How Indonesia’s Anti-Gay Rhetoric Led to Mass Arrests and a Public Caning

How Indonesia’s Anti-Gay Rhetoric Led to Mass Arrests and a Public Caning
An official tasked with enforcing Shariah strikes one of two men convicted of gay sex during a public caning, Banda Aceh, Indonesia, May 23, 2017 (AP photo by Heri Juanda).

Indonesia has witnessed a wide-ranging crackdown on LGBT people in recent months. In March, vigilantes in Aceh province raided the apartment of two men in their 20s who were later put on trial and sentenced to a public caning—a sentence that was administered on May 23. In Jakarta, the capital, more than 100 men were detained during a police raid on a sauna on May 21 and accused of hosting a sex party. And police in West Java province have announced plans for an anti-gay task force. In an email interview, Andreas Harsono, Indonesia researcher for Human Rights Watch, discusses the legal landscape for LGBT Indonesians as well as what might be driving authorities to target them.

WPR: What are the laws concerning same-sex sexual conduct in Indonesia, and to what extent have law enforcement officials targeted the LGBT community in recent years?

Andreas Harsono: Indonesia has never criminalized same-sex sexual behavior in national laws. But the picture is significantly more complicated than that. The 2008 anti-pornography law defines “deviant sexual acts” to include: sex with corpses, sex with animals, oral sex, anal sex, lesbian sex and male homosexual sex. In recent weeks, including in raids in Jakarta and Surabaya, respectively Indonesia’s capital and second-biggest city, police have used the anti-pornography law to target private gatherings of gay men and charge them with clauses that carry a sentence of up to 15 years in prison.

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