Two men caned 77 times after being reported for having sex

It is the third time people have been caned for homosexuality in Aceh province

The caning was witnessed by dozens of people (Copyright 2021 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.)

Two men in a conservative province of Indonesia were publicly caned each 77 times on Thursday after they were reported to the police for having sex.

The men were reported by their neighbours to Islamic religious police in Aceh , the only province in the country to practice Shariah law. It is the third time people have been caned for homosexuality since the government allowed the law to be brought in as a compromise to end a long-running separatist rebellion.

The caning of the two men, aged 27 and 29, took place in at Banda Aceh’s Tamansari city park, and was witnessed by dozens of people.

The men were arrested in November after neighbours broke into their rented room and caught them having sex, said Heru Triwijanarko, Aceh’s acting Sharia police chief.

They were each sentenced to 80 strokes by a Shariah court last month, but were caned 77 times after spending time in prison. Sharia code allows up to 100 lashes for gay sex and other “morality” offences. 

Although homosexuality is not illegal in the rest of Indonesia, LGBT+ people have come under threat in recent years. In Aceh, Sharia code has empowered local vigilantes to publicly identify anyone suspected of breaking the rules.

Indonesia’s national government agreed to a peace deal with Acehnese separatist rebels in 2006, granting the province the right to practise Sharia. Although leaders pledged that the law would not impact religious minorities and would respect human rights, the code has become increasingly harsh in subsequent years. 

It follows an outcry by human rights campaigners after a Malaysian cabinet minister called for a harsher crackdown against the country’s LGBT+ community.

Ahmad Marzuk Shaary, the deputy minister in charge of religious affairs, suggested last week that the government should consider amending a section of the country’s Sharia courts act to impose heavier penalties agains the LGBT+ people.

Currently, LGBT+ people face three-year imprisonment, a RM5,000 (approximately £900) fine and six strokes of the cane under the act. But Mr Shaary told reporters that increasing punishments “would prevent them from committing more offences”.

Human Rights Watch blasted the minister’s recommendation as being the “latest in a series of moves to cement the anti-LGBT, anti-human rights stance of prime minister Muhyiddin Yassin’s Perikatan Nasional government”.