Day: July 7, 2012

Superboys and supergirls at heart of charity focus ahead of Ramazan

It is a fairly uncommon site in Male’, if not anywhere else in the world.  A young Superman is sliding down the banisters of the capital’s national stadium, closely followed by a no-less fearless Snow White, several fairies and a princess, all while several marching bands provide a regimented soundtrack to the high-energy goings-on.

Rather than a colourful breakdown of order in Male’ amidst present political tensions, the event held in the capital yesterday represents attempts by a growing number of NGOs to provide fundraising and awareness programmes aimed at children in the run-up to the holy month of Ramazan that begins in August.

Local NGO Tiny Hearts of Maldives and the Advocating the Rights of Children (ARC) organisation have both this weekend launched initiatives designed to capitalise on the charitable spirit said to be at the heart of Ramazan.

Tiny Hearts race

Tiny Hearts, which was set up three years ago to help local youngsters suffering with Congenital Heart Defects (CHD), yesterday organised a fancy dress run attended by 400 pre-school children.  The event was supported by a number of organisations like the Diabetic Society of Maldives, Maldivian Red Crescent, the Scout Association of Maldives and the Maldives Girl Guide Association.

Five pre-schools participated in the race, including the Galolhu Madhrasa, Hulhumale Preschool, Maafannu Madharsa, Sheikh Abdul Rahman Preschool and Zaailing Preschool.

Music during the event was also provided by the brass bands of Iskandhar School, Jamaaludheen School and Imaadhudheen School.

According to the local charity, the ‘Race for Tiny Hearts 2012’ project was focused mainly on promoting physical activity in young Maldivians, whilst trying to encourage parents to do more at the family level to promote heart health.

Having previously been involved with high-profile attempts in the country to raise funds for its work, including an ultimately unsuccessful attempt to make the record books last year, CHD was not the sole focus of yesterday’s event for Tiny Hearts.

The charity nonetheless said that it had been able to raise awareness of both its own and other charitable organisations’ commitments and aims during the two hour event.

“We aimed and managed to engage various other institutions to work actively alongside charitable organisations to achieve goals that benefit society,” Tiny Hearts stated.

While yesterday’s series of races served as a fun family event for participants, Tiny Hearts has claimed that during the last three years, it has not only provided advice and awareness campaigns regarding CHD, but to also provide logistical and financial support in ensuring there is hope for child sufferers of heart defects.

The NGO estimates that 250 CHD patients have been able to fly abroad for specialist surgeries and healthcare, while the group has also worked to bring paediatric cardiologists to the Maldives for more direct assistance.

ARC Ramazan collection scheme

Yesterday also saw the ARC charity launch its 2012 Ramazan collection campaign designed to collect goods and other essentials for children of all ages that are raised in shelters.

A spokesperson for the charity today told Minivan News that the scheme, which had also been run back in 2011, was designed to aid the work of three key children’s shelters in the Maldives.   These shelters include; Kudakudhinge Hiya on Villingili, the Education and Training Centre for Children (ETCC) on Maafushi and Feydhoo Finolhu’s Correctional Training Centre for Children.

“Ramazan in the Maldives is a time where the majority of people went to help others and are in a giving mood. We have aimed this for now, as families will be buying lots of new things and we ask them to think of less fortunate children,” an ARC spokesperson said.

“We ran this project last year as well and found a lot of interest in people wanting to help, though not knowing how to. We looked at the needs of these shelters and have compiled a list. Collections opened yesterday (July 6) and will continue until next Saturday (July 14).”

The collections are taking place at the ARC office located on the second floor of M. Nooraaneeaage on Orchid Magu in Male’. Collection hours are between 2:00pm to 6:00pm from Saturday until Thursday. On friday, collection will occur between 4:00pm and 6:00pm local time.

According to the charity, the collection will take a large range of goods from clothing and apparel, to toiletries, toys, foods, books and stationery.

A full list of the goods needed can be read here.

Looking to its aim for the year ahead beyond Ramazan, a spokersperson for ARC said the organisation did not have a clear strategy regarding specific fund-raising events.

“We tend to work on a project-by-project basis, which has mainly seen us helping the shelters such as through capacity building initiatives and providing Parental Effectiveness Training (PET) projects for care-workers. It is important to support these care-workers as they are effectively parents to children as these shelters,” the spokesperson said.

ARC is presently involved in establishing a 
PET
 scheme amongst staff at the ETCC
 site in
 Maafushi.

The programme, which is being overseen by certified instructors has been devised by the charity in an attempt to give caregivers the means to better understand and deal with issues facing the children they look after. A similar PET programme was provided at Kudakudhinge
 Hiya in July 2011, the charity added.

Alongside focusing on national awareness projects relating to areas such as health and nutrition and child abuse, ARC claimed it also had a secondary function of providing sports programmes in fields such as badminton and chess to children living in the environment of a shelter.  The charity has also been involved in the provision of additional assistance and tutoring to assist underprivileged children with their school work and studies.

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Time “not right” to amend Freedom of Assembly bill, MDP claims

The opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) has said it is opposed to a Freedom of Assembly bill accepted for discussion this week by the People’s Majlis – despite praising the overall nature of the legislation.

According to local media reports, 41 ministers out of 62 present during a vote this week favoured tabling the bill, which was proposed earlier this year by the independent MP Mohamed Nasheed. The bill is said to have been devised in a bid to clarify the rights and responsibilities of both protesters and authorities policing them.

MDP Spokesperson and MP Hamid Abdul Ghafoor told Minivan News that while the party believed the proposed bill was a “good piece of legislation” – the time was deemed “not right” for such amendments to be made to the existing law.

The MDP has continued to allege that the government of former President Mohamed Nasheed was ousted in February through a “coup d’etat” supported by mutinous elements of the police and military. Hamid contended therefore that amendments to police controls in the present political environment would not be supported by the party.

“We continue to maintain that the police are not a legitimate body due to their role in the coup,” he claimed. “This is a good piece of legislation to implement with a legitimate police force, but we believe that [the security forces’] role in the coup was such that this is not the time to get the bill passed. It would simply serve for authorities to gain leverage and take away the democratic gains made in the country in the last three years.”

“Up the ante”

With parliament now reportedly discussing whether the bill should be sent for evaluation through a temporary or permanent committee, Hamid added that the MDP was itself preparing to “up the ante” in terms of the protests it has been holding over the last few months concerning the legitimacy of President Mohamed Waheed Hassan’s government.

“At the moment, the mood in the party is to intensify the protests,” he said. We continue to believe that the present government is not legitimate and we will continue to protest this within legal means under the eyes of the law. The courts have not yet been able to rule against the freedom of assembly,” he added.

According to Hamid, with the MDP continuing to conduct protests on a weekly basis, there remains suspicion that the new bill was being prosed simply to stymie and “squash” the right to protest in the country – a claim denied by those behind the proposed legislation.

The opposition party’s supporters again yesterday marched around Male’ past sites including police and Maldives National Defence Force (MNDF) barracks – albeit on a slightly modified route – to reflect what they claim is growing impatience with the Waheed administration.

Following the transfer of power in February and President Waheed’s delayed innagural address to parliament a month later, there have been incidents of violent clashes between police and anti-government protesters – particularly in the capital of Male’. Since these events, clashes between the police force and the MDP have been reported to be much more sporadic and small scale.

Hamid claimed that the MDP was not going out with the intention to confront police officers, alleging that some law enforcement officials had in recent weeks attempted to incite violent clashes themselves.  He pointed to an incident last month where police marched straight through a large gathering of demonstrators including former President Nasheed as an example of this allegation.

Coalition view

In considering the implications of parliament approving the Freedom of Assembly bill, Deputy Leader of the government-aligned Dhivehi Rayithuge Party (DRP) Ibrahim Shareef said Thursday evening (July 5) that it continued to support freedom of assembly and would voice changes to the bill where it believed they were required.

“As a party, we have not discussed [the bill] yet.  As far as we are concerned the bill is about regulation regarding protests,” he said.

Shareef added that the parliamentary vote held this week was simply over whether the proposed changes should be tabled for discussion among MPs. He added that the legislation was now being looked at before being submitted for committee review, where the specifics of the bill would be debated further.

MPs Ahmed Mahloof and Ahmed Nihan of the Progressive party of Maldives (PPM) – a coalition partner of the DRP – were not responding to calls at the time of going to press regarding their opinions of the bill.

Proposed changes

Upon introducing the bill back in April, independent MP Nasheed said new legislation was required to replace the current regulations concerning freedom of assembly devised before the current constitution was put in place.

The proposed bill is based largely on guidelines published in 2010 by the European advisory group on constitutional law, the Venice Commission (officially called the European Commission for Democracy Through Law). The guidelines argue that any restrictions to freedom of assembly must consider legality, necessity and proportionality.

The unusual nature of the country, Nasheed argued, requires that “absolute” restrictions on static protests remain around the state’s vital institutions, in particular those areas on Republican Square which affect the security forces’ ability to operate.  These require an area of 200ft to the front and 50ft to the side of police and military headquarters to be prohibited from static protests, such as sit-downs. Other military barracks require a protective zone of 50ft; other police facilities, 25ft.

The police protest on February 7 that led to the downfall of former President Mohamed Nasheed’s government took place outside the MNDF’s headquarters.

Additionally, the bill suggests that a minimum distance of 25 feet be maintained from mosques, schools, hospitals, court buildings, the President’s Office, the President’s house, and from parliament. The proposed bill places no restrictions on moving protests.

Concerns were raised in May about protests being held near to the country’s mosques after a group of people said to be MDP supporters obstructed a sermon held by prominent religious scholar Sheikh Ilyas Hussain.

The only time-based restrictions under the bill are those that proscribing protests outside of an individual’s home after 10pm, and those that use loudspeakers after 8pm.

Nasheed was also keen to point out that new bill, and the timing of its submission, had been unrelated to the controversial transfer of power earlier this year. He stated that he had been working on the bill since 2010 and had completed a first draft last year.

He was realistic, however, about the difficulties the bill would face.

“People who are protesting will be unhappy with any restrictions… but they should respect the rights of others,” said Nasheed.

The MP has previously predicted that the bill could take up to a year to be passed.

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Comment: Sharia and the death penalty

This article first appeared on Dhivehisitee. Republished with permission.

On July 1, a Maldivian lawyer was brutally murdered, his body stuffed into a dustbin.

On June 4,  militant Islamists tried to murder Hilath Rasheed, the country’s only openly gay rights activist and a rare voice advocating secularism in the Maldives.

On 30 May,  a 65-year-old man was killed on the island of Manafaru by robbers after his pension fund.

On the same day, in Male’ a 16-year-old school boy was stabbed multiple times and left to bleed to death in a public park.

On April 1, a 33-year-old man was stabbed to death in broad daylight by two men on a motorbike.  On February 19, a twenty-one-year-old life was taken in a case of ‘mistaken identity’.

Amidst the increasing violence and decreasing value of life, calls for restoration of the death penalty are growing. It is normal for a society experiencing unprecedented levels of crime to demand the death penalty as a solution. In the Maldives, however, the whole debate is framed within the precincts of religion, touted as a return to ‘Islamic justice.’

This is not to say other ways of looking at it are completely absent from the discourse. There’s Hawwa Lubna’s examination of the death penalty within a rule of law framework in Minivan News, and Mohamed Visham’s somewhat confused and confusing analysis of its pros and cons in Haveeru, for example. Such discussions are, however, pushed to the fringes as the theme of ‘Islamic justice’ takes precedence.

My question is, how Islamic is this call for ‘Marah Maru’ [death for death]? Is revenge what underpins provisions for the death penalty in Sharia?

The Qur’an mandates that everyone has a right to life, unless a court of law demands killing: “Nor take life — which Allah has made sacred — except for just cause.”1

What is not being said in the Maldivian debates on the death penalty is that although the Qur’an provides for situations in which the death penalty can be imposed, all such situations are carefully laid out with stringent evidentiary requirements that discourage carrying out a death sentence.

And, in all situations where capital punishment can be imposed, it offers alternative punishments that allow the death penalty to be avoided. 2

Among the three types of crimes for which the death penalty can be imposed in Sharia–hudud, qisas, and the ta’zir– murder belongs to the Qisas category. Qisas are offences proscribed by the Qur’an or Sunnah, but are subject of personal claims, rather than offences against Islam. Qisas deals with murder or bodily injury. The Qur’an allows retaliation against the individual who commits a Qisas crime, but also clearly demonstrates a strong preference for forgiveness.3

We have often heard in the current Maldivian debate the call for an ‘eye for an eye’, a ‘life for life’, citing the Qur’an; what we do not hear is the rest of the verse.

We ordained therein for them:

“Life for life, eye for eye,

Nose for nose, ear for ear,

Tooth for tooth, and wounds

Equal for equal.”

But if Anyone remits the retaliation

By way of charity, it is

An act of atonement for himself.

And if any fail to judge

By (the light of) what Allah

Hath revealed, they are

(No better than) wrongdoers. 4

The law of equality

Is prescribed to you

In cases of murder:

The free for the free,

The Slave for the Slave,

The woman for the woman.

But if any remission

Is made by the brother

Of the slain, then grant

Any reasonable demand,

And compensate him

With handsome gratitude 5

The right for the family of a murder victim to demand harm is balanced by the opportunity for family members to accept payment, or diya, for their loss instead of demanding that the perpetrator be punished. This is reflected in the fact that, generally, the Qur’an expresses a preference for diya over qisas 6 It says, for instance, that the Muslim who chooses diya will be rewarded in heaven:

It is part of the Mercy

Of Allah that thou dost deal

Gently with them.

Wert thou severe

Or harsh-hearted,

They would have broken away

From about thee: so pass over

(Their faults), and ask

For (Allah’s) forgiveness

For them; and consult

Them in affairs (of moment).

Then, when thou hast

Taken a decision

Put thy trust in Allah.

For Allah loves those

Who put their trust (in Him) 7

The question is, when Sharia so emphasises forgiveness over punishment, why is the emphasis of the Maldivian death penalty debate on punishment over forgiveness? In the murder of lawyer Ahmed Najeeb, for instance, the breathtakingly rapid investigation and court case revealed that two members of Najeeb’s eight inheritors chose diya over death, preferring not to take a life for a life.

When, according to the Qur’an and Sunna, diya is the more honourable choice, why was the choice of these two relatives Najeeb not highlighted in the national discourse as motivated by ‘Islamic values’ and, therefore, praiseworthy?

Why is ‘truly Islamic’ justice only portrayed as ‘an eye for eye, a life for a life’?

Not only is the reluctance to punish found in the Qur’an, it is also the case in the Sunnah. A’isha, the wife of the Prophet said, for instance, to:

avoid condemning the Muslim to Hudud whenever you can, and when you can find a way out for the Muslim then release him for it. If the Imam errs it is better that he errs in favour of innocence…than in favour of guilt.8

There is another narrative from the Prophet’s life that demonstrates he actively encouraged his followers to ward off punishment by looking for uncertainties that would create reasonable doubt, making the punishment impossible.

Maa’iz b. Malik was a person who presented himself to the Prophet, confessing Zina and requesting purification with the hadd. His story is scattered through the books of Hadith in numerous narrations. The Prophet repeatedly told him to go back and seek Allah’s forgiveness. After he kept returning, the Prophet made a number of attempts to make sure there was no doubt. He sent his Companions to Maa’iz’s people to inquire if he was known to be insane. He was informed there was no evidence of insanity nor was was he known to have any defect in his mind. He then asked them whether he was intoxicated, and the Companions smelled his mouth and informed him that they could not detect any signs of alcohol on his breath. Only then did the Prophet implement the hadd of stoning. In additional narrations of this same story, the prophet asked Maa’iz some specific questions to avert possible doubt:

“Perhaps you only kissed her or flirted with her or gazed at her.” Maiz replied, “No”. He then asked, “Did you have physical intercourse with her?” He replied, “Yes,” and only then was he ordered to be stoned.9

Quite clearly, Islamic justice is based on the ethos of forgiveness rather than punishment.

This understanding of the Sharia is being left out of the Maldivian debate – as it was left out of much of Western discourse on Sharia in the last decade – by those calling for an end to the moratorium on the death penalty. It is a suspension that has lasted from 1953 till now, and one that more closely reflects the Quranic understanding of Sharia.

Given that all parties pushing the death penalty are framing it as re-introduction of an ‘Islamic justice’ system, it is wrong that they are all ignoring the emphasis that the system places on finding alternatives to taking a life for a life.

It raises the question of whether the real motives behind the call for the death penalty are political rather than a desire for justice itself, Islamic or otherwise.

Leading the call are the usual suspects – prominent legal players such as Attorney General Azima Shukoor, Prosecutor General Ahmed Muizz and Home Minister Mohamed Jameel Ahmed – who have all expressed their desire for restoration of the ‘Islamic justice’ of the death penalty. And the Chief Justice Ahmed Faiz has – incredibly – described the beleaguered Maldivian justice system as capable of meting out capital punishment justly.

For politicians, imposing the death penalty at a time of unprecedented violence such as now provides the opportunity for appearing tough on crime – always a vote-attracter among a population battling with rising crime rates, especially when a crucial election is nigh. Their assumption is that if the State were only brave enough to take upon itself the power to kill, everyone else would cease to do so.

Furthermore, it provides a rare and valuable opportunity to flex political muscle at a time when the government is weak and its legitimacy is in question.

For the Islamists, it is the means with which to enforce a particularly harsh interpretation of Sharia on the Maldivian people in the name of Islam.

Given the situation, it is shocking that no member of the community of ‘Islamic scholars’ in the Maldives have come forward to emphasise understandings of Sharia and Islamic jurisprudence that highlight forgiveness and mercy as virtues much more deserving of Allah’s approval than revenge – even where justified by law.

Does the lack of an alternative view mean that in the last decade or so Islamists have established such a hegemony over Maldivian religious thought that it prevents any other views from being offered to the public?

Does it mean there are no ‘Islamic scholars’ in the country with an understanding of Islam that is not Islamist?

All comment pieces are the sole view of the author and do not reflect the editorial policy of Minivan News. If you would like to write an opinion piece, please send proposals to [email protected]

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Police forward Hassan Abubakur murder case to PG

Police have concluded their investigation into the murder of 65 year-old Hassan Abubakur on Maafaru island in Noonu Atoll, and forwarded the case to the Prosecutor General’s office.

Three suspects were identified as involved in the case: Ahmed Naushad, 27 of Irufa house in Galolhu ward, Akram Abdul Fathaah, 18 of Maafaru Island and Mohamed Faisal of Isdhoo Island in Laamu Atoll.

Hassan Abubakur was found murdered inside his own house on May 30 at around 6:00pm on the island of Maafaru in Noonu Atoll.

“Neighbors living near his house noticed that he had not been coming out at all, and went in to see what was going on and found his dead body,” Ahmed Shareef, President of the Island Council of Maafaru, told Minivan News at the time.

“I saw inside the house after the incident, it seems that some people tried to steal something from the house, because the things inside his house were not arranged as they usually were,’’ he told Minivan New. “Some cupboard doors were opened and some things supposed to be kept on the table were dropped on the floor.”

Head of Maafaru Island Health Centre Ali Shareef suggested that the victim had received a large amount of cash in a lump sum through the elderly persons’ pension scheme, as he had not received it for a long time. The assailants may have killed him in an effort to steal the money, Shareef speculated.

The elderly man’s legs were tied and a pillow was on his face when his body was found, Shareef told Minivan News, according to islanders who witnessed the body.

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20-year-old male survives Hithadhoo knife attack

A 20-year-old male stabbed on the island of Hithadhoo yesterday evening is not thought to be in a serious condition, according to local media reports.

Sun Online reported that the man, identified as Hussain Shafeeg, received a two-inch stab wound in his left shoulder after allegedly being attacked by a group of eight people.

Police have said that no arrests had been made in connection to the alleged attack, according to the report.

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High Court orders police to investigate allegations made to ACC regarding High Court judge

An ongoing legal dispute between the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) and Malaysian mobile security solutions provider Nexbis escalated this week, after the High Court ordered police to investigate claims made to the ACC that Chief Judge of the High Court Ahmed Shareef met officials from the company in Bangkok.

The dispute concerns the deployment of a border control system, specifically the installation of an electronic border gate system in Male’s Ibrahim Nasir International Airport (INIA), bringing technological upgrades such as facial recognition, fingerprint identification and e-gates to the Maldives.

The project stalled after the ACC alleged corruption in the bidding process, leading to a ongoing series of high-profile court battles.

In May 2012 the project was brought to a standstill by a High Court injunction and a raid on immigration offices by ACC staff. At the time the Rf 10 million (US$650,000) first phase of the border control project had been completed, according to local media reports.

Nexbis has threatened legal action against the Maldivian government should it incur losses for the work already done on the project, and earlier this month filed a case with against the ACC accusing it of breaching article 141 of the constitution, stipulating non-interference in judicial matters by public officials, and article 42, entitling the company to a fair trial.

The Supreme Court in late June meanwhile dismissed the High Court’s injunction against the continuation of the project, on the basis that the bench overseeing the case had been unlawfully reconstituted. Immigration Controller Dr Mohamed Ali told local media at the time that the department was trying to interpret the order, which he contended “doesn’t make sense”,

In the most recent development Nexbis denied allegations – submitted to the ACC and published in Haveeru – that Chief Judge Ahmed Shareef had returned home from a conference in Singapore after spending a week in Bangkok, where he was alleged to have met Nexbis representatives.

Nexbis denied that any such meeting took place, and this week filed a case in a bid to stop the ACC from publicly sharing information on the investigation while the matter was in court, and seeking an apology for the damage to its reputation.

Asking police to investigate the allegations made to the ACC, the High Court meanwhile stressed in a statement this week that “no individual Judge can simply influence a decision of the Court, as all cases at the High Court are presided by a minimum three Judges bench and a ruling is only made by the majority of a particular bench.”

The accusations sent to the ACC were an “extremely irresponsible act with intentions to deceive and manipulate the truth,” the Court’s statement read.

The Court contended that the ACC’s investigation of the judge would amount to a conflict of interest, as the ACC was investigating a case it had itself filed in court.

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