control and sexuality

Control and Sexuality: The Revival of Zina Laws in Muslim Contextsis best achieved via joint non-governmental human rights advocacy that brings variousorganisations and social justice movements together, as it demonstrates that the society,as a whole, demands certain actions be taken.Ways of ImprovementOne of the recurrent issues highlighted by Acehnese human rights defenders is theneed for in-depth, gender and human rights-sensitive interpretations of legal traditionspertinent to historical and contemporary Muslim communities. This would enable grassrootsactivists to engage in a comprehensive dialogue with local religious and politicalauthorities. The need for improved networking amongst themselves and the involvementof all relevant stakeholders in the law-making processes is also mentioned. Once progressis made along these three key avenues of development, local activists are convinced thatthey will be able to make the provincial government and ‘ulama’ realise that the currentreligious legislation runs contrary to both national human rights legal standards and,perhaps even more importantly, the goals and purposes of shari‘a (Arabic: maqasid alshari‘a).Acehnese activists are deeply aware that the introduction of the concept of zina tothe provincial legal system “is part of the politic[s] of morality used by certain peoplewith political power for their [own] political interests”. 26 Hence, they are aware that thestrategies of sensitisation and dialogue are dependent upon their counterparts’ good willand political interests. Nonetheless, they are confident that a learned and methodologicaluse of a Muslim framework in addressing the issues of gender and social justice can meltthe political ice.While the monitoring of human rights violations has already become an integral part ofthe provincial social justice movements’ activities – resulting in, for example, documenting49 cases of (communal and state-sanctioned) discrimination and violence across Aceh in2009, associated with the emergence of the infamous Qanun on Khalwat – there is stillconsiderable room for improvement. It has to do with the methods used in the monitoringprocess as well as with the follow-up activities, which Acehnese civil society has not had achance to improve. The development of this important segment of their advocacy effortsshould, therefore, be given greater priority in their strategic considerations.Finally (and this invariably applies to other regions of Indonesia as well), in a situationwhereby the Constitutional Court, let alone the lower levels of the juridical sector, clearlydoes not perform its legal duties, civil society movements should consider filing complaintswith international human rights instruments – such as the relevant United Nations treatybodies and special procedures. While such applications may not always trigger immediateresults, they have proven effective in the longer-run in a number of similar contexts.26 A written response from an anonymous Acehnese human rights and religious expert, providedon 12 May 2010, on file with the author.74