Two college students in Indonesia's Aceh province have been sentenced to 80 cane strokes each for kissing and hugging in a public restroom, in what human rights groups are calling a stark example of the region's brutal treatment of LGBTQ+ people.

What happened

A 20-year-old and 21-year-old were arrested in April after witnesses saw them enter the same bathroom at Taman Sari city park and alerted police. Judge Rokhmadi M. Hum sentenced them in a closed-door Islamic Shariah District Court session, finding they had "legally and convincingly" violated Islamic law. Prosecutors had originally sought 85 strokes each, but the judge reduced the sentence because the men were polite in court, cooperated with authorities, had no prior convictions, and had already spent four months in prison.

The brutality of the punishment

Caning in Aceh is a severe form of corporal punishment. The cane used is 0.5 inches wide and 3.9 feet long, soaked overnight in water to prevent breaking. Victims are stripped naked, tied to a wooden frame, and bent at a 90-degree angle while each stroke is delivered at maximum force every 30 seconds. The blows often break skin, damage muscle tissue, and leave permanent scarring. A medical officer and prison superintendent must be present to ensure the victim remains conscious throughout. After the punishment, victims receive antiseptic lotion, painkillers, and antibiotics, but typically cannot sit or lie on their backs for a week or more due to lingering pain. Human rights organizations including Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have condemned caning as torture that violates international treaties.

A wider pattern of persecution

This sentence is part of a broader campaign against LGBTQ+ people in Aceh and across Indonesia. The province implemented Islamic law in 2006 as part of a peace agreement and expanded its enforcement to non-Muslims in 2015. LGBTQ+ people face criminalization across Indonesia under vague anti-pornography laws that can carry sentences up to 15 years. Recent years have seen raids on gay saunas, the creation of an anti-LGBTQ+ police unit, proposed bans on gay content in media, and incidents of arbitrary arrest and abuse targeting transgender people. The Centre for Indonesian Law, Islam and Society has described Indonesia's overall legal treatment of LGBTQ+ citizens as a "human rights disaster."

Source: LGBTQ Nation

Cover photo: Sora Shimazaki / Pexels

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Two Indonesian men sentenced to caning for kissing in bathroom