Indonesian woman at risk of being caned is safe for now

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MIL OSI – Source: Amnesty International NZ –

Headline: Indonesian woman at risk of being caned is safe for now

A woman in Aceh, Indonesia, who was gang-raped by eight men and at risk of being caned is safe for now.

What happened?

On 1 May, a 25-year-old widow in the Indonesian province of Aceh was gang-raped by eight men who accused her of adultery. For this “offence” – considered a crime under bylaws passed in the province in 2003 – she was at risk of being caned. Local authorities had said the woman’s terrible ordeal would not be taken into account in determining her punishment.

The eight men stormed into the woman’s home in Langsa district and accused her of having an affair with a married man. After gang-raping her and beating her male companion, the couple were handed over to local authorities by the local village head. On 4 May, Aceh province police arrested three of the eight men and are still looking for the others.

The woman is now out of detention and being supported by local women’s groups and the government’s service center for women. The authorities are taking her rape case seriously and police appear to be constructing a case against the perpetrators. The Indonesian National Commission on Violence against Women recently sent a delegation to visit authorities in Aceh. Women’s rights organisations have also reportedly formed a legal team to assist the woman with her case.

Caning in Aceh province

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Local authorities in Aceh passed a series of bylaws after special autonomy was granted to the province in 2001.

A number of bylaws introduced caning as a form of punishment for a range of offences including adultery, consumption of alcohol, being alone with someone of the opposite sex who is not a marriage partner or relative (khalwat) and for any Muslim found eating, drinking or selling food during sunlight hours in the fasting month of Ramadan.

At least 139 people were caned in Aceh province between 2010 and 2013.

Caning is a form of cruel, inhuman and degrading punishment and violates the UN Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment, which Indonesia ratified in 1998.

How did Amnesty respond?

Amnesty issued an Urgent Action for the woman which was sent out globally through our Urgent Action Network. In addition to this, USA, Spain, Ireland, Switzerland, Luxembourg and Malaysia promoted the action online, asking supporters to take action.

In Australia, 350,000 Amnesty supporters received an email telling them about the case. The case was raised with the Indonesian desk at the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. Local groups were sent a petition to collect signatures. An online action was created and promoted through social
media. This resulted in over 32,270 emails being sent by Amnesty supporters to the Minister of Home Affairs in Indonesia, 212 of these from New Zealand.

Amnesty believes that our global campaigning around the case, including working with local women’s organisations, helped create the visibility and pressure needed in Indonesia for authorities to take the rape allegations seriously and halt the caning for now.

What needs to happen now?

While we welcome the positive steps taken in this case, we continue to urge Indonesian authorities to review local regulations in Aceh that permit draconian punishment such as caning. Despite its human rights obligations, the central government in Jakarta has refused to repeal bylaws which use caning as a form of punishment, arguing that these laws are part of the special autonomy arrangements with the province.

The Indonesian authorities should undertake a review of all local regulations that have been put in place in the last decade in Aceh, particularly those that discriminate against women, to ensure that they are in full conformity with international human rights law and standards, as well as with human rights provisions set out in Indonesia’s Constitution and the 1999 Law on Human Rights.

 

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