National Commission on Human Rights denounces police’s ‘inhumane’ treatment of those detained at ‘gay party’ in Jakarta

Illustration. Source: Wikimedia Commons
Illustration. Source: Wikimedia Commons

International condemnation of the Indonesian government for its discrimination against members of the country’s LGBT minority has been loud in recent days in the leadup to the caning of two men for gay sex that took place in Aceh today and the detainment of over 140 men for allegedly attending a gay party in North Jakarta on Sunday.

But human rights activists within Indonesia have also denounced the government’s treatment of its LGBT citizens, with the country’s own National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) have now joined the Jakarta Legal Aid Foundation in calling the police’s actions against those detained at the Atlantis Gym and Sauna on Sunday night as inhumane.

“Komnas HAM regrets the arrest of 144 people by North Jakarta Police at Atlantis Gym and Sauna for allegedly being involved prostitution, which was carried out through raids that were accompanied by other, inhumane acts,” said Komnas HAM Vice Chairman Muhammad Nurkhoiron in a written statement on Tuesday as quoted by Republika.

According to Nurkhoiron, Komnas HAM received complaints that those arrested were forced onto buses by the police while in a state of undress. Police also took photos of those arrested, revealing their faces, which were then spread through social media, messaging apps and the news media.

Nurkhoiron said the photos and ensuing media coverage could lead to the further stigmatization of LGBT individuals and threaten their security in violation of the nation’s privacy and human rights laws as well as international human rights treaties, including the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatments and Punishment. Komnas HAM also argues that it violates Indonesian law protecting the presumption of innocence in criminal cases.

Police say they have already released 126 of the men detained on Sunday as they did not have enough evidence to charge them with violating Indonesia’s ambiguously worded pornography law. Ten people, including the spa’s owner and a few alleged strippers, were charged under the law. Police are also still detaining 5 people who tested positive for drugs.

Homosexual acts are not illegal in Indonesia (except in Aceh), but the anti-pornography law is often used to target people at homosexual gatherings (in this case, a strip show being the criminally pornographic aspect of the case).

Earlier this month, police in the city of Surabaya nabbed 14 people for allegedly holding a ‘gay party’ in a hotel. Eight were detained and made to take HIV tests, which showed that five of them tested positive. That information was released to the public through the media, despite mandatory HIV tests being deemed a threat to privacy by the World Health Organization.

Earlier today, two Indonesian men in Aceh, the only province in Indonesia to enforce Islamic Sharia laws, were caned 83 times after being found in bed together during a raid by vigilantes. The two men were the first to be flogged in the region for allegedly having same-sex relations. Activists had called on President Joko Widodo to make good on his statements in support of basic rights for LGBT Indonesians by preventing the caning from taking place, but the president has yet to make a statement about either case.



Reader Interactions

Leave A Reply


BECOME A COCO+ MEMBER

Support local news and join a community of like-minded
“Coconauts” across Southeast Asia and Hong Kong.

Join Now
Coconuts TV
Our latest and greatest original videos
Subscribe on