Dessy Sagita – Rights activists are demanding the central government re-evaluate the implementation of shariah law in Aceh following a string of violations committed by the province's moral guardians, the Shariah Police.
"The biggest problem with the Wilayatul Hisbah [Shariah police] in Aceh is that they are operating on the grounds of morality instead of universal laws, so their enforcement activities only center on unimportant matters," Arimbi Heroeputri, a commissioner of the National Commission on Violence Against Women (Komnas Perempuan) told the Jakarta Globe on Friday.
The statement followed the arrest by Banda Aceh Police of the head of the province's Shariah police on suspicion of embezzlement.
Arimbi said Komnas Perempuan has been asking the government to review shariah law in Aceh, known as Qanun Jinayat and Qanun Acara Jinayat, the criminal code and criminal procedures bylaws.
Under special autonomy granted to Aceh following a 2005 agreement that ended decades of separatist conflict in the province, the region was granted the authority to enforce partial Shariah law. The judiciary and the education system are subject to elements of Islamic law, as are social mores.
The Qanun Jinayat and the Qanun Acara Jinayat were passed by the legislative council, known as the DPRA, in 2009. The bylaws impose harsh sentences such as stoning to death for adulterers and 100 lashes for people caught engaging in premarital or homosexual sex.
Other penalties include a maximum of 40 lashes or 40 months in jail for drinking alcohol, and 60 lashes or a fine of 60 grams of pure gold or 60 months in jail for sexual harassment.
Ironically in 2010 two Shariah policemen were jailed and sentenced to eight years in prison for gang-raping a young woman in custody.
Mohammed Nazir, 29, and Feri Agus, 28, were found guilty of raping a 20-year-old student in a police station after she was arrested with her boyfriend under local laws designed to enforce Islamic morals.
The eight-year jail sentence for the two men was lighter that the maximum penalty of 12 years demanded by prosecutors who said the defendants, as Shariah police officers, should have better morals.
"Morality can never be used as a barometer to enforce the law because the standard is not the same for everyone," Arimbi said. "What's happening in Aceh right now is that some people politicize Shariah and pursue their political ambitions wrapped in religious packaging," she said.
Bonar Tigor Naipospos, deputy chairman of tolerance watchdog The Setara Institute, said despite the special autonomy status granted to Aceh, the central government should continue its monitoring and supervision activities to ensure the implementation of the regional bylaw did not undermine the constitution.
"Despite the special rights to implement Islamic Shariah, Aceh should understand that at some points it has to comply with the national law," he said. Bonar said Shariah law should be imposed on matters of public importance instead of people's personal lives.
"Lately what we have witnessed is that the Shariah law and the Wilayatul Hisbah are intruding on people's personal lives, limiting their right to express themselves, with a string of odd regulations including the prohibition on women wearing pants – it's too ridiculous," he said.
Bonar said the Ministry of Home Affairs should conduct a thorough study to determine whether a Qanun (Islamic bylaw) can bring benefit to the Aceh people before it is imposed.
Aceh's Shariah police have frequently been found to fall short of the moral standards they seek to impose on others.
In March the head of the Lhokseumawe Shariah police tested positive for marijuana use after slamming his car into a tree and a house.
Shariah police officer Zulkarnain lost control of his car after leaving his office in Simpang Asmi, Kutablang village. Another officer came to investigate the accident, where he discovered hashish inside Zulkarnain's car.
On Friday Banda Aceh Police announced they had arrested Khalidin Lhoong, chief of the provincial capital's Shariah police. Khalidin was officially detained late on Thursday afternoon and was questioned on Friday. He stands accused of misappropriating wages for contract-based personnel of the Shariah police.