A/HRC/42/2 unwanted or self-inflicted deaths are largely preventable. But the preservation and enhancement of life is also based on fundamental and sometimes legal values. It noted that Brunei Darussalam has a strong agenda ahead to commit itself to life, life enhancement and preservation of life. It considered that ratification of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance and the Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, aiming at the abolition of the death penalty are not minor tasks to undertake. It hoped Brunei Darussalam would start soon. Refusing to sign the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide is somehow negating the right of life of each and all of those on the planet. It considered it unacceptable that Brunei Darussalam is only the second country refusing to sign the Convention. 720. Ingénieurs du monde stated that Brunei Darussalam has finalized the adoption of the new Sharia-based Penal Code, which is in total contradiction with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and international law, as it respects neither human rights nor fundamental freedoms but legally encourages torture and corporal punishment. Concerning the rights of the child, it expressed with concern that, the State authorizes flogging, death penalty, stoning of Bruneian children, and criminalizes the fact of exposing the Muslim children to the beliefs and practices of another religion. It stated that the recommendations from the States are not enough and measures must be taken. Civil Society cannot act alone. It called on the Human Rights Council and United Nations bodies to demand that Brunei Darussalam explicitly prohibit death sentences, torture, life imprisonment for children and that it acts in accordance with international law, the protection of human rights, and the Convention on the Rights of the Child that it signed. 721. International-Lawyers.org expressed concerns outlined in the recommendations stating that the transformation through the 2035 vision will take a worrying turn if the Penal Code Order 2013 continues to be implemented in its current format. It stated that several provisions in this Penal Code allow for disproportionate, inhumane and degrading punishments. It also noted that children are able to receive life imprisonment and corporal punishment as sentence with the low age of criminal responsibility set as seven years. It also stated that the acts of adultery and homosexuality are punishable with the death penalty and women can be stoned to death for adultery. It urged the Government to amend or repeal these and stated that the reintroduction of the death penalty is a step back. It encouraged Brunei Darussalam to join other treaties and tangibly reaffirm its commitment to progressing human rights. It also encouraged Brunei Darussalam to commit to creating a national independent human rights institution in accordance with the Paris Principles. 722. The United Towns Agency for North-South Cooperation stated that Brunei Darussalam was considered for decades an absolute rule. It has always been thanks to its relative wealth, immune from the social unrests that the States in South East Asia have witnessed. Now with the new system of reforming the Penal Code, it was seen as a major step backwards, towards applying brutal sanctions from the Middle Ages, which has no place in the modern world in the 21st century. It called on the Sultanate of Brunei Darussalam to abolish the criminal penalties under the Penal Code of 2013, which undermined the freedoms of religion and expression, prohibition of torture, and others cruel or degrading treatment or punishment. It encouraged Brunei Darussalam to abide by the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment and to ratify the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. 723. The Center for Inquiry stated that Brunei Darussalam introduced a revised Shariabased Penal Code and that, instead of removing the sanctions against actions that should not be treated as crimes, Brunei Darussalam has tightened its human rights violating legislation. It stated that Brunei Darussalam remained one of the just over two dozen countries penalising 108