Sunday, August 28, 2005

Aceh Update

It appears that the realities of Islam are a bit too stark for even some Muslims to accept.

JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) -- A leading human rights group on Sunday condemned as "insane" an Islamic court's caning of two unmarried couples in Aceh province for drinking alcohol and being alone together after dark. They were the latest Aceh residents to fall foul of new regulations that give the staunchly Muslim province the right to impose a version of Islamic Sharia law.

The women fainted after being beaten 40 times on Friday outside a mosque in central Aceh, witnesses said. They were taken to a hospital, but had no serious injuries.

"We protest this insane sentence, and it should be reviewed by the Supreme Court," said Ideal Karim of the rights organization ELSHAM. "It violates Indonesia's constitution that outlaws corporal punishment, torture and humiliation (of prisoners)."

If the Indonesian government heeds ELSHAM and starts tinkering with Aceh's fundamentalist form of Islam, look for a shooting war to erupt again. What can you say about a religion that, if practiced...umm...religiously, violates human rights?

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