Aceh
Indonesia: Sharia police in Aceh dissolve lesbian marriage
Islamic police in the Indonesian province of Aceh have forced two women to have their marriage annulled and sign an agreement to separate.
The women had been legally married for a few months after one of them passed as a man in front of an Islamic cleric who presided over their wedding.
But suspicious neighbours confronted the couple and reported them to police.
Koalisi NGO HAM
About
Koalisi NGO HAM Aceh is involved in advocacy against discriminatory laws and policies in Aceh, Indonesia. Part of its strategy and approaches is building alliances with civil society organizations that share common perspectives and goals toward improving the human rights situation in the province such as the law on truth and reconciliation commission in Aceh, the qanun (laws based on the Shari’a) on education, on qanun procedures, and other related issues. They carry out lobbying at local, national and international level against qanuns that have adverse effects on the human rights of the Acehnese people.
Indonesia: Activists Criticize Clerics Over Dress Code
The Network for Civil Society Concerned with Sharia (JMSPS) in Aceh has criticized clerics and asked them not to overly interfere in enforcing the Muslim dress code, especially for Muslim women in the province.
“Aceh clerics should not stunt their important position by dealing with trivial matters related to the daily lives of Aceh residents,” said Hendra Fadli from the Aceh Legal Aid Institute (LBH).
The Aceh LBH is one of 15 NGOs affiliated with the JMSPS in Aceh.
Policing Morality: Abuses in the Application of Sharia in Aceh, Indonesia
This documents the experiences of people accused of violating Sharia laws prohibiting "seclusion" and imposing public dress requirements on Muslims. The "seclusion" law makes association by unmarried individuals of the opposite sex a criminal offense in some circumstances.
Indonesia: Local Sharia Laws Violate Rights in Aceh
(Jakarta) - Two local Sharia laws in Indonesia's Aceh province violate rights and are often enforced abusively by public officials and even private individuals, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today. The country's central government and the Aceh provincial government should take steps to repeal the two laws, Human Rights Watch said.
The 89-page report, "," documents the experiences of people accused of violating Sharia laws prohibiting "seclusion" and imposing public dress requirements on Muslims.
Aceh: Caning of Two Women for Selling Rice during Ramadan
The Global Campaign to Stop Killing and Stoning Women! (SKSW) and the International Solidarity Network, Women Living Under Muslim Laws (WLUML) are outraged by the caning of two women in Aceh for selling cooked rice during Ramadan.
Indonesia: Women of the Morality Police Fight for Islam, One Sinner at a Time
Banda Aceh. On a recent Friday afternoon, the face of a young woman detained at a Shariah Police station in Aceh’s provincial capital Banda Aceh was contorted in anger.
The 21-year-old Aceh native was so upset that she refused to give her name. The girl was arrested by Shariah Police officers at a beauty salon where she was allegedly offering sex in exchange for money.
She nodded when a Jakarta Globe reporter asked her if the prostitution allegation was true.
The man she was accused of propositioning was also arrested, and was being detained in a separate room. The could both face public caning if found guilty.
Aceh: Three Lashes for Selling Cooked Rice During Ramadan
Jantho, Aceh. With heads bowed, two young women walked toward a wooden stage outside Al Munawwarah Mosque in Jantho, Aceh Besar. Friday prayers had just ended, and hundreds of residents surrounded the platform, keeping a respectful distance but keen to watch.
Supporting syariah, advancing women
The life and work of an Islamic teacher in Aceh shows that the struggle for gender equality is about much more than syariah.
In Aceh, a special formulation of Islamic law, the qanun, was implemented in 2003, and ever since, national and international media covering Aceh have been obsessed with it. Although this interest is perhaps understandable, it also results in distorted, incomplete, and sometimes false portrayals of local dynamics.
West Aceh, Indonesia: New regulation forbidding the wearing of 'tight clothing’ by women may be open to abuse
The Global Campaign to Stop Killing and Stoning Women and the International Solidarity Network, Women Living Under Muslim Laws (WLUML) are jointly concerned about the issuance of a new regulation in the district of West Aceh, Indonesia, which strictly forbids Muslims, especially women, to wear tight clothes.