carnal knowledge’, having taken pictures of himself having sex with another man. The attorney general, Marietta Appiah Oppon, declared in February 2013 that ‘the Criminal Offences Act of Ghana says that unnatural carnal knowledge is a criminal offence and so the position of the law is clear and that will be my advice to government.’

While some politicians have spoken in defence of sexual minority rights, the overwhelming majority of statements made by public figures condemn homosexuality. When ministers have spoken positively, they have been criticised.

Jamaica

Despite claims by police that arrests and prosecutions are rare, Human Rights Watch has found that the country’s anti-gay laws are in active use – although it is impossible to say how frequently they are enforced. However, Human Rights Watch has also said that Jamaica is one of the most homophobic countries in the world, a position endorsed by politicians at the highest levels. In 2009, then Prime Minister Bruce Golding said: ‘We are not going to yield to the pressure, whether that pressure comes from individual organisations, individuals, whether that pressure comes from foreign governments or groups of countries, to liberalise the laws as it relates to buggery.’

Police often fail to properly protect LGBTI people from violent crime or to investigate it, and there has been a spate of violent incidents recently, including, in August last year, when a gay hospitality worker was stabbed and had his home torched while he was still inside in a hate-motivated crime. Also in August last year, a 17 year old stabbed and shot dead, then thrown into bushes during a public street-dance near Montego Bay. The attack was apparently prompted by the fact that he wore gender non-conforming attire and was dancing with someone of the same sex.

Kenya

Enforcement of the law in Kenya is rare, with only a small number of prosecutions under the country’s anti-gay laws, but you can still theoretically get 14 years in prison.

Persecution and violence against gay people is becoming more common, with one report suggesting that hundreds of gay men have left major Kenyan cities for fear of persecution. In July last year, a number of violent acts against gay men were recorded, following a report stating that Kenyan towns have the highest number of gay men in the world. Within a single week, separate reports emerged of men having had their throats cut with a machete (one of whom died), a sexual assault and an attack with a hammer.

In 2010, Kenya refused recommendations to decriminalise same-sex sexual activity and to take measures to provide for the protection of LGBTI people.

Malaysia

Malaysia punishes ‘unnatural offences’ and ‘outrages of decency’ with up to 20 years imprisonment and whipping.

Some Malaysian politicians have threatened to withdraw their support for a bill on ‘National Harmony and Reconciliation’ if it recognises discrimination against a person on the basis of their sexual orientation, while former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, answering a question on the best way to prevent the spread of LGBTI rights in Malaysia, responded: ‘It is good that they are having gay marriages – very soon they will disappear.’

In 2012, the Malaysian Ministry of Education approved a set of guidelines which they said could be used to help determine whether a child is gay or not. The guide book included ‘having a muscular body and liking to show their body by wearing V-neck and sleeveless clothes.’ Around the same time, Prime Minister Mohammad Najib Abdul Razak said that ‘any deviant aspects such as… lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender would not have a place in the country.’

Police regularly arrest transgender people, especially Muslims who are considered to be violating Sharia law provisions against cross-dressing, ridicule and humiliate them, and jail them in lock-ups where they are subject to physical and sexual abuse by police staff and male inmates.