Indonesia: Two men receive 76 lashes in public for engaging in homosexual acts

Image: Jihad Watch

In a stark reminder of Aceh’s strict Islamic legal framework, two men were subjected to 76 lashes each in a public flogging in Banda Aceh, the capital of Indonesia’s only province that enforces sharia law. The punishment was carried out after a local Islamic court convicted them of engaging in consensual same-sex relations — an act considered a serious offence under Aceh’s religious code, though not criminalised elsewhere in Indonesia.

Aceh, located at the northern tip of Sumatra, is the only region in the country permitted to implement a formalised version of Islamic law, a concession made in 2001 to quell separatist tensions. Within this legal framework, offences such as adultery, alcohol consumption, gambling, and same-sex relations are punishable by public caning, a punishment widely condemned by human rights groups but still actively practiced by local authorities.

According to officials, the two men were discovered in April by Aceh’s sharia police, locally known as Wilayatul Hisbah. They were allegedly caught together in a public restroom located in the very park where their punishment was later carried out. Roslina A. Djalil, head of Banda Aceh’s sharia law enforcement division, confirmed the details and noted that both men had been in detention since their arrest.

Originally, the court had sentenced each man to 80 lashes, but the punishment was slightly reduced to 76 strokes in recognition of the four months they had already spent in custody prior to sentencing.

The flogging was performed using a traditional rattan cane, with each man brought forward separately as law enforcement officials carried out the sentence before a gathering of local residents. Alongside the two men, a total of 10 individuals faced caning on the same day for various sharia-related offences, underscoring the province’s ongoing reliance on corporal punishment as both a deterrent and a display of moral governance.

While the practice enjoys a degree of local support from conservative groups within Aceh, it has drawn harsh criticism from international human rights organisations, which argue that such punishments violate Indonesia’s broader constitutional protections and international commitments. Nonetheless, authorities in Aceh maintain that public caning serves as a visible enforcement of religious morality and a reinforcement of community discipline.

The case once again highlights the stark legal and cultural divide between Aceh and the rest of Indonesia, where homosexuality is not outlawed, though it continues to face widespread social stigma.

(This Article was originally published by Jihad Watch)