There’s not too much left to say about this violation of human rights that hasn’t already been said in the punk community. The general background story goes as such:
Dozens of young men and women have been detained for being “punk” and disturbing the peace in Aceh, Indonesia’s most devoutly Muslim province. They are being held in a remedial school, where they are undergoing “re-education”. The 64 punks, many of whom are from as far away as Bali or Jakarta, were picked up on Saturday night during a local [Charity] concert [for orphans]. Mr Leo stressed that no-one had been charged with any crime, and there were no plans to do so. They have now been taken to a remedial school in the Seulawah Hills, about 60km (37 miles) away from the provincial capital Banda Aceh. “They will undergo a re-education so their morals will match those of other Acehnese people,” says Mr Leo. “The presence of the punk community is disturbing, and disrupts the life of the Banda Aceh public,” Illiza told the Jakarta Globe. “Their morals are wrong. Men and women gather together, and that is against Islamic Shariah,” she said. She guessed that the number of punks in the town was around 200. “How are we supposed to support ourselves now that we’ve been brought here?” Illiza, who claimed she has the support of the public, said the police would continue to hunt for punks in Banda Aceh. “We will keep conducting raids until they’re all caught, then we’ll bring them for reeducation here.”
“Aceh is a Shariah region,” Illiza added. “Everyone should obey it and the punk community is clearly against Shariah.” “This training will be an example in Indonesia of the reeducation of the punks.”
I have seen this petition floating around various punk rock message forums and have been surprised at some of the comments I have seen regarding the events. There were the obvious and largely expected “Fuck the Police” sentiments from countless commenters but I also saw some eyebrow-raising comments as well about Sharia Law. I believe that America, especially post 9/11 America, has a very crooked vision of anything remotely considered “Middle-Eastern”, “Muslim”, “Islamic” or etc. I am under the impression that various people (yes, even in the punk community) have the idea that the extremity of this religious code is followed by all who practice it. To say this would be over-generalizing an entire religion and everyone who follows it.
While this is event is extremely outrageous and a violation of human rights, I believe it’s important to know that the real people to blame are the individual members of the Aceh police force and local government.
I believe as individuals and the (supposed) active supporters of progressive and logical thought, we must clear away any pre-concevied and unfounded notions of the mysteries of the Middle-Eastern world. To put it all in context for you, believing that all followers of Shariah Law are violent, militant oppressors of human rights would be incorrect. With all religions and the multitude of its followers, there are various individual interpretations to it. This would essentially be the same as all people of the Muslim world believing all Baptists in America to be the type of belonging to The Westboro Baptist Church. Or believing all Satanists to be of the stereotypical, animal-sacrificing, black mass type. Believing everyone of a certain religion to act in such a sterotypical manner is an insult to your own intelligence as well as all others who believe you.
I’d recommend anyone signing this petition and sharing it with as many audiences as possible. This event isn’t about being punk rock or whatever other title you may hold. It’s about being a human being. You could exchange “punk rock” within the context of this event and should feel just as angry about it. Perhaps they were targeted for being gay, a woman, a certain nationality, anything. If you don’t feel any sympathy for these 64 human beings, I would suggest putting yourself in their shoes. I can only imagine the sympathy you’d be begging for during your “re-education”.
Sign the petition and share.
http://www.change.org/petitions/aceh-police-and-police-spokesman-gustav-leo-release-64-teenage-prisoners-being-detained-and-re-educated-2
inertiamovement 