Authorities in Indonesia’s strictest Province, Aceh are to stop whipping gay men in public after an international outcry.
Whipping in public is a common punishment for a variety of crimes, including being gay, but officials in Aceh, the Muslim-Majority province of Indonesia, have decided to stop the cruel punishment from being done in public AFP reports. Instead, the punishment will be handed out behind prison walls.
The ultra-religious area, the only place in Indonesia that follows Islamic law, has attracted international criticism after people accused of being gay or having same-sex relationships were lashed in public. Now, those found guilty of the crime of being gay, will be whipped, behind closed doors.
Only journalists and adults will be able to watch the punishment, and it will be against regulations for the penalty to be filmed.
In 2014, same-sex sexual activity can attract a punishment of 100 lashes.
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Hundreds of men, accused of being gay have been arrested in Indonesia, in what some have termed, an “anti-gay crackdown”.
In May last year, two men were lashed 83 times after being found in bed together. Earlier this year, 12 transgender women were detained in Aceh. They were “forced to strip off their shirts and cut their hair in public to coach them into becoming ‘real men.'”
Other crimes which have been punished by public floggings have included, playing an arcade game, gambling and drinking alcohol.
The regulation was passed on Thursday, but it’s not clear when the new ruling will be enforced.
