Indonesia’s Aceh Province Canes Gay Men

By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent Worthy News

BANDA ACEH, INDONESIA (Worthy News) – Two young men in Indonesia’s strict Islamic-ruled Aceh province were publicly caned Thursday after an Islamic Shariah court convicted them of having sex with each other, witnesses said.

Dozens of people saw the caning at a hall in Banda Aceh, Bustanussalatin city park. Two other people were also sentenced to 34 and 8 strokes each for gambling, Worthy News learned.

The flogging in Banda Aceh, the provincial capital, marked the fourth time that Aceh caned people for homosexuality since Shariah, or Islamic law, was enforced in 2006.

Authorities introduced Shariah as a concession made by the government to end a long-running separatist rebellion, but Christians say it impacts minorities and others deemed not to live according to strict Muslim standards.

“It’s really very dangerous in Aceh,” a church worker who supported women from the region told Worthy News, speaking anonymously.

Aceh is the only province in Indonesia to practice Shariah law, punishing those seen as guilty of violating Islamic rules, such as the two gay men hit Thursday.

A reporter saw that the men, aged 24 and 18, were whipped across the back “dozens of times” by a team of five enforcers wearing robes and hoods.

GIVEN BREAK

They were given a break to drink after 20 strokes, and their wounds were treated.

The college students were detained in November when residents “suspected them” of being gay and broke into their rented room. As they were caught naked and hugging each other, the attackers took them to Sharia police, sources said.

There were no indications that police had detained those illegally entering the students’ rooms.

A Shariah court on Monday sentenced the two men to receive 85 and 80 strokes, respectively, but they were reportedly caned 82 and 77 times after a remission for time spent in prison.

One of them had to be carried because he was too weak to move after the last lash, a reporter witnessed.

Indonesia’s central government granted Aceh the right to implement Islamic Shariah law in 2006 to end a decades-long separatist war, but human rights groups and Christians expressed concern.

Aceh implemented an expansion of Islamic bylaws and criminal code in 2015 that extended Shariah law to the province’s non-Muslims, including Christians and others who account for about 1 percent of the 5.5 million population, according to official data.

MORE LASHES

The region allows up to 100 lashes for morality offenses, including gay sex and sex between unmarried people, according to sources familiar with the Shariah rule in the area.

Caning is also a punishment in Aceh for gambling, drinking alcohol, women who wear tight clothes, and men who skip Friday prayers.

Human rights activists say the law violates international treaties signed by Indonesia protecting the rights of minorities.

Indonesia’s national criminal code doesn’t regulate homosexuality, but the central government doesn’t have the power to strike down Shariah law in Aceh.

However, an earlier version of the law that called for people to be “stoned to death” for adultery was reportedly dropped because of pressure from the central government in Jakarta.

Indonesia, the world’s largest Muslim nation, is Southeast Asia’s largest economy partly due to reforms linked to the economy and freedom.

Yet critics suggest that allowing Aceh to continue its Shariah practices undermines Indonesia’s more open society.

Copyright 1999-2025 Worthy News. This article was originally published on Worthy News and was reproduced with permission.