VZCZCXRO4392
PP RUEHCHI RUEHCN RUEHDT RUEHHM
DE RUEHJA #1810/01 3030823
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 300823Z OCT 09
FM AMEMBASSY JAKARTA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 3693
INFO RUEHZS/ASSOCIATION OF SOUTHEAST ASIAN NATIONS COLL
RUEHHE/AMEMBASSY HELSINKI 0961
RUEHBY/AMEMBASSY CANBERRA 3679
RUEHTC/AMEMBASSY THE HAGUE 3489
RUEHSM/AMEMBASSY STOCKHOLM 2112
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC
RHHMUNA/USCINCPAC HONOLULU HI
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHDC
RUEKJCS/JOINT STAFF WASHDC
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHDC

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 JAKARTA 001810 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR EAP/MTS, INR/EAP 
DEPARTMENT PLEASE PASS AID 
USAID FOR ANE/EAA 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PREL SOCI ID
SUBJECT: ACEH'S NEW SHARIA LAW DISTURBING BUT NOT ENFORCEABLE 
 
REFERENCES:  A. 1533 
             ¶B. 1569 
 
¶1.  (U) This cable is Sensitive but Unclassified.  Please handle 
accordingly.  This message was coordinated with Embassy Jakarta. 
 
¶2. (SBU) Summary.  The September 14, 2009 local Sharia law passed by 
Aceh Provincial Parliament (DPRA) imposing stoning for adultery is 
highly unlikely to ever be implemented, even its proponents admit. 
However, the new DPRA leadership and the Aceh Governor, who oppose 
the law, are very concerned over how this law will tarnish Aceh's 
international image, hurting tourism and investment.  The law is so 
vague that no one clearly understands its intent.  The newly-elected 
Parliament stated it intends to revise the controversial law. 
Meanwhile, the coronation of an Acehnese woman as Miss Indonesia has 
created a tempest in a teapot, and the head of one Acehnese district 
has outlawed women wearing pants and tight dresses.  End Summary. 
 
¶3. (SBU) Aceh's lameduck provincial Parliament, in a final act of 
political opportunism before most lawmakers were swept out of 
office, saddled the newly-elected legislature with a provincial 
Sharia law mandating death by stoning for adulterers (reftels).  The 
new law also imposes steep prison terms and public caning for 
homosexual acts, rape, and pedophilia.  Many believe the outgoing 
lawmakers wanted to hamstring the incoming Parliament, which is 
controlled by the secular Aceh Party (PA), the party of former 
separatists.  Two Muslim-oriented parties, Social Justice Party 
(PKS) and United Development Party (PPP) spearheaded the law. 
However, even PKS lawmakers told ConGen Medan that they never 
intended for the law to be implemented, but rather the law will help 
to discourage adultery just by sending a message.  PKS leaders said 
Sharia law until now has done nothing to discourage vice so a 
stronger signal was needed. 
 
¶4. (SBU) Indeed, none of the authoritative figures we spoke with 
from a wide spectrum of Acehnese society believed the law would ever 
be used.  According to a leading Acehnese Sharia scholar who drafted 
Aceh's original Sharia laws, the requirement for four witnesses of 
high moral authority catching adulterers in the act makes the law 
impossible to enforce.  He told ConGen that he and other Muslim 
scholars told DPRA they opposed the law, and were surprised when it 
was passed. 
 
¶5.  (SBU) Governor Irwandi Yusuf has publicly stated he will never 
enforce the law.  While the law was supposed to go into effect 
automatically 30 days after passage, even without the Governor's 
signature, Irwandi told ConGen because the executive branch was 
never consulted on the law, it cannot take effect without his 
signature.  Others authorities believe the law took effect on 
October 14 even without the Governor's signature but said without 
executive branch enforcement, it will never be carried out. 
 
¶6.  (SBU) Aceh Party has publicly opposed the law and pledged DPRA 
would revise it.  The stoning law "is still controversial and the 
Acehnese people are not ready for it," DPRA Chair Hasbi Abdullah 
said.  Hasbi told ConGen that he is very concerned that the law will 
tarnish Aceh's international image at a time when it is recovering 
from years of conflict, worried it will scare away investors and 
tourists.  Irwandi expressed the same concerns, adding that the law 
could be misused for personal retribution.  ConGen told PKS, the 
media and other interlocutors that such a law does scare tourists 
and investors and is not good for Aceh's development, and no one 
seemed to disagree.  Our comments were reported in Acehnese media. 
Per reftels, Embassy Jakarta officials have also raised concerns 
regarding the implications of this new regulation at the national 
level. 
 
¶7. (SBU) A prominent Acehnese female human rights leader with the 
NGO Kontras told ConGen that she is not so concerned about the law 
being used as she is by the precedent it sets.  The fact that DPRA 
could pass such a half-baked law with no consideration for its 
implications is disturbing.  Since a Sharia law cannot be revised 
until a year after it has passed, this law will distract DPRA from 
more pressing issues, she added.  Furthermore, the law creates a 
tone of intolerance in society, encouraging citizens to impose their 
own moral authority on others. 
 
¶8. (SBU) Another hot moral issue in Aceh has been the recent 
 
JAKARTA 00001810  002 OF 002 
 
 
coronation of a free-spirited Acehnese woman, Qory Sandioriva, as 
Miss Indonesia.  While the national media has played up the 
controversy as revolving around her refusal to wear a head scarf 
(jilbab), many Acehnese told ConGen the real issue is that she 
claims to represent Aceh.  They complain that Qory spent almost her 
entire life in Jakarta.  People also said the head scarf is not as 
issue so much as the swimsuit contest.  Acehnese have not 
traditionally covered their heads and rural women still do not. 
 
¶9. (SBU) Adding further to the perception of religious intolerance 
in Aceh, on October 26 the head of the West Aceh District government 
announced that he was outlawing women wearing pants or tight 
dresses, unless the pants are worn under an ankle-length 
lose-fitting dress.  Regent Ramli M.S. also banned sale of such 
clothing.  Men are banned from wearing shorts above the knees. 
According to the new regulation, tight clothing will be cut off with 
scissors by religious police and the violators will be issued a 
proper dress. 
 
¶10. (SBU) These Acehnese laws reflect how a conservative minority 
has highjacked the agenda in Aceh, which is one of Indonesia's more 
traditional societies but overwhelmingly tolerant nevertheless.  The 
Aceh Party-led government is likely to reverse such laws but will 
need to do so carefully to avoid ire of the handful of fanatics 
pushing for these laws. 
 
HUME