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News and Views: Aceh

Indonesia: Sharia police in Aceh dissolve lesbian marriage

August 25, 2011
BBC

Islamic police in the Indonesian province of Aceh have forced two women to have their marriage annulled and sign an agreement to separate.

The women had been legally married for a few months after one of them passed as a man in front of an Islamic cleric who presided over their wedding.

But suspicious neighbours confronted the couple and reported them to police.

The two women are now back with their families, forcibly separated and under surveillance by the Islamic police.

Indonesia: Activists Criticize Clerics Over Dress Code

February 10, 2011


The Network for Civil Society Concerned with Sharia (JMSPS) in Aceh has criticized clerics and asked them not to overly interfere in enforcing the Muslim dress code, especially for Muslim women in the province. 

“Aceh clerics should not stunt their important position by dealing with trivial matters related to the daily lives of Aceh residents,” said Hendra Fadli from the Aceh Legal Aid Institute (LBH).

The Aceh LBH is one of 15 NGOs affiliated with the JMSPS in Aceh.

Indonesia: Local Sharia Laws Violate Rights in Aceh

December 1, 2010


(Jakarta) - Two local Sharia laws in Indonesia's Aceh province violate rights and are often enforced abusively by public officials and even private individuals, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today. The country's central government and the Aceh provincial government should take steps to repeal the two laws, Human Rights Watch said.

Aceh: Three Lashes for Selling Cooked Rice During Ramadan

October 2, 2010


Jantho, Aceh. With heads bowed, two young women walked toward a wooden stage outside Al Munawwarah Mosque in Jantho, Aceh Besar. Friday prayers had just ended, and hundreds of residents surrounded the platform, keeping a respectful distance but keen to watch. 

The eyes of Murni binti Amris, 27, and Rukiah binti Abdullah, 22, began to water. 

They feared the worst when officers of the Shariah Police dragged them to the center of the stage. 

Supporting syariah, advancing women

September 1, 2010

 

The life and work of an Islamic teacher in Aceh shows that the struggle for gender equality is about much more than syariah.

In Aceh, a special formulation of Islamic law, the qanun, was implemented in 2003, and ever since, national and international media covering Aceh have been obsessed with it. Although this interest is perhaps understandable, it also results in distorted, incomplete, and sometimes false portrayals of local dynamics.

Indonesia: Aceh laws discriminate against women

June 7, 2010

BANDA ACEH - Earlier this year, Sharia police arrested a 20-year-old college student and her boyfriend for indecency; they had been spending time together even though they were not legally married.
 
Her boyfriend was released, but she was detained and then allegedly raped by three policemen. Two of the men are on trial, while the third is at large.
 
That incident and others, such as the ban on tight trousers, have sparked outrage among rights activists, who say the laws disproportionately target women.
 

Secular Indonesia Outraged Over Aceh Mob Justice

A government prosecutor hands over a whip to the executioner during a public caning in Aceh Besar in January this year. There is growing outrage after a man and woman caught committing adultery on were beaten and possibly caned under Islamic law by a mob on Wednesday.

Indonesia on Friday promised a full investigation into the public humiliation, mob beating and possible caning under Islamic law of two people suspected of having an adulterous tryst.

Aceh Shari'a police will not be disbanded despite rape case

A Sharia policeman speaks to two youths about the rules of Sharia law at the seaside area of Uleelheu in Banda Aceh.

January 18, 2009
By Nurdin Hasan

Banda Aceh. Aceh’s deputy governor said on Tuesday that there was no need to disband the province’s Wilayatul Hisbah, or Shariah Police, because there was no legal obligation to do so.

Aceh: Sharia police arrested for ‘rape’

Sharia police arrested for ‘rape’

Hotli Simanjuntak , The Jakarta Post , Banda Aceh, Aceh | Tue, 01/12/2010 11:12 PM | National

Indonesia: New Aceh law violates Islam and women's right to bodily autonomy

GAYa NUSANTARA together with the Center for Marginalized People (CMARs) and Tarbiyah Faculty of Moslem Education from IAIN Sunan Ampel University held a public seminar entitled "Qanun Jinayat: Is it still relevant for Indonesia?" More than 70 people including teachers, students and NGO representatives participated in the event that took place in IAIN Sunan Ampel University. Keynote speakers for this seminar were the Moslem thinker Guntur Romli from Jurnal Perempuan, the critical feminist Endah Triwijati and the moderator Ahmad Zainur Hamdi, professor at IAIN Sunan Ampel University.

Indonesia expected to ditch stoning law

By Saeed Ahmed
CNN
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Indonesia: Aceh passes adultery stoning law

14/09/2009: Indonesia's province of Aceh has passed a new law making adultery punishable by stoning to death, a member of the province's parliament has said. (BBC News)