BY NURDIN HASAN (KHABAR SOUTHEAST ASIA)
Banda
Aceh, TAG – Two new laws being deliberated in Aceh's parliament (DPRA) could make
caning far more common in the province by lengthening the list of offenses that
carry the sentence and making the punishment mandatory.
DPRA Deputy Chairman Sulaiman Abda said
the two draft regional laws or qanun are urgently needed as part of efforts to
enforce Sharia law more fully in the province, and that various sectors of society
are pressing for their immediate passage, which he hopes to see this year.
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An Acehnese woman is caned after being found guilty of kissing in public. NH/FILE PHOTO |
Deliberations on the matter in a special
committee of the DPRA have included ulema, academics, activists, police
officers, lawyers, and community leaders, to ensure the resulting bylaws are
"of good quality and acceptable to Acehnese society," he told Khabar
Southeast Asia.
The new laws are intended to correct
what Sulaiman said were weaknesses in four bylaws in place for the last ten
years on gambling, alcohol use, khalwat – unmarried men and women being alone
together – and syiar Islam, a broad category related to promoting an Islamic
environment.
"The weakness of the existing qanun
is that public caning is carried out only on violators who are willing to be
caned on their own volition, after being convicted in a Sharia court,"
Sulaiman said. In addition, Sharia law violators cannot be detained under
existing law.
The new laws would enable authorities to
detain violators during prosecution and trial, and make punishment mandatory,
according to a draft obtained by Khabar.
They outline several additional offenses
and specify penalties ranging from 40 to 400 lashes in public, compared to
three to 40 under existing laws. The law would sentence alcohol users to 40
lashes or 40 months in jail, and gamblers to 60 lashes plus a fine of 60
grammes of pure gold, or 60 months in jail.
Adulterers would receive 100 lashes, and
rapists 100 to 200 lashes, or the equivalent number of months in jail. The rape
of a child would be punishable with up to 400 lashes or months in jail.
A person found guilty of sexual
harrassment would receive 60 lashes plus a fine of 600 grammes of pure gold or
60 months in jail, or twice those amounts if the victim was a child.
Homosexuality would be penalised with
100 lashes, 1,000 grammes of pure gold or 100 months in jail, while a person
deemed to have promoted homosexuality could be caned 80 times, fined 800
grammes of pure gold or sentenced to 80 months in jail.
The chairman of Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) in
Aceh, Tengku Faisal Ali, said he fully supports the penalties prescribed in the
draft laws.
"With heavy penalties, there will
be no more violations of Sharia law. People will think more before committing
any acts prohibited by our religion," he said.
"Most importantly, it is indicative
of the willingness of the government to seriously enforce Islamic law in
Aceh," he added.
Syahrizal Abbas, the head of Islamic
Sharia Agency in Aceh, called the proposed laws "quite humanist"
because they give judges sentencing alternatives, from lashes and fines to jail
time.
But Destika Gilang Lestari, co-ordinator
for the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras) in
Aceh, expressed opposition to caning.
"Kontras rejects any kind of
corporal punishment, because it is a form of torture that violates higher laws.
Indonesia has ratified the anti-torture convention," she added, referring
to the UN Convention against Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading
Treatment or Punishment.
She expressed concern that the new laws
would place greater economic and physical burdens on regular Acehnese.
During the past decade, no government
official found guilty of violating sharia law in Aceh has been caned; only
regular citizens have submitted to the punishment.
"In Aceh Besar, there are four
officials sentenced to 12 lashes for gambling in 2011, but the sentence has
never been executed," said Muhammad Rusli, head of the Pamong Praja and
Wilayatul Hisbah police units in Aceh Besar.
Jamaluddin Usman Ismail, an Acehnese
working for a private company in Banda Aceh, said he hoped the new bylaws would
be fairly enforced.
"I hope
these qanun will apply to anyone regardless of their status, including
government officials and regular Acehnese," he told Khabar. "No more corruption
for government officials in Aceh, because it is also prohibited by
Islam."[]
Aceh Plans Stiffer Punishments for Sharia Offenders
Reviewed by theacehglobe
on
July 04, 2013
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