"God will punish us by sending another great earthquake and tsunami if we don't uphold and enforce sharia [Islamic law] in this land," says a resident of Banda Aceh.

This well-educated man, who prefers to remain anonymous, was referring to a series of bylaws known as qanun that effectively have been applied in the province since 2005. According to the Asia chapter of the Human Rights Watch (HRW), which announced the results of its most recent survey on Wednesday, the enforcement of a bylaw on clothing requirements and another on relationship between genders robs people, especially women and those of the lower and middle classes of their rights.

The research, conducted from April to September this year, involved more than 80 respondents, including rights abuse victims, such as women, as well as locals and government officials throughout the province widely known as the Mecca's Terrace.

HRW deputy director for Asia, Elaine Pearson, said, "[The two bylaws] deny people's rights to make their own decisions about who they can meet and what they can wear. The bylaw and their selective enforcement are an invitation to abuse."

Since 2002, Aceh's legislature has issued five qanun including the two. The other three are on alcohol consumption, alms and gambling. Pearson added that the bylaws did not seem to apply to the military and people who had high social status.

The HRW cited several cases of abuse, including the rape of a young woman by sharia police officers during her detention and aggressive interrogations.

There are currently 6,300 official sharia police officers in Aceh, who have strong grassroots support. According to the HRW, officers often act on their own as vigilantes.

"These officers easily arrest men and women who are simply eating in food stalls, riding on motorcycles or carrying out routine activities for the smallest perceived infractions. Although the bylaws do not differ between genders, most of the people arrested are women," Pearson said.

She added that many of the women were arrested for wearing jeans or other relatively tight clothing.

Last year, sharia police arrested more than 800 people under the bylaw regulating proper conduct between genders and more than 2,600 under the bylaw regulating Islamic clothing.

HRW coordinator for research Christen Broecker went into detail on the report of Nita, the 20-year-old college student detained and raped by sharia officers.

Nita, not her real name, told the HRW that sharia police arrested her and her boyfriend in January 2010 while they were taking a shortcut through a coconut plantation in Langsa, East Aceh, to pick up Nita's younger sister after school.

"When my mom came to get me [from the sharia police office] at 7 a.m., I was crying. The head lecturer at my campus, Doni, was there to scold me. A sharia police officer told him that I had been caught [on an isolated road on a motorcycle] with my boyfriend. He told my mom and me that I should be stoned to death. I said, 'Sir, I was only trying to look for a shortcut and why should I be stoned for that? What about the officers who raped me last night," she said.

Two of the three accused officers were convicted and sentenced to eight years in prison in July 2010, while one remains free.

Broecker said that it was hard to learn who victims were and to find those willing to testify on abuse. "Our report cites four cases of abuse under the bylaws but we are certain there are many more. They are afraid to testify and there isn't any official institution for these victims to report cases," she said, adding that people who had enough money could hire lawyers.

She said that the HRW recommended in the report that the government should support local NGOs and establish legal aid institutions so that abuse victims from lower- and middle-class households could come forward and receive help. The HRW is urging the Aceh Council to revoke both of the bylaws and the Aceh governor to stop violent acts by sharia police officers.

The report also shows that most government officials do not agree with the two bylaws. However, the sharia bylaws are heated issues that could have a direct political impact. The HRW report can be found on its website, www.hrw.org. (rch)