An Indonesian Islamic court in the conservative Aceh province sentenced two men to be caned in public 80 times each after Islamic religious police caught the pair hugging and kissing.
The two men, aged 20 and 21, were sentenced at the Islamic Shariah District Court in August in Banda Aceh, the provincial capital.
Local residents told police in April that they witnessed the men entering the same bathroom stall in at Taman Sari city park. Police patrolling the area responded to the reports by breaking into the toilet, where they were said to have been found hugging and kissing.
Rokhmadi M. Hum, the judge who sentenced both men, said the pair had violated Islamic law by committing acts that could lead to gay sexual relations.
While prosecutors sought for the men to receive 85 canings each, the court reduced the sentence as both were seen as good students. The men also received four less lashes for the four months they were detained.
Amnesty International’s Regional Research Director Montse Ferrer said in response to the sentencing that “This public flogging of two young men under Aceh’s Islamic Criminal Code for consensual sex is a disturbing act of state-sanctioned discrimination and cruelty. This punishment is a horrifying reminder of the institutionalized stigma and abuse faced by LGBTQ+ individuals in Aceh.
“Consensual same-sex activity between adults should never be criminalized. Punishments such as flogging are cruel, inhuman and degrading and may amount to torture under international law.
“We call on the Acehnese and Indonesian central government authorities to immediately halt these degrading practices and repeal all discriminatory bylaws that permit such violations. Aceh’s regional autonomy must not come at the expense of human rights.
“Indonesia, as a member of the UN Human Rights Council and a state party to the Convention Against Torture, must align its laws – including in Aceh – with its constitutional commitments to equality and non-discrimination. The criminalization of same-sex conduct and corporal punishment has no place in a just and humane society.”
Morality crimes in Indonesia
In the Muslim-majority region of Aceh, authorities are permitted to sentence what are considered moral crimes to up to 100 lashes.
The punishment can be applied for any number of perceived immoral acts, such as adultery, gambling, drinking and for women who wear tight clothes and men who skip Friday prayers.