"Aceh, alone among Indonesia's provinces, has been explicitly authorized by national law to adopt local Sharia laws. While supporters say such laws should promote social welfare and communal harmony, two such laws are being used to deny many people the right to make personal decisions central to the conduct of their lives and the expression of their faith, identity, and morals. One of the laws prohibits 'seclusion,' whereby it is a criminal offence in certain circumstances for unmarried individuals of opposite genders to associate together. The other imposes public dress requirements on all Muslims; while the dress law is gender-neutral on its face, in practice it imposes far more onerous restrictions on women than on men. Policing Morality documents the experiences of individuals in Aceh who have been accused of violating these two laws. It demonstrates how the laws violate Indonesia's constitutional protections for basic rights as well as international human rights law. The report also documents recent cases in which the Sharia police, regular police, and private individuals have enforced the laws in an abusive fashion. The laws are applied arbitrarily and selectively, and particularly affect women, the poor, and youths.

Several suspects have been beaten or tortured. Policing Morality urges Indonesian and Acehnese authorities to repeal the two laws and ensure that all local regulations in force throughout Indonesia, including those purportedly based on Islam, comply with Indonesia's human rights obligations."--P. [4] of cover.