Malaysia
BANDA ACEH, INDONESIA – MAY 23: An acehnese woman gets caning in public from an executor known as ‘algojo’ for spending time with a man who is not her husband, which is against Sharia law at Syuhada mosque on May 23, 2017 in Banda Aceh, Indonesia. Indonesia’s Aceh Province, on the northern tip of Sumatra island, is among the only place in the Muslim-majority country which implements the strict version of Sharia Law. Public canings take place regularly in Aceh for a range of offenses from adultery to homosexuality to selling alcohol, while women are required to dress modestly and Shariah police officers patrol the streets and conduct raids to hunt for immoral activities. More than 90 per cent of the 255 million people who live in Indonesia describe themselves as Muslim, but the vast majority practice a moderate form. According to reports, the Shariah Law in Aceh began in 2001, after receiving authorization from Indonesia’s central government, which was intent on calming separatist sentiment in the conservative region while today. Photo: Ulet Ifansasti/Getty Images

A 22-year-old woman and 32-year-old woman in Malaysia were caned Monday after being sentenced under Islamic law for allegedly ‘attempting lesbian sex’.

The sentence was carried out in front of the public and administered by female prison officers in front of around 100 onlookers according to reports. Lawyers and human rights activists have slammed the backwards punishment as torture as both women were given six lashes each.

Via AP:

Lawyers and activists said the women, aged 22 and 32, were seated on stools facing the judges and given six strokes from a light rattan cane on their backs by female prison officers. More than 100 people witnessed the caning in a Shariah courtroom in northeast Terengganu state, they said.

Muslim Lawyers’ Association deputy president Abdul Rahim Sinwan said unlike caning under civil laws, the punishment under Islamic laws isn’t painful or harsh and was meant to educate the women so they will repent. The women, dressed in white headscarves and clothing, didn’t cry or scream but “showed remorse,” he said.

“Repentance is the ultimate aim for their sin,” he said.

Human rights groups slammed the punishment as a setback for human rights and said it could worsen discrimination against people in Malaysia’s lesbian, bisexual, gay and transgender community.

“Caning is a form of cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment and may amount to torture,” Amnesty International Malaysia said in a statement. “People should not live in fear because they are attracted to people of the same sex. The Malaysian authorities must immediately repeal repressive laws, outlaw torturous punishments and ratify the U.N. Convention Against Torture.”

The two women were reportedly discovered by government authorities back in April as this latest incidents continues to follow a disturbingly growing trend of an anti-LGBT uprising within the Country. Last month a transgender woman was beaten in a southern portion of the Country while authorities removed portraits of two LGBT activists from a public exhibition a few weeks ago. Malaysia’s religious minister, Mujahid Yusuf later indicated that nation did not support the promotion of LGBT culture.

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