In Indonesia, Homosexuality Equals 100 Lashes

by Michael Jones · 2009-09-15 17:42:00 UTC
Topics:

Islam Indonesia

Indonesia's Aceh Province passed a law this week saying that not only will homosexuality be against the law, the punishment for it will be 100 lashes or eight years in prison. And if you think that's bad, you ought to see what's going to happen to adulterers.

The bill that passed the Aceh Province's legislative council is being billed as an "Islamic Crime Bill," but it's certainly holding to a rather fundamentalist view of Islamic law.  In addition to 100 lashes for people convicted of homosexuality, anyone convicted of adultery can be stoned to death. Welcome to the Middle Ages, Indonesia.

To be sure, the law didn't pass without opposition. The executive branch of government in Indonesia's Aceh Province said the law was unjust, and the Indonesian National Human Rights Commission said the punishment this law would inflict is cruel and degrading. Not to mention totally uncivilized. But in passing the Aceh legislative council, the law can be enforced within 30 days despite opposition.

A Human Rights Watch spokesperson told AFP in no uncertain terms, "[This law] is against the principle of human rights."

That's something that stands to be repeated: sentencing LGBT people to lashes simply because of their sexual orientation is a violation of the principle of human rights. And don't even get us started on stoning people to death.

Aceh, contrary to the rest of Indonesia, is taking a huge step backwards with this law. It's a disservice to human rights. A disservice to LGBT rights. And, perhaps most especially, a disservice to Islam.

(Photo courtesy of Youssry's Photostream on Flickr. Used under Creative Commons license.)


Michael Jones is a Change.org Editor. He has worked in the field of human rights communications for a decade, most recently for Harvard Law School.
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