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Police urged to release women accused of being lesbians
Anti-homophobia: Activists stage a peaceful rally to promote equal rights for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people in an event held to mark International Day against Homophobia and Transphobia at the Hotel Indonesia traffic circle in Jakarta on May 17
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br>Anti-homophobia: Activists stage a peaceful rally to promote equal rights for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people in an event held to mark International Day against Homophobia and Transphobia at the Hotel Indonesia traffic circle in Jakarta on May 17. (Kompas/Yunanto Wiji Utomo)
An international rights group has called on authorities in Aceh to immediately release unconditionally two women arrested on suspicion of being lesbians.
Human Rights Watch (HRW) said on Saturday that the arrests, made under an Islamic bylaw, was contrary to the rights to non-discrimination and fundamental freedoms under the Indonesian Constitution and international human rights law.
'The arrest of two women in Aceh for everyday behaviour is an outrageous abuse of police power that should be considered a threat to all Indonesians,' HRW's director for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) rights program, Graeme Reid, said in a statement on Saturday.
'The Indonesian government needs to press Aceh to repeal its discriminatory new bylaws.'
HRW was responding to a Sept.28 incident in which the sharia police arrested two women, identified only as AS, 18, and N, 19, after they saw them hugging in public in Banda Aceh. A police officer told reporters that it was 'suspected the women were lesbians', the group said.
Citing sources in Aceh, HRW said the two women remained in police custody, where officers were pressuring them to contact their families so that they could be released into their custody.
HRW said lesbianism and sodomy, two offenses prohibited by Aceh's criminal code, which went into effect in September 2014, did not exist in Indonesia's criminal code.
'The Acehnese bylaws extend sharia, or Islamic law, to non-Muslims, and the criminal code permits punishments of 100 lashes and 100 months in prison for consensual same-sex sex acts,' it said.
HRW said Aceh's provincial legislature should repeal the discriminatory bylaws and in the meantime, Aceh governor Zaini Abdullah should stop the province's sharia police from arresting and detaining people suspected of 'crimes' such as consensual same-sex relations.
The Aceh Legislative Council's (DPRD) legislative body head, Iskandar Usman Al-Farlaky, said the qanun jinayat (Islamic behavior-governing bylaw) in Aceh did not contradict the Criminal Law Procedures Code (KUHAP).
'It's totally wrong to say that the qanun jinayat contradicts KUHAP. This bylaw has been discussed and there was no contradiction found in the law so this qanun was considered legal and could be implemented,' he said as quoted by Antara news agency.
Iskandar was speaking in response to initiatives by several NGOs in Jakarta to file a judicial review against Qanun Aceh No.6/2014 on qanun jinayat.
He said a qanun was a regional regulation aimed at regulating the Aceh government and people's lives, as mandated by Article 1 (21) of Law No.11/2006 on the Aceh administration (UUPA). The creation of the qanun also referred to requirements stipulated in Law No.12/2011 on the creation of laws.
Iskandar said although it was passed by the DPRD Aceh in October 2014, the qanun jinayat took effect in October 2015 to give more time for the Aceh administration to prepare its implementation.
Iskandar acknowledged that the qanun jinayat had drawn sharp criticism, particularly from civil society groups in Aceh. The criticism mostly mentioned fears that the bylaw had the potential to be used discriminately against minority groups.
'It's just an opinion purportedly spread by parties that don't want to see Islamic laws implemented in Aceh. If they want to confront Islamic laws with issues related to gay and lesbian groups, there will likely be a sharp difference in opinion,' said Iskandar. (ebf)
