24 May 2017

Cross Party MPs Call on Government to Condemn Indonesian’s Torture of Gay Men

The Rainbow NZ Parliamentary Network is today calling on the Government to speak out against the recent persecution of gay men in Indonesia including the recent public flogging of two men.

“We are extremely concerned about recent reports out of Indonesia, which suggest that there is a marked trend towards intolerance and persecution of the LGBTIQ community,” said Green Party MP Jan Logie.

"Our democracy is founded on a clear separation of Church and State. The starting point is homosexual law reform. We need our government to advocate for this first principle human right for all people to live in the dignity of their LGBTIQ identity,” said Labour Party MP Louisa Wall

“We are seeing worrying trends of intolerance in various parts of the world, and as close neighbours to Indonesia, it’s all the more important that the Government make it clear that these actions, which amount to torture, are not tolerated,’ said Act Party leader David Seymour.

“The Rainbow Cross Party group has requested a meeting with the Indonesian Ambassador to discuss this issue and we will be discussing it further as a group,” said National MP Paul Foster-Bell.

Along with two men recently being publicly lashes 83 times for having consensual sex, there have also been reports of raids where men have been detained and denied access to lawyers.

The Rainbow NZ Parliamentary Network is a group of cross Party MPs from across Parliament who work to advance LGBTIQ issues within Parliament.

ENDS

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