Source: Amnesty International –
Responding to the flogging of two university students in Indonesia’s Aceh province for having consensual same-sex sexual relations, Amnesty International Deputy Regional Director Montse Ferrer said:
“Indonesia’s flogging of two gay men is a horrifying act of discrimination. Intimate sexual relations between consenting adults should never be criminalized, and no one should be punished because of their real or perceived sexual orientation.
“Having already had their privacy brutally invaded when they were ambushed by members of the public while having sex, these men were then humiliated and physically harmed.
“These flogging punishments are cruel, inhuman and degrading, and may amount to torture. Aceh and Indonesian central government authorities must take immediate action to halt these practices and revoke the bylaws that allow them to take place.
“Such laws must be brought in line with international human rights law and standards, and with Indonesia’s obligations under its own Constitution. Aceh’s regional autonomy, which is its basis to apply Sharia law, must not come at the expense of human rights.”