2014-10-02 16:58:00

Minorities feel threatened with Indonesia’s Aceh province implementing Sharia laws


Minority communities in Indonesia’s Aceh province say they are worried about how non-Muslims will be treated after its parliament passed a sharia-based law that stipulates tough new punishments — including caning — for offences including adultery and drinking.

The Aceh Islamic Criminal Code, or Qanun Hukum Jinayat, stipulates that non-Muslims caught violating the law will be given the option of being tried at a sharia court or at a regular criminal court using Indonesia’s national penal code. However, if the act is not regulated under the penal code, even non-Muslim violators may be tried under sharia law.

Indonesia’s central government and the Aceh provincial government should take steps to repeal two Islamic bylaws in Aceh province that violate rights and carry cruel punishments, Human Rights Watch said on Thursday.

On September 27, 2014, the Aceh provincial parliament approved the Principles of the Islamic Bylaw and the Islamic criminal code (Qanun Jinayah), which create new discriminatory offenses that do not exist in the Indonesian national criminal code (Hukum Pidana). The bylaws extend Sharia, or Islamic law, to non-Muslims, which criminalize consensual same-sex sexual acts as well as all zina (sexual relations outside of marriage). The criminal code permits as punishment up to 100 lashes and up to 100 months in prison for consensual same-sex sex acts, while zina violations carry a penalty of 100 lashes.

Under national legislation stemming from a “Special Status” agreement brokered in 1999, Aceh is the only one of Indonesia’s 34 provinces that can legally adopt bylaws derived from Sharia. Human Rights Watch opposes all laws or government policies that are discriminatory or otherwise violate basic rights. Aceh’s parliament drafted the Principles of the Islamic Bylaw while the province’s official Islamic Affairs Office drafted the Islamic criminal code. These bylaws apply not only to Aceh’s predominantly Muslim population, but to about 90,000 non-Muslims residents, mostly Christians and Buddhists, as well as domestic and foreign visitors to the province.

The Principles of the Islamic Bylaw also impose ambiguous, excessive, and discriminatory restrictions on the content of published materials and broadcasts in Aceh that will undermine media freedom throughout the country. The bylaw obligates the media, including those that originate elsewhere in Indonesia, to ensure that their content is “not contrary to Islamic values.” The bylaw also authorizes the provincial government to establish “ethical guidelines” for media.

“Incoming President Joko Widodo (Jokowi), who takes office on October 20, 2014, should direct his home affairs minister to review local laws that may be discriminatory with a view to revising or abolishing them. He should also petition the Supreme Court to review the compatibility of the bylaws with the Indonesian Constitution and national laws. Because other local governments in Indonesia have looked to Aceh’s laws as models, it is important for the new administration to act promptly against laws that are discriminatory or are otherwise unlawful,” says HRW.

Two weeks back, eight Achenese who were convicted of gambling were put on a public stage and each striken with a rattan cane five times. Public cannings in Aceh are mostly symbolic and carried out in order to humiliate the offender rather than inflicting physical pain but rights activists have long denounced the practice as degrading and unjust.

Indonesia, which has the largest Muslim population in the world, follows a moderate form of Islam. But as much as Indonesia is embracing pluralism in Aceh, conservative leaders are consolidating their power, hindering social reforms or gender equality.

Sharia law was given to Aceh as part of its bid for autonomy in 2001. The central government in Jakarta says sharia law was something the Achenese wanted in the first place for their desired package of autonomy but many in Banda Aceh, the province’s capital, dispute that claim.

(Source: Human Rights Watch, The Guardian) 








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