A new law in the conservative Indonesian province of Aceh will punish from Friday those thought to have had gay sex with 100 lashes from a cane.

Although gay sex is not illegal according to Indonesian national law, Aceh has some autonomy from the central Jakarta government and has adopted a form of Shari‘a law.

Provincial Sharia chief Syahrizal Abbas told Agence France-Presse (AFP) that anal sex between men and “the rubbing of body parts between women for stimulation” was illegal in the western province under a bylaw regulation passed in 2014. The law is only now coming into effect, he said, as the province took a year to educate the public regarding its contents.

“The law is to safeguard human dignity. It is to protect Aceh’s Muslims from committing immoral acts,” Syahrizal said on Thursday, AFP reports. All Muslims, including foreigners, will now be subject to it.

Two teenage women in Aceh accused of having a lesbian relationship were told earlier this month to undergo “rehabilitation” counseling by psychologists, but were not charged as the antigay law had yet to come into effect, according to the Associated Press.

The new legislation also makes adultery punishable with 100 cane lashes, while accusing someone of adultery without adequate proof warrants 80.

Human-rights activists have called the new law “inhumane” and “cruel.”

[AFP]

Get The Brief. Sign up to receive the top stories you need to know right now. Please enter a valid email address. Sign Up Now Check the box if you do not wish to receive promotional offers via email from TIME. You can unsubscribe at any time. By signing up you are agreeing to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy . This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. Thank you! For your security, we've sent a confirmation email to the address you entered. Click the link to confirm your subscription and begin receiving our newsletters. If you don't get the confirmation within 10 minutes, please check your spam folder.

Contact us at letters@time.com.