Nurdin Hasan

To Stone or Not to Stone: It’s Matter of Interpretation, Say Aceh Authorities

Banda Aceh. Aceh’s controversial Qanun Jinayat code, which allows stoning to death for adulterers, would be difficult to implement because it was open to interpretation, Indonesian law enforcers concluded after a two-day workshop here over the weekend.

The workshop, facilitated by the Care for Shariah Civil Society Network (JMSPS), which comprises 16 human rights and women’s rights nongovernmental organizations in the province, was attended by about 50 district prosecutors, district court judges, lawyers, police officers and Shariah police officers.

Aceh’s Shariah Court judges were not allowed to participate in the event because they cannot give opinions on state law.

Khairani Arifin, a women’s rights activist who headed the workshop, said during a news conference on Sunday afternoon that the Qanun Jinayat would be hard to implement in Aceh because there were such wildly differing interpretations of it between law enforcement agencies.

“That’s why these regulations have no legal certainty,” she said.

Aceh’s law enforcers, Khairani said, wante d the local government to re-examine the substance of the code, which was ratified by the former Aceh Legislative Council (DPRA) on Sept. 14.

She said the law enforcement agencies also did not consider the Qanun Jinayat to be completely valid from a legal perspective.

The code, a set of local bylaws that were passed to replace parts of the Criminal Code with aspects of Islamic law for the province’s Muslims, imposes harsh punishments, including stoning to death and lashings, for offenses like adultery and premarital and homosexual sex.

The bylaws also mandate corporal punishment for rapists, child molesters, those who drink alcohol and gamblers, and strictly regulates people’s interactions with members of the opposite sex who are not family members.

After the code was ratified by the legislative council, national and international human rights groups spoke out against the regulations, calling them draconian and a violation of basic rights.

Aceh’s governor, Irwandi Yusuf, has also refused to sign off on the Qanun Jinayat.

The new legislative council has said it is generally against the regulations and is eager to revise them.

The recommendations from the workshop said the code should be reassessed because it was not in line with the social, economic or cultural aspects of the people of Aceh. They also said there was too much room for interpretation in the bylaws.

“Aceh’s people are not ready for stoning. Besides it is inhuman, humiliating and could possibly create a backlash in society,” Khairani said.

She said, however, that Aceh’s law enforcement agencies were yet to take a strict line for or against the regulations.

“But the JMSPS strictly rejects the two laws [stoning and whipping],” she added.

According to the law enforcement agencies, harsh punishments such as stoning could be considered unconstitutional, and other punishments were not in line with the principles of justice or equality before the law.

“For instance, it would be impossible for offenders to pay [compensation] in thousands of grams of gold, which is stipulated in the Qanun,” Khairani said.

The code stipulates a maximum of 60 lashes and a fine of 60 grams of pure gold, or 60 months in jail, for sexual harassment.

The law enforcers recommended that the Aceh government prioritize Shariah in the areas of improving education and understanding of Islamic law and jurisprudence.

They also said the Qanun Jinayat should be used to promote development and social welfare, to give people a sense of justice and peace.

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