Indonesian province considers caning for gay sex

BANDA ACEH (AP):

People caught having homosexual sex could be publicly caned in Indonesia's conservative Aceh province if an Islam-inspired draft law is approved this week.

Lawmaker Moharriadi Syafari said a majority of provincial legislators supported criminalising gay sex. They are debating the law with a view to passing it and several others regulating personal behaviour before Friday, the last day of the current assembly.

Gay-rights activist King Oey said yesterday he will urge the central government to use its influence to get the bill scrapped or appeal to the country's Constitutional Court.

"There is no room to talk about this democratically in Aceh because once someone expresses an objection he or she will immediately be branded 'anti-Islam'," he said. "The only way to stop it is at the national level, particularly at the level of the minister of home affairs."

If the law is passed by the 69-member assembly, it must be signed by the Aceh governor before it can take effect.

RELIGIOUS POLICE ESTABLISHED

Indonesia's secular central government granted Aceh the right to implement a version of Islamic Shariah law in 2006 as part of a peace deal to end a separatist war. A religious police and court system have been established.

The central government doesn't have the power to strike down a provincial law, but it can ask Aceh to reconsider legislation.

The region canes people found guilty of adultery, gambling and consuming alcohol. Females wearing tight clothes can be fined, as can people who skip Friday prayers.

Aceh is considered more devout than elsewhere in Muslim-majority Indonesia, but the level of support for the implementation of the laws is unclear.