As known, Aceh, Indonesia has also implemented this public caning to offenders under Syariah law. Local law on criminal offenses under Syariah law passed in 2014 and came into effect on October 23, 2015 in the territory of Aceh, the only country to enforce Islamic Syariah law in accordance with the Government Regulation of Aceh No. 6, 2014. Local regulations set a penalty of 100 strokes for adultery, public worship by unmarried couples, or homosexual acts. This regulation applies to locals and to foreigners in front of large crowds. The regulation increased the number of violations that could be punished in Aceh. These offenses are punished in ways under the preceding regional regulations including gambling, alcohol use, and disputes with the opposite sex outside the marriage or relative (Johnson, 2015). In 2018, the Aceh’s conservative area in Indonesia will no longer allow the cancellation of Syariah violations to be held in public, says Irwandi Yusuf, governor. Implementation will be prohibited in public, but may occur in jail or other place of detention. Adults can still witness punishment but recording is not allowed. (The Times, 2018). This action because of some reason.
Previously, this issue was also opposed by several parties. Public caning or other form of punishment is considered to be a violation of the International Torture Act as being considered as torture or is considered to be an insult to another person referring to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and the UN Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment (CAT). In 2013, the UN Human Rights Committee, which oversees compliance with the country under the ICCPR, called on Indonesia to revoke the law as the United Nations has decided that the law affecting sexually-oriented activities violates privacy rights and should be eliminated. Aceh must stop using rattan as a punishment, and immediately subjugate the provisions of the Islamic Penal Code of Aceh. In addition, caning is often performed in public spaces which attract many people where people take pictures and videos that can add to their long-term humiliation and suffering.
Amnesty International and the Criminal Justice Reform Institute (ICJR) also remind that the Indonesian Government is an international human rights obligation to ensure the respect and protection of human rights in all Indonesian laws and practices in all its autonomous regions and territories, including areas with special autonomy arrangements. Where religious laws such as the Islamic Criminal Code are in force, they cannot have used in a way that involves the imposition of penalties and penalties violates Indonesia’s obligations under international law (Amnesty International Public Statement, 2016). To solve this problem, the sentence has been modified (made in closed) to keep the law of sharia glory from being exploited by other parties.
In additional, other countries that carry out this whipping in public are like in Sudan, women can be cane for wearing ‘indecently’. In Saudi Arabia, a woman driving a car may be sufficient to secure the sentence. Also, in Saudi in 2012, a blogger was sentenced to 1,000 lashes and 10 years’ imprisonment for ‘insulting Islam’ online. So far, authorities have only carried out 50 first strokes due to riots and the case has been delayed until now. While, in Iran, attending parties with men and women can end up whipping. In the Maldives, where Syariah law is mixed with general English law, blockage is also a legal punishment, most commonly used on those who are convicted of sexually explicit sex. The majority of cases are women .
