Two men face up to 100 lashes with a cane in the Indonesia province of Aceh, after neighbours reported them to police for being gay.
Unidentified men, thought to be neighbours, forcibly entered the two men’s home on March 28 and reported them to police for allegedly having sex.
The two men are 20 and 23 years old and if convicted the men could face a punishment of up to 100 lashes, pay a fine or serve 100 months in jail, according to media reports.
Homosexuality is not illegal in Indonesia, but in 2001 the Aceh parliament was granted autonomy to implement their own Islam-based laws following a period of internal conflict.
A Sharia law implemented in the province two years ago allows up to 100 lashes from the cane for morality offenses, including gay sex, the Associated Press reported.
According to Amnesty International, more than 108 people were caned in public in 2015 for offences such as selling alcohol, gambling, and sex outside of marriage.
Human Rights Watch said the caning is a punishment that constitutes torture under international law and the two men should be released immediately.
“The arrest and detention of these two men underscores the abuse imbedded in Aceh’s discriminatory, anti-LGBT ordinances,” HRW Asia deputy director Phelim Kine said.
“These men had their privacy invaded in a frightening and humiliating manner and now face public torture for the ‘crime’ of their alleged sexual orientation.”
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