The police punished the detainees by having their heads shaved, wear men’s clothing, run and chant loudly ‘until their male voices came out’, the chief boosted. PHOTO COURTESY: tribratanewsacehutara.com
Police detain 12 transgender women to ‘coach’ them to become ‘real men’ during a raid in Indonesia's Aceh region and have drawn strong criticism from the Amnesty International.
The police raided five beauty salons in Aceh on Saturday on thier drive to curb “Anti Moral Illness” and stop Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT) community numbers from increasing in the area.
“These transvestites will be getting coaching until they really become men,” the North Aceh Police Chief Ahmad Untung Surianata was quoted by Antara news agency.
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He said local Ulema (Islamic clergy) approved of their actions and detainees will undergo drug tests.
The police punished the detainees by having their heads shaved, wear men’s clothing, run and chant loudly ‘until their male voices came out’, the chief boosted.
An online disturbing and unverified footage of the police raid shows detained women lying on the ground while their heads are shaved.
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The Amnesty International has strongly criticised their hostile action against the LGBT community.
“The police’s so-called ‘re-education’ of transgender people is not only humiliating and inhumane, it is also unlawful and a clear breach of their human rights. Such incidents must be promptly and effectively investigated,” Amnesty International Indonesia’s Executive Director Usman Hamid said.
“In Aceh, it is not only transgender people who face harassment, intimidation and attacks – all LGBTI people are at serious risk of such treatment. Such attacks must be stopped immediately and authorities must treat all people in Aceh equally before the law. Police are there to protect everyone, not to humiliate them and violate their rights.”
The 'conservative' Indonesian province of Aceh has a special right to enforce Sharia law alongside the national criminal code since the 2000s as agreed between central government and local separatists.
Only the Aceh province on Indonesia has criminalised same-sex relationships since 2014. Since then police have repeatedly conducted massive raids against suspected “gay parties” and detained large groups of men.
This article originally appears on RT.
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