VZCZCXRO3179
PP RUEHCHI RUEHCN RUEHDT RUEHHM
DE RUEHJA #0023 0080803
ZNR UUUUU ZZHQ
P 080803Z JAN 10
FM AMEMBASSY JAKARTA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 4254
INFO RUEHZS/ASSOCIATION OF SOUTHEAST ASIAN NATIONS COLL
RUEHHE/AMEMBASSY HELSINKI 0969
RUEHBY/AMEMBASSY CANBERRA 3699
RUEHTC/AMEMBASSY THE HAGUE 3495
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC
RHHMUNA/USCINCPAC HONOLULU HI
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHDC

UNCLAS JAKARTA 000023 
 
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: WEST ACEH'S TIGHT PANTS LAW LOOSENED UP 
 
REFERENCES:  Jakarta 1569 and previous 
 
¶1.  (U) This cable is Sensitive but Unclassified.  Please handle 
accordingly.  This message was coordinated with Embassy Jakarta. 
 
¶2.  (SBU) SUMMARY:  A local Shariah edict in West Aceh District 
banning women from wearing pants which will go into effect in 
February has been softened due to community pressure to relax the 
controversial rule.  In response to public outcry, West Aceh Regent 
Ramli Mansur decided that loose pants are morally acceptable.  While 
the vast majority of West Acehnese found the current trend of 
skintight pants offensive, many men and women objected to the 
government dictating how women can dress.  END SUMMARY. 
¶3.  (SBU) West Aceh District Regent Ramli Mansur made international 
news in October when he announced that women in his backwater 
coastal part of Aceh would be banned from wearing pants beginning in 
January 2010.  He told the media that Muslim women caught with their 
pants on would be subject to detention by Shariah police.  Police 
would cut off the pants with scissors and issue long skirts.  The 
law does not apply to non-Muslims, although skimpy clothing remains 
unacceptable for anyone, including men.  As early as October, 
religious police began setting up posts at all major roads into the 
district capital of Meulaboh, warning women who wore pants. 
Non-Muslim women wearing pants complained that they were being 
turned away from government services, including hospitals. 
 
¶4.  (SBU) In Aceh, where women have traditionally worn the pants in 
the family, this edict did not sit well.  Since ancient times, 
Acehnese women have had a proud history of fighting next to their 
men and sitting on the throne of power.  In some recent cases when 
religious police pulled over motorcycles to warn women against 
wearing pants, husbands or boyfriends pulled out  machetes, daring 
police to lay a finger on their partners. 
 
¶5.  (SBU) Mansur's motivation was a combination of his traditional 
rural upbringing, pressure from a small minority of conservative 
clerics, and political opportunism under the premise that moral 
values win votes.  However, soon after he issued the edict (qanun), 
he began soft peddling it in the face of negative local, national 
and international attention.  In a November meeting with ConGen 
Medan, he said loose pants might be acceptable and that pants would 
not be cut off.  He added that he did not feel that strongly about 
pants himself but was getting heat from religious leaders.  ConGen 
told Mansur that the edict has given Aceh and Indonesia a very 
unwelcoming name, and that the law will drive away not only 
international tourists and investors but even those from other parts 
of Indonesia, where most women wear pants. 
 
¶6.  (SBU) Discussions with men and women from all walks of life in 
Meulaboh revealed that the pants law was on everyone's mind and that 
feelings were ambivalent.  Even young female university students and 
women's rights activists told us that the style now sweeping 
Indonesia of skintight, low-slung jeans was in bad taste.  However, 
many also said moral suasion would be more effective than 
proscription.  Young women said the law would make it difficult to 
ride motorcycles, while young people joked about how girls would 
need to hike up their skirts to mount motorcycles.  Along with tight 
pants, many had become concerned about widespread smooching on 
public beaches before the current Regent began cracking down. 
 
¶7.  (SBU) In a talk with a hundred students at West Sumatra's only 
university, questions focused on the U.S. reaction to the edict. 
They nodded solemnly when ConGen told them about the negative impact 
and how in the U.S. community values determine modes of fashion 
rather than laws.  Three sub-district heads who work directly under 
Mansur were very concerned when we told them how the edict could 
hurt the West Aceh economy.  One whispered to our Indonesian 
political assistant that he thought the edict was "stupid."   They 
pleaded with ConGen to tell Mansur that the edict was a bad idea. 
 
¶8.  (SBU) Public reservations were airedQ a December seminar to 
solicit community input.  As a result of this meeting, the law was 
eased to allow women to wear loose pants provided they also wear a 
long shirt which hides their feminine form.  When the final proposed 
law was announced in late December, negative public reaction was 
minimal, media and activists told us.  The local Parliament still 
has to review and pass the law, which is expected to begin 
implementation in February.  The latest report from West Aceh is 
that loose pants and skirts now prevail. 
 
HUME