aceh
People watch as an Acehnese man, one of eight who was found guilty of gambling by a Shariah court, receives a public flogging outside a mosque in the provincial capital of Banda Aceh Sept. 19. Aceh is Indonesia's only province to have implemented Shariah, or Islamic law. Reuters/Junaidi Hanafiah

The Indonesian province of Aceh passed a draconian anti-homosexuality law Saturday that would punish gay sex with 100 lashes of the cane, according to Agence France-Presse. The measure would outlaw anal sex between men and “the rubbing of body parts between women for stimulation,” AFP reported. Those caught engaging in consensual gay sex may be able to avoid caning by either making payments in pure gold or serving jail time, the news agency said.

The new law also lays out punishments for unmarried people engaging in displays of affection, as well as for those found guilty of adultery, AFP reported. Before the measure becomes effective, it must be approved by the Indonesian home-affairs ministry in Jakarta.

“The criminalization of individuals based on their sexual orientation is a huge blow for equality in Indonesia,” said Richard Bennett, the Asia-Pacific director of Amnesty International. Bennett said the new law would further increase the “climate of homophobia, fear and harassment many in Aceh are already facing.”

While homosexuality is not illegal in the rest of the country, Aceh has been given the leeway to use Islamic shariah law as its legal code under a peace agreement signed with the Indonesian government. The province’s new law would apply to both Muslims and non-Muslims, whether Indonesian citizens or noncitizens.

“This bylaw has been highly anticipated by the people of Aceh, who have long wanted to see complete Islamic law on the veranda of Mecca,” AFP quoted a provincial lawmaker as saying.

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