Another public caning incident occurred in Indonesia’s Aceh Province, where two men were sentenced to 76 lashes each yesterday (27th) after being found guilty of engaging in same-sex activity.
According to Aceh’s strictly enforced Islamic criminal law, same-sex acts are illegal, though they do not constitute crimes in other parts of Indonesia.
It is understood that these two men were among 10 people who were publicly caned that day. The caning took place in a park in the provincial capital, Banda Aceh. The court had originally sentenced each to 80 lashes, but due to four months already served in detention, the punishment was reduced to 76 lashes each. The two were caned separately, and the public was present to witness the punishment.
Roslina, head of Banda Aceh’s Sharia Law Enforcement Agency, stated that local religious police discovered the two men together in a public restroom in the same park this April, launching an investigation after receiving reports from the public. The two men, aged 20 and 21, were recently found by the Islamic court to have violated sharia law for hugging and kissing.
In addition to these two men, three women and five men were also caned that day for offenses including adultery, being alone with a non-mahram (non-blood-related) member of the opposite sex, and participating in online gambling.
Amnesty International condemned the incident. In a statement, the organization’s regional researcher, Montse Ferrer, said that criminalizing same-sex relationships "flies in the face of values of justice and humanity."
Public caning in Aceh continues to have some support among locals and is common for acts such as drinking alcohol or adultery. Since Aceh was granted special autonomy by the central government in 2001, it has fully implemented Islamic criminal law as part of efforts to resolve long-running separatist conflict.