There has been a worryingly significant rise in the use of public canings in Indonesia’s Aceh province to enforce strict Islamic sharia law. According to Amnesty International, more than 108 people were caned in public last year for “moral offences” such as selling and drinking alcohol, gambling, and sex outside of marriage. This is a dramatic increase from previous years. Amnesty is worried that the application of the new laws may expand to allow the use of corporal punishment over new offences, which will further infringe women’s rights and criminalise peoples everyday relationships.

The conservative Aceh government enacted strict Islamic laws in 2014 to criminalise alcohol consumption, adultery, homosexuality, and public displays of affection outside a legally recognised relationship. The law is now fully implemented and allegedly “protects Aceh’s Muslims from committing immoral acts” according to Syahrizal Abbas who is head of the provincial governments sharia legal department. However, observers are concerned that if unchecked , these laws will prevent women, children and marginalised groups from exercising their everyday rights without fear of corporal punishment.

Aceh was granted special autonomy in 2001 as part of an agreement with Jakarta to end separatist violence and has since sought to enforce Islamic sharia law throughout the region. Aceh is the only province within Indonesia to implement its strict interpretation of Islamic law, and is a stark contrast to neighbouring provinces where the vast majority of people practice moderate forms of Islam. Residents of Aceh can decide to be tried under sharia law or regular Indonesian criminal code. Recent developments have worried observers that the laws are being extended to non-Muslims too, including offences not treated as crimes under the Indonesian Criminal Code and punishments that conflict with international human rights.

According to Ayu Ningsih, a local human rights advocate for women and children in Aceh, Sharia law was “not wanted or needed in an already 99 per cent conservative Islamic province.” Ayu believes that Banda Aceh sharia police wrongly interpret the Islamic faith and use it against woman and other religious groups to impede their rights. Ningsih has also expressed concern that the laws will soon be applied to those practicing non-Muslim religious faith, such Catholics and non-Sunni Muslim sects who have been targeted for “following deviant teachings”. There are worries that these laws will create further religious conflict.

Aceh has enacted additional by-laws requiring schools to segregate boys and girls and laws criminalising unmarried men and women from riding motorcycles together. The government also passed a law in June last year, banning women from working and attending entertainment venues unchaperoned past an 11pm enforced curfew. The law exempts women of particular professions including nurses that must work in emergency clinics and has been heralded by the conservative government as protecting women from sexual harassment. However, Chief of Indonesia’s National Commission for Violence against Women has warned that the measure restricts women’s freedom and threatens their livelihoods. To make women suffer punishments for exercising equal rights as men is misdirected. Restrictive laws are not the solution. Rather Azriana calls on the government to “stop meddling with Indonesian women’s affairs”. Instead, they must focus on educating the public and “men to respect women or provide security at night spots”.

Rape and sexual harassment are criminalised under these laws, with punishments of 40 lashes or more for those found guilty. However, these laws have been known to punish survivors of rape. There are concerns that others will be deterred from seeking help or reporting sexual abuse. Amnesty International’s South-East Asia campaigns director Joseph Benedict has criticised the laws as

“a flagrant violation of human rights” and calls for them to be “repealed immediately”.

Benedict says the use of corporal punishment such as caning, violates international law including the UN Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment (CAT), to which Indonesia is a party. He joins with Amnesty International in appealing to the Indonesian government to do more to abolish the harsh provisions enacted in Aceh province.

ABC journalists travelled to Jantho, Aceh province in June this year, as part of a special report covering the canings. They witnessed the punishment of six gamblers and an 18 year old woman who was sentenced for being alone in her own room with her boyfriend, an act classified as illegal “adultery” according to Aceh sharia law. ABC Indonesia correspondent Adam Harvey was shocked at how such cruel and humiliating punishments are regularly carried out amongst such tranquil natural surrounds in front of hundreds of gawking spectators. “No wonder there are no tourists,” he said.

Indonesia has the world’s largest Muslim population, but the vast majority practice a moderate form of the faith. The province of Aceh is located at 2000 km north of the capital, on the tip of Sumatra. Settled deep in Indonesian countryside, abundant with rice paddies and natural wildlife, Aceh seems like the ideal tourist spot. According to the Daily Mail, Aceh is also rich in natural resources such as offshore oil and gas, coffee and rubber. Risks of the region becoming a hotbed for increasing religious fundamentalism and extremist groups, has become a strong deterrent for foreign investment.

In an increasingly critical situation there are further worries that with more attention on public canings in the international media, Muslim people will face a backlash from the international community who view the acts as morally abhorrent. In light of the recent caning of a non-Muslim Christian woman, some observers such as Haris Azhar, coordinator for the Kontras human rights group, says that the application of sharia law in the case of a non-Muslim set a “bad precedent” and mars the image of Muslims practicing their faith peacefully worldwide.

Indonesia is faced with a complex situation which tests conflicting religious, cultural and civil rights issues. Benedict says,

“Indonesia’s human rights obligations apply to laws and practice at whatever level- national, regional or local”.

He calls on the central government to take a stronger stance against autonomous regions in order to protect basic human rights. Whilst officials in Aceh insist that the punishment is not meant to cause physical pain and rather just humiliate offenders in order to deter future acts, human rights groups deem such punishments inhumane and counter-productive. If these laws continue unchallenged, women and marginalised groups are at further risk of torture and public humiliation. It is up to the international community to work with the Indonesian government to respect religious and cultural practices, whilst maintaining civil liberties for vulnerable groups.