RantCrush Top 5: May 23, 2017

There has been international outrage after two men in Indonesia were caned 83 times as a punishment for having sex with each other. Hundreds of people attended the caning, in Indonesia’s Aceh province, which is an ultra-conservative Muslim area. The men were arrested after neighbors barged into their apartment and filmed them. They had already spent two months in prison under Aceh’s extremely strict laws. The caning lasted four hours and took place next to four other couples who had been intimate before marriage.

“These young men are two Indonesians who wanted nothing more than to live their lives and have their privacy respected,” wrote Kyle Knight from Human Rights Watch. Gay sex is legal in the rest of the country, but not in Aceh, and even though surrounding countries are becoming increasingly liberal, Indonesia appears to be moving in the opposite direction. Human rights advocates have condemned the sentence and expressed serious concerns about the recent development.

Urgh. The stage is set for public caning of 2 gay men in Aceh. Utterly barbaric. A dark day for Indonesia. https://t.co/6kKwpg6ADz

— Elaine Pearson (@PearsonElaine) May 23, 2017

Emma Von Zeipel

Emma Von Zeipel is a staff writer at Law Street Media. She is originally from one of the islands of Stockholm, Sweden. After working for Democratic Voice of Burma in Thailand, she ended up in New York City. She has a BA in journalism from Stockholm University and is passionate about human rights, good books, horses, and European chocolate. Contact Emma at EVonZeipel@LawStreetMedia.com.