Indonesia's Aceh province publicly canes two gay men

[rooster59]

Indonesia's Aceh province publicly canes two gay men

By Hidayatullah Tahjuddin

 

An Acehnese man is caned after violating the Sharia Law in Banda Aceh, Indonesia, January 28, 2021 in this photo taken by Antara Foto. Picture taken January 28, 2021. Antara Foto/Irwansyah Putra/ via REUTERS

 

BANDA ACEH, Indonesia (Reuters) - Authorities in Indonesia’s Aceh province publicly caned six people accused of breaching Islamic law, including two men who received 77 lashes for having a same sex relationship, in a punishment Human Rights Watch called "public torture".

 

Aceh is the only province in majority-Muslim Indonesia to follow Islamic law, and this was the third such caning since Aceh outlawed homosexuality in 2014. The province, on the northern tip of Sumatra island, also imposes caning for crimes such as theft, gambling and adultery.

 

A hooded religious police officer carried out Thursday's floggings, watched by a crowd wearing face masks. One of the men grimaced in pain as he received the punishment, which caused his mother to faint.

 

Two other people received 40 lashes for alcohol consumption and another two 17 lashes for adultery.

 

Andreas Harsono, Indonesia researcher for Human Rights Watch, condemned the canings and the homophobic attitudes displayed by some in Aceh, a deeply conservative society where lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people are ostracised and targeted by the authorities.

 

"If Indonesia is to be considered a civilized country... the government must stop the practice of torture in Aceh" and immediately review how Islamic law has been integrated into regional regulations, he said.

 

Opinions among Acehnese are a still a world away for any tolerance of LGBT communities. Devi Arinah, a 53-year-old teacher, said she backed caning for homosexual acts but in addition felt people should be "given counseling so that they realize that their actions are not suitable for us as believers."

 

Another resident, 17-year-old Teguh Khosul said that if caning did not alter behaviour then either a cleric should help "rehabilitate" gay people in a religious way or be cast out from society.

 

(Additional reporting by Heru Asprihanto in Jakarta; Writing by Ed Davies; Editing by Raissa Kasolowsky)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2021-01-30

 

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[Tarteso]

What a shame in  XXI Century and what a hypocrite culture. Without human rights.. No evolution.

[4MyEgo]

"Andreas Harsono, Indonesia researcher for Human Rights Watch, condemned the canings and the homophobic attitudes displayed by some in Aceh, a deeply conservative society where lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people are ostracised and targeted by the authorities".

 

Perhaps some people with symptoms of C-19 should pay the place  a visit real soon.

Edited January 30, 2021 by 4MyEgo

[saakura]

Cruel, may the next Tsunami wash them completely off the earth, after all the gays and other different folks have left from Aceh.

[BobBKK]

Barbaric dinosaurs - the same type who cut peoples heads off. I have a nice prayer for them - hope a nice nuke comes down on your city after the good people have left. 

[ezzra]

This is how it is and how it will be in some Islamic/Muslim run countries, and there are several such countries that still uses corporal punishments like they used to centuries ago, human's rights? no such thing in the Quran...

Edited January 30, 2021 by ezzra

[pseudorabies]

This comes about a week after Indonesian officials in Bali deported an american digital nomad for calling Bali "queer friendly". She did this in a Twitter thread she started where she was actually promoting tourism to the region.  Evidently discrimination is more important than dollars to the Indonesian government.

 

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-indonesia-deported-idUSKBN29P0D9

 

[Lacessit]

Efforts to convince people Islam is a religion of peace, and goodwill to all, fall somewhat flat when these events get publicized.

It's a common feature of all religions to attempt to control and direct human sexuality. When they succeed, they give rise to other perversions. Just ask the Christian churches.

[Dagfinnur Traustason]

The world have to open it´s eyes and stop using blindness as a shield to not interfere. We have to stand united against these barbaric old ways.

 

If we ask ourselves how much we need Indonesia? What do they have to offer, that we can find elsewhere or do not need?

The answer is simple! Nothing! So, all must stand together and stand away from any dealings with this country, until they realise that they need the rest of the world more, than the world needs them.

[Lacessit]

5 minutes ago, Dagfinnur Traustason said:

The world have to open it´s eyes and stop using blindness as a shield to not interfere. We have to stand united against these barbaric old ways.

 

If we ask ourselves how much we need Indonesia? What do they have to offer, that we can find elsewhere or do not need?

The answer is simple! Nothing! So, all must stand together and stand away from any dealings with this country, until they realise that they need the rest of the world more, than the world needs them.

Dream on. If there's money to be made in any country, companies will hold their noses while they are racking up the profits.

As evidence of that, think of a Middle East without oil. Apart from the hajji, who would want to visit Saudi Arabia?

[giddyup]

4 hours ago, Lacessit said:

Dream on. If there's money to be made in any country, companies will hold their noses while they are racking up the profits.

As evidence of that, think of a Middle East without oil. Apart from the hajji, who would want to visit Saudi Arabia?

From the movie Syriana: Bryan Woodman :  "You know what the business community thinks of you? They think that a hundred years ago you were living in tents out here in the desert chopping each other's heads off and that's where you'll be in another hundred years, so, yes, on behalf of my firm I accept your money".

[Burma Bill]

9 hours ago, rooster59 said:

Authorities in Indonesia’s Aceh province publicly caned six people

Are these Muslim officials a load of "Shi-ites"??

[RocketDog]

9 hours ago, rooster59 said:

addition felt people should be "given counseling so that they realize that their actions are not suitable for us as believers."

And there you have it in a nutshell. Religious beliefs seem always at the heart of so many misguided human actions. Pretty much everything in the world is "unsuitable" to one or another religion.

Religion spoils everything. 

[RocketDog]

9 hours ago, saakura said:

Cruel, may the next Tsunami wash them completely off the earth, after all the gays and other different folks have left from Aceh.

Don't count the volcanoes out just yet. 

[Dagfinnur Traustason]

8 hours ago, Lacessit said:

Dream on. If there's money to be made in any country, companies will hold their noses while they are racking up the profits.

As evidence of that, think of a Middle East without oil. Apart from the hajji, who would want to visit Saudi Arabia?

That was a crazy thing to say. Congratulations.

[Broeno]

And the sheep are not safe from the "good" Muslims.

[peterpop]

This picture seems to indicate 'symbolic' caning.  But difficult to be sure.

[sirineou]

Indonesians should be ashamed of themselves!!

[natway09]

I find it hard to believe that Indonesia's central Government has allowed this barbaric, nonenlightened action to be basically sanctioned when having worked & lived there the

areas other than Aceh just about anything goes,  including,,,, Oh never mind

 

[Anant72]

10 hours ago, Lacessit said:

Efforts to convince people Islam is a religion of peace, and goodwill to all, fall somewhat flat when these events get publicized.

It's a common feature of all religions to attempt to control and direct human sexuality. When they succeed, they give rise to other perversions. Just ask the Christian churches.

Quite so. Religions are the sources of many perversities and a hindrance to development. They want to control sexuality, the better to control people. It is enraging to see ignorant and lewd clerics/priests/gurus brainwashing young minds and sometimes abusing their students, sexually or otherwise. Religions also fear science which debunks their myths and fables.

[faraday]

51 minutes ago, peterpop said:

This picture seems to indicate 'symbolic' caning.  But difficult to be sure.

 

What.....??

[Enoon]

1 hour ago, Anant72 said:

 a hindrance to development.

 

Not so, without them there would have been far less learning and study of science and mathematics than there has been.

 

For an example read about European Monasticism in the mid/late Medieval period.

 

It is true that some present day societies are stuck in a an "adolescent" stage, which their repressive versions of religious doctrine ensure the continuance of.

 

But the West would not have risen to such power without the dispute (The Reformation) that took place about "correct" religious belief.

 

Out of that dispute was born the plurality of belief, thought and investigation that brought about the agricultural, scientific and Industrial revolutions, and the establishment of modern Democracy.

 

It lead, ultimately, to societies that are easily able to accept atheism.

 

Something that the Atheofascists might do well  to spend a little time thinking about.

 

 

 

Edited January 30, 2021 by Enoon

[NoshowJones]

15 hours ago, natway09 said:

I find it hard to believe that Indonesia's central Government has allowed this barbaric, nonenlightened action to be basically sanctioned when having worked & lived there the

areas other than Aceh just about anything goes,  including,,,, Oh never mind

 

Are there actually westerners living there? What sort of mentality would have anyone apart from Muslims living in a country like that?

[Dagfinnur Traustason]

On 1/30/2021 at 3:22 AM, Lacessit said:

Dream on. If there's money to be made in any country, companies will hold their noses while they are racking up the profits.

As evidence of that, think of a Middle East without oil. Apart from the hajji, who would want to visit Saudi Arabia?

Dream on, what? Where did I say that I had any illusions that it would happen? Just stated the obvious need for it.

[Lacessit]

16 hours ago, Enoon said:

 

Not so, without them there would have been far less learning and study of science and mathematics than there has been.

 

 

 

 

 

You mean when the Church was encouraging Galileo to think freely?

[Jingthing]

This isn't only about Muslim based persecution of gay people. Pretty much all religions do that to varying levels of actions up to the death penalty. Not saying that Muslim based persecution isn't very bad, indeed probably the worst in modern times, but it's not honest to focus only on that. 

[Jingthing]

18 hours ago, peterpop said:

This picture seems to indicate 'symbolic' caning.  But difficult to be sure.

Sounds like you might be finding a conspiracy theory under every rock. 

Sometimes a caning is really a caning. 

You can search youtube and find plenty of videos of canings in Aceh.

[johnnybangkok]

3 hours ago, possum1931 said:

Are there actually westerners living there? What sort of mentality would have anyone apart from Muslims living in a country like that?

Aceh isn't the the  whole of the country, it's just a province. They were granted special 'religous dispensation' in an attempt to stave off their desire for independance.   https://reliefweb.int/report/indonesia/political-history-aceh

The rest of Indonesia is pretty secular but still intolerant of homosexuality (like most Muslim nations). They don't go as far as flogging people but the LGBT community face discrimination both legally (no same sex marriage) and personally with many gay people never coming out to family and friends.   https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LGBT_rights_in_Indonesia  

As critical as one could be of Indonesia and Muslim nations in general though, a lot of Christian countries have only recently started recognising same sex couples, with gay marriage only legal in the UK since 2014 and in the US since 2015. 

Edited January 31, 2021 by johnnybangkok

[metisdead]

An off topic post about ecigs has been removed. 

[KarenBravo]

19 hours ago, natway09 said:

I find it hard to believe that Indonesia's central Government has allowed this barbaric, nonenlightened action to be basically sanctioned when having worked & lived there the

areas other than Aceh just about anything goes,  including,,,, Oh never mind

 

 

The Indonesian government put an end to a decades old independence insurgency by getting its soldiers to leave Aceh. The independence movement, which was Islamic, then took control and implemented Sharia. Somehow, I don't see the Indonesian government doing anything if it jeopardizes the peace.

Yes, spent a lot of time all over Indonesia and you're right, pretty much anything goes. The only other place that I can think of which is similar is SE Sulawesi.