A new law mandating death by stoning for adulterers in Indonesia's deeply Islamic Aceh province advocates "torture" and should be overturned, US-based group Human Rights Watch said Monday.
"Stoning and flogging constitute torture in any circumstances," Human Rights Watch Asia head Elaine Pearson said in a statement.
Nurdin Hassan, Banda Aceh – In the latest religious dispute out of Aceh, a prominent group of Islamic clerics has denounced newly crowned Putri Indonesia Qori Sandioriva for "bringing shame" to the province by abandoning its conservative Muslim values on her way to winning the title.
Stoning and flogging constitute torture in any circumstances. Imposing these draconian punishments on private, consensual conduct means the government can dictate people's intimate lives – Elaine Pearson, deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch
As the people of West Sumatra gather the ruins of their lives around them and slowly start again, forced to accept there are bodies that will never be recovered from last week's earthquake and landslides, residents of Aceh can only watch with sorrow and understanding.
Jakarta – The debate about whether to review Aceh's bylaw that allows adulterers to be stoned heated up Tuesday, with religious leaders voicing their objection to the enactment of the law.
Nurdin Hasan, Banda Aceh – Aceh Governor Irwandi Yusuf has refused to sign the controversial Qanun Jinayat Code, or Islamic bylaw, and asked newly installed members of the Aceh legislature to deliberate on the draft again.
Camelia Pasandaran – Despite widespread condemnation, the Aceh Legislative Council said on Sunday that it would implement a bylaw that allows the stoning of adulterers and the lashing of persons caught having sex out of wedlock.
Camelia Pasandaran – Hundreds of Acehnese displaced by the December 2004 tsunami celebrated Idul Fitri in a squalid camp in Aceh Besar district, prompting calls on Wednesday for the provincial government to determine how many people are still living in temporary housing after nearly five years.
Hotli Simanjuntak, Banda Aceh – More woman's groups in Aceh are calling for a review of the new bylaw which allows capital punishment by stoning for adulterers, though the local government has already refused to sign it.
Hotli Simanjuntak, Banda Aceh – Widespread deforestation in the Islamic province of Aceh is threatening some of its rich traditions, including one ancient custom practiced to celebrate the holy month of Ramadan.
Hotli Simanjuntak, Banda Aceh – The Aceh provincial government will not sign the controversial Islamic bylaw allowing adulterers to be stoned to death, an official said.
Hamid Zein, the head of the legal bureau of the Aceh governor's office, said Thursday that the administration has firmly rejected the bylaw passed by the legislative council on Monday.
Human rights watchdog Amnesty International has joined the chorus of condemnation against Aceh province's passing of a new Islamic law calling for adulterers to be stoned to death and homosexuality and premarital sex to be punished by lashes.
In a statement released on Thursday, the organization called for the law to be repealed immediately.
Sunanda Creagh – Recent moves in the country, including plans by Aceh to stone adulterers to death, have raised concerns about its reputation as a beacon of moderate Islam.
A statement from an NGO coalition based in Aceh, Indonesia forwarded by the Asian Human Rights Commission
A new Indonesian bylaw that endorses stoning to death for adultery and caning of up to 100 lashes for homosexuality should be repealed immediately, Amnesty International said on Thursday.
Erwida Maulia and Hotli Simanjuntak, Jakarta, Banda Aceh – The national rights body for women is calling for a judicial review of Aceh's Administrative Law, after the province's outgoing lawmakers passed a bylaw introducing stoning as the punishment for adultery.
Ronna Nirmala – Although the passage of a local bylaw in staunchly Muslim Aceh that requires adulterers to be stoned to death has shocked many here and abroad, some experts on Wednesday said such a law was legally acceptable.
Lynn Lee – A new law passed in Aceh to stone to death married people who commit adultery as well as whip homosexuals who have sex is being seen as a last-ditch move by conservative Islamic lawmakers to impose their preferences on society.
Hotli Simanjuntak, Banda Aceh – Defying strong objections from human rights groups and the provincial administration, the Aceh legislative council passed the Islamic criminal code Monday, allowing adulterers to be stoned to death.
Under the new bylaw, homosexuality is also punishable by lengthy prison terms.
Camelia Pasandaran & Febriamy Hutapea – The central government would strike down a controversial new bylaw mandating that residents of Aceh convicted of adultery be stoned to death if it was found to violate national laws or the country's Constitution, a spokesman for President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said on Tuesday.
Lawmakers in the Indonesian province of Aceh have passed a law that would see Muslims found guilty of adultery, stoned to death.
Presenter: Katie Hamann
Speakers: Bachrom Rashid, United Development party and legislative member Bachrom Rashid; Harian Aceh, Thayeb Loh Angen is the Editor of the popular newspaper; Nur Kholis, National Commission on Human Rights member
Nurdin Hasan, Banda Aceh – Despite opposition from human rights activists, the Aceh Legislative Council on Monday endorsed a bylaw mandating stoning to death for adulterers and lashings for unmarried persons caught engaging in sexual intercourse.
Fakhrurradzie Gade, Banda Aceh – Adulterers can be stoned to death and homosexuality is punishable by steep prison terms under a new law passed unanimously by lawmakers in Indonesia's devoutly Muslim Aceh province Monday.
Nurdin Hasan, Banda Aceh – With lawmakers in Indonesia's Aceh province set to pass a draconian Shariah bill on Monday that could lead to married Muslims being stoned to death for committing adultery and single people lashed 100 times for premarital sex, local officials sought to distance themselves from quick implementation of the measure.
Jakarta – Human rights activists and legislators have condemned the Aceh Legislative Council's (DPRD) plan to pass a regional bill that would see those found guilty of "ethical" crimes, such as adultery, stoned in public.
Tom Allard, Jakarta – Religious conservatives in Aceh are trying to ram through Islamic laws that would allow stoning to death for adulterers and public lashings for those who engage in premarital sex.
The laws are likely to be voted next week by the provincial legislature in Aceh, just weeks before a new, pro-secular government takes control of the parliament.
Hotli Simanjuntak, Banda Aceh – Students from the Communication Forum for Sharia staged a rally on Tuesday at the Aceh legislative council building in Banda Aceh, demanding legislators immediately approve the jinayat, or Islamic criminal law, before the end of their tenure this year.
Nurdin Hasan & Dessy Sagita – Married Muslims in Indonesia's staunchly Islamic province of Aceh could be publicly stoned for committing adultery under a new piece of legislation that the autonomous province's legislature is scheduled to pass on Monday.
Hotli Simanjuntak, Banda Aceh – An announcement which reads "Only non-Muslims allowed" is attached to the door of a food stall in Peunayong, Banda Aceh, the only province in the country which has implemented sharia law.
Urgent Appeal Case: AHRC-UAC-105-2009
Dear friends,
The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information that Krueng Raya police arrested a man without a warrant and tortured him in custody. He died in hospital on the day of his arrest, however no legal action has been initiated against the officers responsible.
Case details:
Arti Ekawati – More than 200,000 hectares of Aceh's rain forests were cut down between 2006 and 2008 for use in the province's post-tsunami reconstruction, an environmental lobby group said on Wednesday.
Michael Vatikiotis, Singapore – To visit Aceh today is to experience something the world rarely sees; the dividends of peace.
Nurdin Hasan, Banda Aceh – After the economic boom from rebuilding projects in the wake of the 2004 earthquake and tsunami, growth in the non-oil and gas sectors in Aceh has dropped as reconstruction activities draw to a close.
The World Bank released this conclusion in data made public on Wednesday in Banda Aceh.
Ismira Lutfia – There is still no light at the end of the tunnel for Rohingya refugees now being housed in Aceh, as the United Nations High Commission for Refugees is still looking for a third country willing to accept them, a Foreign Ministry official said on Friday.
Hotli Simanjuntak, Banda Aceh – A civil society group in Aceh has said Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's re-election will place the Acehnese people in an unfavorable position.
The groups say that while Yudhoyono's victory is a sign peace will prevail in Aceh, it will not help Acehnese people prosper or protect their identity, which they have held closely to.
Hotli Simanjuntak and Andi Hajramurni, Banda Aceh/Makassar – Incumbent President Soesilo Bambang Yudhoyono won the majority of votes in several previously conflict-torn provinces that were expected to go to Jusuf Kalla because of his role in peace negotiations.
Hotli Simanjuntak, Banda Aceh – The presidential and vice presidential debates, particularly on the peace-maker issue, have considerably influenced the Acehnese and led them to rethink their preferred candidates.
Jonathan Wootliff – Conservation campaigners in Britain are calling on supermarkets to stop selling products that contain palm oil harvested from environmentally sensitive areas in Indonesia.
Palm oil is widely used in everything from chocolate cookies and potato crisps to detergent and lipstick, and Indonesia is the world's largest producer of this much prized commodity.
The victories of local parties in last April's provincial and district elections in Aceh are further confirmation of the success of the peace process underway since August 2005, says TAPOL in its latest Election Update.
The dispute between the rival camps of presidential candidates Jusuf Kalla and Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono over who brought peace to Aceh continued on Sunday, with claims that Kalla was being "unethical" for belittling the incumbent president's role.
Hotli Simnjuntak, Banda Aceh – More than 5,000 homeless tsunami victims, who have lived in barracks since the 2004 disaster, have threatened to boycott the upcoming presidential election.
Jakarta – A former Free Aceh Movement (GAM) separatist group member pledged Saturday to rally support for presidential candidate Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, or SBY, and his running mate Boediono in the July 8 election, Antara news agency reported.
Alfian, Jakarta – Now the PT Medco E&P Indonesia contract in the Block A gas field in East Aceh will be extended, the local authority wants a new state regulation to clarify the 70:30 revenue split between local and central administrations.
Hotli Simanjuntak, Banda Aceh – A local party, founded by former rebels of the Aceh Free Movement, was officially announced Monday as the winner of the 9 April legislative election, but no celebrations marked their victory.
No street convoys were conducted by supporters of the Aceh Party which secured 33 seats out of 69 seats in the Aceh Legislative Council (DPRA).
Hotli Simanjuntak, Banda Aceh – Autonomy in Aceh has allowed local political elites to trump Jakarta's authority.
After local figures beat national candidates in the gubernatorial election in 2007, a local party founded by former Free Aceh Movement (GAM) combatants has assured itself of a controlling share in the provincial legislature.
Nurdin Hasan, Banda Aceh – The Aceh Party, founded by former guerilla fighters from the Free Aceh Movement, or GAM, is the only one of six local political parties in the province to clear the 5 percent electoral threshold guaranteeing their future, a political analyst from a local university said on Wednesday.
Jakarta – The Aceh Party, a local party representing former Aceh rebels, is projected to win control of the parliament in Indonesia's northernmost province Aceh, a local poll monitor said Monday
Hotli Simanjuntak, Banda Aceh – Former separatist combatants have managed to transform the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) into a major local political force after last week's legislative elections.
Early official results of election vote counts show that the Aceh Party (PA), established by former rebels, secured a majority of votes in the country's westernmost province.
Nurdin Hasan, Banda Aceh – A number of homes still remain unfinished, but at 10 a.m. on Thursday, the nameplate of the Aceh-Nias Rehabilitation and Reconstruction Agency, or BRR, was taken down from its office in Lueng Bata, as scheduled.
Ahmad Pathoni, Banda Aceh – Stories about young unmarried couples in Aceh Province arrested by religious patrol officers make frequent headlines in local newspapers with tabloids exposing details of the offenders' sexual trysts.