INDONESIA: Islamic High Council Issues Call For Death Penalty For Homosexuality

The Jakarta Globe reports:

The country’s LGBT community has long faced discrimination, and even physical violence. New to that list, though, is the threat of death sanctioned by the Indonesian Council of Ulema, or MUI, the country’s highest Islamic clerical body. On March 4, the MUI issued a fatwa, or edict, proposing punishments ranging from caning to the death penalty for individuals accused of homosexual acts. It also claims that homosexuality is a serious disease, but that like most other illnesses, it can be cured.

“It doesn’t matter that they love each other,” Hasanuddin A.F., the head of the MUI’s fatwa commission, said earlier this month when announcing the anti-LGBT edict. “The law still prohibits it. In Islamic law, it’s a sexual act that must be heavily punished. It would be bad if the government allows same-sex marriage.” The Indonesian government does not recognize same-sex marriage, but at the same time it does not criminalize homosexual acts. However, two local administrations have issued their own bylaws that treat such acts as crimes.

The council's edict is not legally binding. Last year the Aceh province approved the punishment of 100 public lashings for those convicted of homosexuality. Aceh is the only region of Indonesia currently allowed to implement its own system of sharia law. (Tipped by JMG reader Dan)

Because The Others ARE IN HELL

(Via Christian Nightmares)

Wreckage From AirAsia Flight Found

Via the Los Angeles Times:

Searchers recovered bodies from the Java Sea on Tuesday and found what officials said wreckage from Indonesia AirAsia Flight 8501 as the three-day mystery over the plane's whereabouts reached a heartbreaking resolution for the families of 162 people aboard. “I am absolutely devastated,” Tony Fernandes, AirAsia's chief executive, said in a statement. “This is a very difficult moment for all of us at AirAsia as we await further developments of the search-and-rescue operations but our first priority now is the well-being of the family members of those on board QZ8501,” he said. AirAsia said debris belonging to its aircraft was found in the Karimata Strait -- between Singapore and Indonesia -- about 110 nautical miles southwest of Pangkalan Bun, on the southern edge of Borneo island.

At this writing about 40 bodies have been recovered.

Another Airliner Is Missing

Via USA Today:

The fate of an AirAsia Indonesia jet that disappeared Sunday over the Java Sea with 162 people aboard remained a mystery more than 16 hours after it disappeared in violent weather, authorities said.Flight QZ8501 was bound for Singapore from Surabaya, Indonesia, when it lost contact with air traffic control at about 7:24 a.m. (6:24 p.m. ET on Saturday), the airline said in a statement. The time in Surabaya is 12 hours ahead of Eastern Standard Time; Singapore is 13 hours ahead of ET. "We don't dare to presume what has happened except that it has lost contact," said Djoko Murjatmodjo, Indonesia's acting director general of transportation. Minutes before the plane disappeared from radar, the pilot asked air traffic control for permission to avoid a cloud bank by turning left and going higher, to 34,000 feet. Flight QZ8501 gave no distress signal, he said.

INDONESIA: Aceh Province Approves 100 Public Lashes For Homosexuality

The provincial legislature in Aceh has approved the bill calling for 100 public lashes with a cane for those convicted of homosexuality.

Aceh is the only part of the majority-Muslim nation that is allowed to implement Islamic sharia law and already carries out public canings for gambling, drinking alcohol and fraternising with the opposite sex outside of marriage. The law explicitly outlaws anal sex between men and "the rubbing of body parts between women for stimulation", making homosexuality technically illegal for the first time in Aceh. The bylaw will also be the first in Aceh to be applied to non-Muslims, both Indonesians and foreigners. Gay sex is not illegal in the rest of the country. Amnesty International, which has called for an end to caning in Aceh, asked that the bylaw be repealed immediately. "The criminalisation of individuals based on their sexual orientation is a huge blow for equality in Indonesia," the group's Asia-Pacific director Richard Bennett said. Mr Bennett said the law would increase the "climate of homophobia, fear and harassment many in Aceh are already facing".

The law was first proposed in May 2013 by the deputy mayor of Aceh's largest city. An estimated 98% of Aceh's 4.5 million residents are Muslim. LGBT rights are virtually nonexistent across Indonesia, although a national bill to criminalize gay sex failed in 2003.

INDONESIA: Aceh Province Considers 100 Public Lashings For Homosexuality

In May 2013 the deputy mayor of the capital city of Indonesia's Aceh province proposed criminalizing homosexuality with a punishment of one hundred public lashings with a cane. Yesterday that law was presented to the provincial legislature.

Aceh is the only part of the world's biggest Muslim-majority nation to enforce Islamic sharia law and has been slowly implementing it since 2001, when it gained some powers of autonomy. A draft bylaw sent to AFP on Saturday outlaws anal sex between men and "the rubbing of body parts between women for stimulation", and for the first time applies Islamic laws and punishments to non-Muslims. The bylaw also punishes adultery with 100 lashes of the cane. The bylaw reinforces previous sharia legislation that bans alcohol consumption, gambling, fraternising between unmarried men and women, and physical displays of affection outside of marriage, such as touching and kissing. Canings in Aceh are often carried out with a long thin rattan stick and are aimed at humiliating, rather than causing pain. The bylaw allows for fines paid in gold or jail time as an alternative to the lashes.

An estimated 98% of Aceh's 4.5 million residents are Muslim. LGBT rights are virtually nonexistent across Indonesia, although a national bill to criminalize gay sex failed in 2003. Yesterday's action was gleefully noted on Twitter by Martin "Eat Da Poo Poo" Ssempa, who retweeted the message, "God bless Indonesia."

INDONESIA: Aceh Province Considers Public Canings For Homosexuality

The deputy mayor of the capital city of Indonesia's Aceh province has called for criminalizing homosexuality with a punishment of one hundred public lashings with a cane. The Jakarta Globe reports:

Banda Aceh Deputy Mayor Illiza Sa’aduddin Djamal called homosexuality “a social disease that should be eradicated,” as she pushed for harsher bylaws against sexual behavior that runs counter to the region’s adherence to Islamic Shariah Law. The Aceh Legislative Council (DPRA) is discussing proposed changes to the province’s bylaws, including a bylaw criminalizing homosexuality. The proposed bylaw received the support of the deputy mayor, who bemoaned the fact that police were unable to punish same-sex couples under current regulations. “There is no law that could be used to charge them,” Illiza said. “The existing [regulations] only stipulate about khalwat [being in close proximity] for intimate relations between unmarried males and females.” Banda Aceh’s Shariah Police have struggled to crack down on same-sex relationships, Illiza said. Couples meet in rented rooms and pursue relationships under a veil of secrecy, she said.

An estimated 98% of Aceh's 4.5 million residents are Muslim. LGBT rights are virtually nonexistent across Indonesia, although a national bill to criminalize gay sex failed in 2003.

INDONESIA: Government Acts To Ignore Patents On HIV Medications

The government of Indonesia has told local pharmaceutical companies that they may ignore international patents on several HIV medications. Reuters reports:

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono quietly issued a decree last month authorizing government use of patents for seven HIV/AIDS and hepatitis B medicines held by the likes of Merck & Co, GlaxoSmithKline, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Abbott and Gilead. The international trade body representing major drugmakers said the move set “a negative precedent”. Individual companies affected did not provide immediate comment. The decree states Indonesia implemented the measures to “meet the urgent need for antiviral and antiretroviral treatments”. An estimated 310,000 people are living with HIV in Indonesia, Southeast Asia’s largest economy. The prevalence rate among the 15 to 49-year-old population is 0.2 percent, according to 2009 statistics from the U.N. Aids website. Unreported cases mean that the true figure could be higher.

Indonesia has twice before allowed patented HIV drugs to be manufactured locally. The new directive covers the latest and most effective medications.

INDONESIA: Islamic Death Threats Force Cancellation Of Lady Gaga Concert

CNN reports:

Islamists and conservative Muslims have decried Lady Gaga's upcoming concert, saying her revealing costumes and sensual dance moves are forbidden by Islamic law. The chairman of the Islamic Defenders Front, Habib Rizieq, said his group could not guarantee security if the concert were held. Indonesia has the largest Muslim population in the world. In March, the pop star got a thumbs-down by the country's highest Islamic authority, according to The Jakarta Globe. Indonesian Council of Ulema chairman Cholil Ridwan was urging Muslims not to attend the controversial singer's upcoming concert in Jakarta, the newspaper reported. "(The concert is) intended to destroy the nation's morality," Ridwan told the Globe.

Indonesians Protest Lady Gaga

"Lady Gaga is a prostitute and Satan worshipper." Hurray! More protest photos from Jakarta can be found at Buzzfeed.

Indonesia Cancels Lady Gaga Concert

Because she's in league with Satan, of course.

Pop star Lady Gaga has been refused a permit to perform in the Indonesian capital next month over security concerns, police said on Tuesday, after Islamic groups voiced strong objections to her "vulgar" style. "She's a vulgar singer who wears only panties and a bra when she sings and she stated she is the envoy of the devil's child and that she will spread satanic teaching," said Salim Alatas, the Jakarta head of hardline Islamic Defender Front (FPI). "This is dangerous."

Obama Had A Gay Nanny Who Did Drag

According to the New York Times, while he was a young boy in Indonesia, President Obama had a gay male nanny who later went on to join a troupe of drag performers.

Mr. Obama’s family rented the guest house inside a compound belonging to a prominent physician. There, according to the neighborhood’s longtime residents, the young Obama, who had already experienced differences in class and religion in his short stay in Indonesia, was exposed to another aspect of Jakarta’s diversity. His nanny was an openly gay man who, in keeping with Indonesia’s relaxed attitudes toward homosexuality, carried on an affair with a local butcher, longtime residents said. The nanny later joined a group of transvestites called Fantastic Dolls, who, like the many transvestites who remain fixtures of Jakarta’s streetscape, entertained people by dancing and playing volleyball.

The Washington Post comments:

Apparently, such a thing is not uncommon, as Indonesia has a relatively advanced drag culture, the Australian newspaper the Age reported in 2003. Transvestites, known in Indonesia as "waria," are particularly prevalent in the tailoring and makeup artist professions, according to the paper. However, not everyone in Indonesia enjoys the drag queen volleyball games. The BBC reported that hardline Islamists broke up a transvestite beauty pageant in 2005.

You know the Freepers are gonna have a field day with this story.

INDONESIA: Islamic Extremists Protest Jakarta's Gay Film Festival

Waving stills from the movies, hundreds of Islamic extremists protested yesterday in Jakarta, Indonesia demanding the closure of a gay film festival. Via the Jakarta Post:

Clad in white Muslim attire, the members of the hard-line group removed posters of the movies to be screened during the Q Film Festival, being held from Sept. 21 to Sept. 30 in a number of theaters and cultural centers. Salim Alatas, chairman of the Jakarta branch of the FPI, said organizers of the festival had 24 hours to stop the festival. “We want the festival to be stopped as it screens movies that promote homosexual relationships,” Salim was quoted as saying by tempointeraktif.com. Dozens of police flanked the FPI members to avoid any acts of violence. Earlier, the FPI members staged a rally at the Goethe Institute German cultural center, and the French Cultural Center, and planned to march to the Japan Foundation center in Central Jakarta to convey their objection to the festival. “We do not want this place to be set on fire because of moral decadence,” Salim said during the rally at the Goethe Institute on Jl. Sam Ratulangi in Menteng, as quoted by kompas.com.

Festival organizers say they expected the protest and that the event will proceed as planned. According to the Guardian UK, the Islamic Defenders Front has previously "smashed bars, attacked transvestites and targeted other groups it considers blasphemous."

A Frothy Mix From Rick Santorum

Indonesia: Stonings For Adultery, Public Lashings And Prison For Homosexuals

Weeks before they will be ousted for a more moderate government, lawmakers in the Indonesian province of Aceh have unanimously approved a law dictating the stoning to death of adulterers and the public lashings and imprisonment of gays. People found "guilty" of homosexuality are now subject to eight years in prison.

Human rights groups immediately denounced the vote. The incoming Aceh Party is thought to have a less strict position on shariah law, but it's unclear whether they would move to reverse the new punishments. Other Indonesian provinces, while also predominantly Muslim, are more moderate. Aceh suffered the worst casualties of the 2005 tsunami, with over 130,000 killed.

RELATED: Stoning to death is legal in Afghanistan, Iran, Pakistan, Sudan, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and parts of Nigeria.

The Poz Chip

The Indonesian state of Papua is planning to microchip some residents with HIV in a bid to prevent their transmitting the virus to others. Out of a population of 2.5M, 3000 residents are thought to be HIV positive. Papua is located on the western half of New Guinea.

According to an Indonesian doctor assisting in the new law's preparation, "Some of the infected people experience a change of behavior and can turn more aggressive and would not think twice of infecting others." He claims that only those "deemed likely" to transmit the virus will be chipped. Local AIDS activists are understandably outraged, saying, "People with HIV/AIDS are not like sharks under observation so that they have to be implanted with microchips to monitor their movements."

It's almost laughable. Almost.