Two Men Publicly Flogged in Indonesia for Same-Sex Relationship
Public Sharia Punishment Carried Out in Aceh
Two men were publicly flogged in Indonesia’s Aceh province after being convicted of engaging in consensual same-sex relations. According to an AFP journalist who witnessed the scene, each man was struck 76 times with a rattan cane in front of a small audience. This punishment was administered under the region’s strict application of sharia law. While same-sex relations are not criminalized in the rest of the majority-Muslim nation, Aceh enforces Islamic law due to its special autonomous status.
Arrest and Conviction Under a Repressive Legal System
The two individuals were apprehended in April by Aceh’s religious police, who are tasked with enforcing sharia compliance. They were caught in a public restroom within the same park where the punishment took place. Initially sentenced to 80 lashes, their punishment was reduced by four strikes in recognition of the four months they already spent in detention. They were among ten people subjected to flogging on that day in Banda Aceh, the capital of the province.
Human Rights Organizations Condemn the Incident
The case has sparked outrage among human rights advocates globally. Montse Ferrer, Regional Research Director at Amnesty International, strongly condemned the punishment, stating, “Criminalizing same-sex relationships has no place in a fair and humane society.” The organization has called on Indonesian authorities to end such punishments, labeling them as cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment.
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