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Aceh clamps down on LGBT people, threatens caning
A punisher canes a convicted man that has violated Qanun Jinayat, or Aceh's Islamic Criminal Bylaw, at the Rukoh Mosque yard in the Syiah Kuala subdistrict of the Banda Aceh regency on March 1
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span class="inline inline-center">A punisher canes a convicted man that has violated Qanun Jinayat, or Aceh's Islamic Criminal Bylaw, at the Rukoh Mosque yard in the Syiah Kuala subdistrict of the Banda Aceh regency on March 1. The Banda Aceh Sharia Court sentenced 18 people to six to 40 canings after they were caught gambling, drinking alcohol, or committing public displays of affection between unmarried people.(Antara/Irwansyah Putra)
Ulemas in the West Aceh regency say there is no place for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people in the area and are threatening to cane those committing such activities as they claim they are violating the laws of God and sharia as implemented in Indonesia's westernmost province.
The local administration, together with the ulema community, said it would eradicate the existance of the LGBT community whose activities have lately been detected in a number of beauty salons in the West Aceh regency, a member of the West Aceh Ulema Consultative Assembly (MPU) DI Nasution said.
"This time it's still a warning for the LGBT people who were netted in the previous raids. In the future, if they still refuse to change, we will cane them in accordance to Islamic law," he said as quoted by Kompas.com on Tuesday.
Nasution also warned the LGBT community in the area to immediately return to the sexual identity they were born with and also to respect sharia.
Meanwhile, the North Aceh administration plans to assign officers from the Public Order Agency (Satpol PP) and the Syariat Police (Wilayatul Hisbah) in every district to guard and monitor the practice of sharia in the villages of the regency.
North Aceh regent Muhammad Thaib said most of the monitoring of sharia is conducted in cities, while villages tend to be neglected. The monitoring efforts needed to be intensified in the villages to prevent violations of the Islamic law, he said.
At a muzakarah event - a religious-based debate session - in Nisam subdistrict of North Aceh on Monday, Thaib invited the society to abide by the religious values and examples set by the ulemas.
"Ulemas are our role model. We have much to learn about religion from them. We should not distance ourselves from the ulemas," he said, adding that he was also inviting the ulemas to provide guidance and criticism during his tenure as a district head in North Aceh.
The muzakarah was carried out to coincide with the commemoration of the birth of Prophet Muhammad and attended by Abon Yusuf as well as by a number local government officials from the Aceh House of Representatives (DPR).
Aceh is a special autonomous province in Indonesia and has been, since 2001, the only one to impose Islamic law on all its citizens, including on those of other faiths. (liz/rin)
