THEGAYUK

Tag: Aceh News

Get the latest LGBT+ Aceh News from THEGAYUK. Breaking news, features and interviews from the gay community in Aceh.

  • Indonesia stops public whippings, but will continue to whip gay men, behind closed doors

    Indonesia stops public whippings, but will continue to whip gay men, behind closed doors

    Authorities in Indonesia’s strictest Province, Aceh are to stop whipping gay men in public after an international outcry.

    CREDIT: ErikaWittlieb / Pixabay

    Whipping in public is a common punishment for a variety of crimes, including being gay, but officials in Aceh, the Muslim-Majority province of Indonesia, have decided to stop the cruel punishment from being done in public AFP reports. Instead, the punishment will be handed out behind prison walls.

    The ultra-religious area, the only place in Indonesia that follows Islamic law, has attracted international criticism after people accused of being gay or having same-sex relationships were lashed in public. Now, those found guilty of the crime of being gay, will be whipped, behind closed doors.

    Only journalists and adults will be able to watch the punishment, and it will be against regulations for the penalty to be filmed.

    Aceh is the strictest place in Indonesia and punishes people for being gay. Indonesia (C) Sateda : Depositphotos

    In 2014, same-sex sexual activity can attract a punishment of 100 lashes.

    ALSO READ: Is Indonesia a safe place for gay people to travel?

    Hundreds of men, accused of being gay have been arrested in Indonesia, in what some have termed, an “anti-gay crackdown”.

    In May last year, two men were lashed 83 times after being found in bed together. Earlier this year, 12 transgender women were detained in Aceh. They were “forced to strip off their shirts and cut their hair in public to coach them into becoming ‘real men.’”

    Other crimes which have been punished by public floggings have included, playing an arcade game, gambling and drinking alcohol.

    The regulation was passed on Thursday, but it’s not clear when the new ruling will be enforced.

  • Probe into Indonesian police who shamed transgender people

    Indonesian police said Sunday they would press ahead with an investigation into officers accused of publicly shaming transgender people in conservative Aceh province despite an angry protest against the probe. (more…)

  • Is it safe for LGBT people to travel to Indonesia?

    Is it safe for LGBT people to travel to Indonesia?

    Despite homosexuality not being illegal in Indonesia, recent events have shown that it is not an entirely safe place for gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender people to visit.

    Strictly speaking, homosexuality is not illegal in Indonesia. However, the country does have a very conservative view on same-sex sexual acts.

    Recently there has been a crackdown on homosexuality and transgender people, particularly in the Aceh Province, which uses Sharia law to govern its people, Sharia law outlaws same-sex sexual activity.

    There have also been reports where there have been raids on gay men in the Country’s capital city, Jarkata. In May 2017, dozens of men were arrested for allegedly attending a party at a sauna. Police raided the venue and captured 144 men, under broad pornography laws. The broadly written rules have been used to target the gay community in the past unfairly.

    Punishment has ranged from 100 lashes, in public, in Aceh, to imprisonment and public humiliation in other areas.

    THEGAYUK.com cannot, at this time recommend that anyone who identifies as LGBT+ travel to Indonesia for the foreseeable future. However, if you do visit, we recommend that you do not use gay saunas, which could be targetted by law enforcement officials. If you are travelling to Aceh province, you should refrain from public displays of affection with a same-sex partner.

  • 12 Transgender Women Detained In Indonesia’s Aceh

    A YouTube video posted Sunday showed Indonesia’s North Aceh Police Chief Untung Sangaji denounce transgender people. … and extramarital sex. Reza, an LGBT activist, who asked for his real name to be concealed told Guardian, “A lot of the salons have closed because of rumors that fundamentalists will raid them after Friday prayers … (more…)

  • Two men lashed 83 TIMES in Indonesia for being found together in bed

    Two men have been lashed 83 times each in the Indonesian province of Aceh after they were caught naked in bed together.

    Two men were lashed in public, upon a stage, in front a mosque in the Indonesian province of Aceh. They were discovered, naked in bed together by a group of vigilantes who broke into their private room.

    The pair, aged 20 and 23 were found together in March and arrested. They have not been identified and were lashed whilst wearing a hood during their punishment.

    A large crowd gathered to watch the brutal punished and reportedly cheered at each lash. According to the BBC, one of the men cried out “”Let this be a lesson to you,” whilst another shouted,  “Do it harder”.

    The men were supposed to receive 85 lashes, but it was reduced to 83 after they spent two months in prison.

    Being gay is not illegal in Indonesia except in the province of Aceh and the city of Palembang in South Sumatra, where elements of Sharia law has been introduced since 1999. These rule could also be applied to non-Muslims in the region.

    In 1999 the Province’s Governor moved to issue limited Sharia-based regulations. Sharia law expressly forbids homosexuality. In 2014 a law was introduced which punished anybody engaging and caught having gay sex with 100 lashes, 100 months in jail or a heavy fine.

    The men were arrested at the end of March. They were taken to Wilayatul Hisbah, a Sharia police station. They both now face 100 lashes as punishment. The entire siege was filmed on a mobile phone.

    This is the first time that anyone has been punished in this way for being gay in Aceh.

     

     

     

     

  • Gay Sex Can Now Get You 100 Lashes In Indonesia

    Sex between consenting same-sex men and women can now attract 100 lashes as punishment in the Indonesian province of Aceh.

    The law that was introduced in 2014 is only now being enforced and affects Muslim women and men, whether they are local or visiting the province. The province has become steadily stricter and is allowed to implement Sharia law under an agreement with the national government made in 2001.

    Provincial Sharia chief Syahrizal Abbas told the AFP news agency,

    “The law is to safeguard human dignity. It is to protect Aceh’s Muslims from committing immoral acts,”

    What does Sharia Law Mean?

    Islam’s legal system, derived from the Koran

    Informs every aspect of Muslims’ lives

    Islamic jurists issue formal guidance through fatwas, or religious edicts

    Sharia law includes provisions for capital and corporal punishment but modern scholars say getting to that stage can be difficult

    Marriage is treated as a contract in Islam

    From The BBC

    Sex between same-sex couples is not illegal in the rest of Indonesia except in South Sumatra. LGBT equality in Indonesia is generally poor with little or no protection in cases of discrimination or specific rights protecting the LGBT community.