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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 JAKARTA 013613 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
Consulate Medan cable # 38, 2006 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PHUM KISL SOCI ID
SUBJECT: Aceh: Incoming Governor Blasts Syariah, 
Syariah Police Crack Down 
 
¶1. (SBU) Summary: Aceh's incoming governor 
Irwandi Yusuf has publicly vowed to block new 
Syariah regulations, including a draft law to cut 
off the hands of convicted thieves, prompting 
Syariah officials to withdraw temporarily the 
proposed law pending revision. Meanwhile, out of 
the public eye Irwandi and his advisors are 
working on a plan to enlist moderate ulamas in an 
effort to rollback some of the existing Syariah 
rules. In late December the religious police in 
Banda Aceh launched a crackdown on hair salons 
serving both male and female customers for 
"promoting inappropriate contact" between the 
sexes.  End Summary. 
 
¶2. (SBU) Asking an Acehnese if he supports 
Syariah law is like asking an American if he 
supports liberty and democracy; you know the 
answer you are going to get before you ask the 
question. The problem is in how it is defined. 
According to several Acehnese intellectuals as 
well as our own conversations around the 
province, a majority of Acehnese hold moderate 
views on the implementation of Syariah. Many say 
that, except in the case of crimes which the 
police seem powerless to stop such as corruption, 
it is best enforced within the family. In fact, 
one group of villagers professing adamant support 
for Syariah law near Kuala Langsa flatly refused 
to believe that people could be physically caned 
under existing regulations; caning, they 
insisted, was, and should be, "mental." Only a 
relative minority of Acehnese are thought to 
support vigorous enforcement of petty offences 
such as small-scale gambling. A solid majority of 
GAM members, including incoming governor Irwandi 
Yusuf, are in the former camp. 
Incoming Governor Blasts Syariah 
 
¶3. (SBU) Prior to the election Irwandi privately 
criticized Syariah law as "imposed by Jakarta" 
and blamed it for distorting traditional Acehnese 
culture and scaring off tourists and investors. 
Should he become governor he promised to reform 
Syariah enforcement and rollback the most extreme 
provisions.  Not wishing to alienate any of 
Aceh's powerful ulamas before the election, 
however, he avoided discussing religious issues 
during the campaign. 
 
¶4. (SBU) With the election over, however, Irwandi 
has become more open about his views. On multiple 
occasions he has blasted a draft law mandating 
that the hand of convicted thieves be amputated 
as "persecuting the poor" who steal to feed their 
families and vowed to block its implementation. 
According to Irwandi, Syariah's enforcers should 
focus on improving peoples' welfare and says that 
if any hands are to be cut off it should be the 
hands of "rich, corrupt officials". 
Amputation Law Withdrawn 
 
¶5. (SBU) Although he has not yet assumed office, 
Irwandi's criticisms are already having an 
effect.  While downplaying Irwandi's influence, 
Syariah officials acknowledged to us recently 
that their plans to present the draft amputation 
law to the provincial legislature (DPR-D) in 
early 2007 have been set back; the law has now 
been shelved until they can write rules 
distinguishing between thieves who steal to feed 
their families and those motivated by greed. This 
rewrite will take about a year to complete. 
Religious Police Launch New Crackdown 
 
¶6. (U) At approximately the same time the Syariah 
Affairs Office was withdrawing the draft 
amputation law, the Syariah Police (waliyatul 
hisbah or WH) were launching a crackdown on cell 
phone vendors suspected of distributing 
pornography and on Banda's ubiquitous unisex 
beauty parlors. According to the WH Chief in 
Banda Aceh, these businesses were violating 
 
JAKARTA 00013613  002 OF 002 
 
 
section two of Provincial Regulation number 14 of 
2003 concerning inappropriate contact between 
members of the opposite sex. (Note: This section 
in the law forbids "inappropriate contact of 
unmarried couples, immorality, and filthy" as 
defines them as "activities, events, or 
situations that can lead to adultery." Some 
Acehnese have complained that the language is 
vague and grants excessive discretion to the WH.) 
 
¶7. (SBU) The crackdown affected more than 30 
salons and nearly a dozen cell phone vendors.  In 
preparing to take action against the salons, the 
WH Chief said he had deputized elderly ladies 
from the neighborhood to monitor salons and 
report on their activities. He also said that the 
mayor's office had previously notified each of 
the salon owners in writing that they were 
suspected of violating applicable regulations and 
in jeopardy of losing their license. On the day 
of the crackdown, he said, persons working in the 
salons and their customers were "educated" about 
the regulations and released. 
 
¶8. (SBU) The WH Chief emphasized to us that the 
targeted salons were not suspected fronts for 
prostitution but were simply allowing improper 
contact between men and women which "could lead 
to adultery". In one case, however, his men 
reportedly found alcohol and condoms, leading 
them to believe that more illicit activities may 
have been going on. 
How Far Can Irwandi Go? 
 
¶9. (SBU) Unlike governors in other provinces, the 
governor in Aceh is empowered to veto legislation 
passed by the DPRD, at least until a new DPRD is 
elected. Irwandi will therefore be able to block 
the passage of new Syariah laws for the next 
several years should he choose to do so. 
Numerous Syariah laws are already in effect, 
however, including those authorizing caning. 
 
¶10. (SBU) Irwandi has told us privately that he 
wants to rollback the existing laws and curb the 
power of the religious police. While rolling back 
existing laws will require political dexterity, 
reforming the religious police will be 
significantly easier because their authority is 
established by Gubernatorial Decree. By contrast, 
overturning existing laws will require agreement 
from the legislature. 
 
¶11. (SBU) One of Irwandi's closest advisors and 
political strategists told us that Irwandi does 
not intend to attack existing Syariah laws 
directly, but will attempt to build consensus 
around a moderate "roadmap". During the first 
year of Irwandi's administration, the advisor 
told us, Irwandi will invite moderate ulamas to 
Aceh to discuss the implementation of Syariah and 
to propose reforms. Irwandi will embrace some of 
the proposals and use them to guide the 
development of Syariah in the province. Because 
the recommendations will come from within the 
religious community and will not be clearly 
identifiable as "Irwandi's plan", he hopes it 
will give him the political cover needed to 
implement genuine reform. 
 
Heffern