O

n Tuesday morning, the people of Aceh will witness the public caning of a gay couple, the first men to be prosecuted for homosexuality in Indonesia.

Two men, identified only as MT, 23, and MH, 20, were declared guilty last Wednesday of violating the 2014 Qanun Jinayat (Islamic Criminal Code Bylaw).

They were sentenced to 85 strokes of the cane, which will be carried out in Banda Aceh, the capital of Indonesia’s westernmost province and the only region to have adopted sharia law.

The ruling, which was handed down by the Banda Aceh Sharia Court, has raised concerns among human rights and lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) activists, triggering fears that it would only fan discrimination against minority groups.

Activists urged President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo to cancel the public caning and stay true to his promise of protecting the rights of every citizen and end discrimination against minority groups.

Human Rights Watch Asia deputy director Phelim Kine wrote on the organization’s website that this was a crucial moment for the President to act and defend the LGBT community’s rights by putting a stop to the punishment.

“Jokowi needs to be clear with Aceh’s authorities that flogging is [a form of] torture for which they must be held accountable,” he wrote.

The case involving MT and MH first emerged on March 28 when a group of men forcibly entered an apartment in Banda Aceh and dragged MT and MH to the police for allegedly engaging in same-sex relations.

The men then stood trial and were convicted for sodomy.

The case has added to Aceh’s already long list of sharia-based punishments that human rights groups have deemed discriminative and abusive toward minority groups.

Aceh officially implemented a tougher Qanun Jinayat with harsher punishments in October last year, banning alcohol consumption, adultery, dating in public, rape, sexual harassment, gambling and homosexuality.

Arus Pelangi, a Jakarta-based organization that focuses on promoting LGBT rights, noted that the LGBT community in Aceh, as well as nationwide, has become more prone to discrimination and criminalization in the last three years as a result of mounting regulations against them.

The organization has recorded at least 47 discriminative regulations that are anti-LGBT.

Derogatory comments made by state officials against the community have only encouraged violence, said Arus Pelangi chair Yuli Rustinawati.

The continuous use of caning as a form of punishment in Aceh has also raised concerns among human rights groups over violations of the international law against torture.

Rights campaigners reminded Indonesia to comply with the United Nations Convention Against Torture (CAT), which the government adopted in 1998.

“Authorities in Aceh must immediately revoke the conviction [against MT and MH], their sentence and the use of this punishment [caning], which is considered cruel, inhumane and degrading, and may amount to torture,” said Usman Hamid from Amnesty Indonesia.