Day: October 1, 2012

Nasheed fails to appear in court, defies travel ban

Additional reporting Daniel Bosley, Mariyath Mohamed and Mohamed Naahii.

Former President Mohamed Nasheed departed Male’ today to participate in his party’s ‘Vaudhuge Dhathuru’ (Journey of Pledges) campaign in the southern atolls, defying a court order that he remain in the capital.

Nasheed’s departure contravenes an order from the Hulhumale Magistrate Court last week that Nasheed be confined to Male’ ahead of his court trial, which was to be conducted at 4:00pm today.

Journalists in the courtroom were required to undergo heavy security screening and were stripped of mobile phones, recording equipment and notepads. However, 20 minutes later a court official stated that the hearing was cancelled as the defendant and his lawyers had failed to appear. A new date was not set.

Nasheed meanwhile held a rally from atop a yellow flagged dhoni in front of 500 demonstrators near the petrol jetty in the south of Male’, before departing with five vessels and hundreds of supporters. Minivan News observed no police presence in the area.

“Once they started to set up a fabricated court, bring in judges who are not judges of that court, and the whole structure of it is so… politically motivated, it is very obvious it is not meant to serve justice,” Nasheed told the BBC.

“We intend to find out in this trip to what extent we were able to fulfil our pledges during this party’s period in government,” Nasheed told his supporters. “This is a journey of pledges. This is a journey for justice. This is a journey where we become one with the citizens.”

The party and its senior leadership will visit over 30 islands during the 14 day trip, taking in the atolls of Gaafu Alif, Gaafu Dhaalu, Fuvahmulah and Addu.

Meanwhile, the court hearing was to be the first in the case concerning Nasheed’s detention of Chief Judge of the Criminal Court, Abdulla Mohamed, while in office.

Nasheed also faces charges of defaming Police Commissioner Abdulla Riyaz and Defence Minister Mohamed Nazim as “traitors”, following February 7’s controversial transfer of power. The first hearing in Riyaz’s case has been postponed indefinitely.

Nasheed’s Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) has expressed deep concern over the legality of the court’s procedures regarding the trials, which it contends are a politically-motivated attempt to convict the former president and prevent him from running in future Presidential elections.

Following the court-ordered travel ban on Nasheed ahead of the party’s southern atoll election campaign, the MDP announced that it would no longer recognise the authority of the courts in the Maldives until changes proposed by international entities were brought to the judicial system.

“This all looks very ‘Myanmar’ – using the courts and administrative manipulation to restrict political party activity,” said MDP MP and Spokesperson Hamid Abdul Ghafoor at the time.

“While President Waheed was lobbying the Commonwealth to remove the Maldives from its human rights watch-list, his regime had detained the leader of the opposition.”

The concerns were echoed by Canadian Foreign Minister John Baird, a member of the Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group (CMAG) who recently downgraded the Maldivesfrom its formal agenda to a ‘matter of interest’.

“Canada is deeply troubled by the reported September 25 travel ban of former President Nasheed in Malé,” said Baird.

“The recently adopted Commission of National Inquiry (CNI) report has raised substantial concerns about the independence of the judiciary. That too causes Canada grave concern as we strive to assure independent open elections in the Maldives,” he added.

“President Waheed offered no substantial defence of these questions, which is a telling response in itself,” said Baird. “Canada finds the declining state of democratic values in the Maldives alarming and deeply troubling.”

The court has maintained that the travel restriction is normal procedure for defendants ahead of court trials.

The case

Nasheed’s controversial decision to detain Judge Abdulla in January 2012 followed the judge’s repeated release of former Justice Minister – and current Home Minister – Dr Mohamed Jameel, in December 2011, whom the government had accused of inciting religious hatred over the publication of his party’s pamphlet, ‘President Nasheed’s devious plot to destroy the Islamic faith of Maldivians’.

Nasheed’s government further accused the judge of political bias, obstructing police, stalling cases, having links with organised crime and “taking the entire criminal justice system in his fist” so as to protect key figures of the former dictatorship from human rights and corruption cases, among other allegations.

Nasheed justified the judge’s arrest based on his constitutional mandate to protect the constitution. Judge Abdulla had in September 2011 received an injunction from the Civil Court preventing his investigation by the Judicial Services Commission (JSC), the watchdog tasked with overseeing the judiciary, which complied with the ruling.

Parliament’s Independent Commissions Committee, the body mandated with holding the judicial watchdog accountable, took no interest in the matter.

The then-opposition began nightly protests over the judge’s detention, while the government sought assistance from the UN and Commonwealth for urgent judicial reform.

However, Nasheed resigned on February 7 amid a police and military mutiny the day after the Commonwealth team arrived.

Judge Abdulla was released, and the Criminal Court issued a warrant for Nasheed’s arrest. The warrant was not acted upon.

Former Defence Minister Tholhath, former Chief of Defence Force Major General Moosa Ali Jaleel, Brigadier Ibrahim Mohamed Didi and Colonel Mohamed Ziyad are also facing charges for their role in detaining Judge Abdulla in January 2012.

The charges include a breach of article 81 of the Penal Code: “Arresting an innocent person intentionally and unlawfully by a state employee with the legal authority or power vested to him by his position is an offence. Punishment for a person guilty of this offence is imprisonment or banishment for 3 years or a fine of MVR 2000 (US$129.70).”

“The full story”

Former President’s Member on the JSC, Aishath Velezinee, has written a book extensively documenting the watchdog body’s undermining of judicial independence, and complicity in sabotaging the separation of powers.

Over 80 pages, backed up with documents, evidence and letters, The Failed Silent Coup: in Defeat They Reached for the Gun recounts the experience of the outspoken whistleblower as she attempted to stop the commission from re-appointing unqualified and ethically-suspect judges loyal to former President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, after it dismissed the professional and ethical standards demanded by Article 285 of the constitution as “symbolic”.

That moment at the conclusion of the constitutional interim period marked the collapse of the new constitution and resulted in the appointment of a illegitimate judiciary, Velezinee contends, and set in motion a chain of events that ultimately led to President Mohamed Nasheed’s arrest of Abdulla Mohamed two years later.

According to Velezinee, “the assumption that Abdulla Mohamed is a constitutionally appointed judge is based on a false premise, a political creation [which] ignores all evidence refuting this.”

“Judge Abdulla Mohamed is at the centre of this story. I believe it is the State’s duty to remove him from the judiciary. He may have the legal knowledge required of a judge; but, as the State knows full well, he has failed to reach the ethical standards equally essential for a seat on the bench.

“A judge without ethics is a judge open to influence. Such a figure on the bench obstructs justice, and taints the judiciary. These are the reasons why the Constitution links a judge’s professional qualifications with his or her moral standards,” she wrote.

“There is no legal way in which the Civil Court can rule that the Judicial Service Commission cannot take action against Abdulla Mohamed. This decision says judges are above even the Constitution. Where, with what protection, does that leave the people?” Velezinee asked.

“The Judicial Service Commission bears the responsibility for removing Abdulla Mohamed from the bench. Stories about him have circulated in the media and among the general public since 2009, but the Commission took no notice. It was blind to Abdulla Mohamed’s frequent forays outside of the ethical standards required of a judge. It ignored his politically charged rulings and media appearances.

“Abdulla Mohamed is a man who had a criminal conviction even when he was first appointed to the bench during President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom’s time. Several complaints of alleged judicial misconduct are pending against him. The Judicial Service Commission has ignored them all. What it did, instead, is grant him tenure – a lifetime on the bench for a man such as Abdulla Mohamed. In doing so, the Judicial Service Commission clearly failed to carry out its constitutional responsibilities. It violated the Constitution and rendered it powerless.”

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‘Sun Travel’ Shiyam claims investors have “lost confidence” in the Maldives

MP for Meedhoo constituency Ahmed ‘Sun Travel’ Shiyam told the People’s Majlis that both local and foreign investors had lost confidence in the Maldives, local media reported.

“This is the result of the persons assigned with the people’s posts and money betraying them and acting without any policies or system,” Haveeru quoted Shiyam.

Shiyam argued that increasing embezzlement and corruption  was a major contributor to what he sees as the country’s impending bankruptcy.

“In order to ensure the progress of the country, everyone needs to be sincere and honorable. The members of the Parliament and the government must adore the people,” he said.

Investor confidence has been much discussed as the government continues to oppose the GMR deal to develop the country’s international airport – the country’s largest.

However, the Maldives National Chamber of Commerce and Industries (MNCCI) last week claimed that the legal wrangling between the government and India-based developer would not harm confidence in the country’s “challenging” investment climate.

Haveeru also reported comments made today by former President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom  regarding the GMR deal.

Detailing his recent meeting in India with GMR head G M Rao, Gayoom said that he had told Rao that the deal had been signed under dubious circumstances.

“I told him that we have no issues with India or any Indian company. We have issues with the actions of the previous government,” Gayoom is reported to have said.

“The agreement was signed with GMR in violation of the constitution and the laws. The Parliament was not even informed. The Maldivian people are also not aware of the details of the agreement. So these are the issues we have,” he said.

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Vice president praises Chinese significance to Maldives development

Vice President Mohamed Waheed Deen spoke yesterday at a ceremony marking 63 years since the People’s Republic of China was founded, expressing gratitude for the technical and economic assistance the Maldives had been provided and pledging further cooperation between the two nations in the future.

At the special reception held at Trader’s Hotel in Male’ yesterday, the vice president also praised the speed and nature of democratic development within China – something he hoped to see emulated in the Maldives.

“I have no doubt your country is going in the right direction and leading the world,” he told attendees, which included business figures, senior government representatives and diplomats.

“Even if you look at the political changes in china they have proved that they are taking patient, calculative, constructive and very objective directions and I believe that is how the democracy must be developed, not very hastily.”

The vice president, a local philanthropist and owner of the Bandos Island Resort and Spa, also praised the growing economic significance of China to the Maldives in terms of trade and tourism income.

“I am pleased to note that China is currently the number one tourist market for the Maldives and I hope that the number of Chinese tourists travelling to the Maldives will continue to increase,” he said. “In addition, trade between the Maldives and China has increased significantly in the past few years and China remains one of the largest trading partners of the Maldives.”

The reception was the first of its kind to be held by China in the Maldives since the country opened its first full diplomatic mission in Male’ last year.

According to the vice president, 2012 also marks 40 years since China and the Maldives first established diplomatic ties.

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Majlis reconvenes with elections and legislative reforms atop agenda

The People’s Majlis reconvened today with both opposition and government-aligned parties claiming elections and legislative reforms were among the key focuses of their respective parliamentary agendas following an extended break.

According to the Majlis’ Counsel General Fathmath Filza, today’s opening session saw debates take place on two declarations and eight bills, including the repeal of a motion to remove the Maldives’ membership within the Commonwealth.

The session was also said by the official to include the distribution of the Commonwealth-backed Committee of National Inquiry (CNI) report to all MPs and the respective parliamentary committees dealing with security services, independent institutions and national security.

“These committees will review the report and report to the Majlis on the actions that then need to be taken,” added Filza.

Despite reconvening temporarily for an emergency session to pass the General Regulations Act in August, the Majlis has not reconvened since July after Speaker Abdulla Shahid suspended the institution, deciding a safe environment could not be ensured in the chamber after heated exchanges on the floor.

This suspension led straight into the Majlis traditional recess period, although parliamentary committees have resumed their work as of last month.

Parliamentary Speaker Shahid told Minivan News today that the recess period had provided sufficient time for tensions between leaders on both sides of the country’s political divide to “calm”.

“This has allowed for dialogue between party leaders and for me to set up agreement to have the current third parliamentary session begin on time,” he claimed. “This is important to ensure parliamentarians were part of the process to address their respective agendas.”

The speaker said that in line with a number of reports from independent institutions, the decision had been taken – in line with parliament’s minority and majority leaderships – to pass the findings of the Commonwealth-backed Commission of National Inquiry (CNI) onto the relevant regulatory committees.

Function undisturbed

Abdulla Yameen, Parliamentary Group Leader of the government-aligned Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM) told Minivan News by SMS that with parliament resuming today, he expected the Majlis to function undisturbed despite ongoing tensions relating to February’s controversial power transfer.

From the perspective of the PPM, which presently holds minority leadership in the Majlis with the second largest number of MPs after the opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP), Yameen said he believed passing pending legislation was his party’s foremost concern.

“[The PPM] hopes to see all pending legislative agenda addressed in order to ensure free and fair presidential elections,” said Yameen, who is the half-brother of former President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom.

Having met personally with former President Mohamed Nasheed late last month – without providing direct details of their discussions – Yameen said there had been agreement that the Majlis should function “smoothly”.

Meanwhile, MDP MP and Spokesperson Hamid Abdul Ghafoor claimed that in order to try and facilitate early elections, the party’s national council had asked for the Commission of National Inquiry (CNI) report to be distributed in the Majlis in attempts at having its recommendations implemented.

These recommendations, according to the MDP, include the need for reforms to strengthen the country’s independent institutions like the judiciary, as well as bringing senior defence force figures accused of mutinying against the former government to justice.

According to Ghafoor, the speaker has sent the CNI report to the relevant parliamentary committees to review recommendations made.

He claimed the request was part of a wider process to enact early elections within the Maldives – a key focus of the MDP since former President Mohamed Nasheed’s controversial resignation back in February.

Nasheed, who is presently the MDP’s presidential candidate, has continued to claim he was forced to resign under duress.

However, the party’s claims that the former government was removed from office in a “coup d’etat” were dismissed by the CNI report published in August.  The report was later accepted by the MDP, albeit “with reservations”.

These reservations were first raised by Ahmed ‘Gahaa’ Saeed, former President Nasheed’s appointee on the CNI panel, who alleged there had been a failure to take into account certain key evidence and witness accounts compiled by the panel regarding the transfer of power.

The MDP has claimed that despite its reservations, the CNI report has provided the party with a “way forward” to push for institutional reform.

Just last month, the MDP’s national council had called on the party’s parliamentary group to back a boycott of the Majlis over allegations that working within the present political process was failing to secure reforms highlighted in the Commission of National Inquiry (CNI) report.

The proposed boycott was criticised strongly at the time by parties serving within the coalition government of President Dr Mohamed Waheed Hassan.

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Tourism Ministry hits back at MIRA accusations over failure to collect resort rents

The Ministry of Tourism has hit back at claims made last week that it was failing in its duty to collect rents and associated non-tax revenue from the country’s largest industry.

Following claims made by the Commissioner General of Taxation at the Maldives Inland Revenue Authority (MIRA) that the tourism ministry was failing perform its duty of collecting such revenue, State Minister for Tourism Mizna Shareef has called the accusations “baseless and unfair.”

“Under the new tax regime, MIRA can go after those who don’t pay rent,” said Mizna. “It is very unfair and inappropriate for MIRA to make these statements.”

Mizna argued that the authority had been pressuring the tourism ministry to suspend operating licenses for late-payers without considering the wider implications for the industry as a whole.

“There has to be balance – the industry must be protected while rents are collected,” she continued.

Tourism is by far the largest industry in the country, contributing over 70 percent of GDP via associated industries and 90 percent of all foreign exchange receipts.

Allegations by groups in support of the now-opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) linked several prominent Maldivian resort operators with February’s disputed transfer of power.

A travel advisory created shortly after the transfer rated resorts on a traffic-light system, urging against travel to resorts marked ‘red’ – being linked with the alleged coup-makers. The site has since been taken down.

The recently completed Commission of National Inquiry (CNI) ruled that the transfer of power had occurred within constitutional boundaries – a decision over which the MDP has registered strong reservations.

Tourist arrivals have continued to rise this year, with the Asian (largely Chinese) market taking up the slack from a downturn in European holiday-makers, although growth has slowed considerably in comparison with last year.

Director General of Revenue Service at MIRA, Fathuhulla Jameel, was not responding to calls at the time of press.

Lease extension

MIRA’s figures for August showed that ‘Tourism Land Rent’ collected last month was only 19 percent of the amount collected in the corresponding period last year.

Tourism land rent for the year so far is shown to be only three quarters of that collected by the same point on 2011.

The importance of this revenue stream can be seen in the share of overall revenue tourism land rent alone contributes to the authority’s figures – making up 10 percent of MIRA’s income this year.

Another important source of tourism revenue comes from lease extension payments from resort operators – islands are ultimately the property of the state and are leased to the operators on long term bases.

Mizna took issue with the suggestion that the government had re-interpreted the lease extension payments with detrimental effects for the state’s annual budget.

MIRA’s figures show that revenue from lease period extension fees has been US$11million (MVR 168 million) so far this year, compared to US$20million (MVR 273 million) at the same point in 2011.

Mizna argued that the initial arrangement for the collection of lease extension payments had not been fully elucidated by the courts prior to the current government’s assumption of office.

A High Court ruling last December ruled in favour of the 2010 second amendment to the Maldives Tourism Act after it was said to contradict article 8 of the original legislation, pointed out Mizna.

The second amendment states that fees of US$100,000 for every year extended should be paid over a period of between 18 or 36 months depending on operator’s status when the act was published in the government gazette.

The Nasheed government had requested that the payments be made in a lump sum.

Former Tourism Mariyam Zulfa, speaking shortly after the new government took office, explained the Nasheed government’s reading of the system.

“The second amendment to the tourism law came into place it gave the option for resorts to extend the existing 25 year leases to 50 years. A time period was given and there is a clause that stipulates that the payment must be done in completion before the lease period can be extended,” she said in March.

“So, the Nasheed government had interpreted that clause as the payment to be paid in full for the period extended. So, because the wording is such that the payment must be complete before the extension is granted, we interpreted it as the full payment,” she continued.

“But there is another clause which says the manner in which the payment is calculated is on an annual basis. This government has over-interpreted that clause and has said that the payment has to be made annually,” argued Zulfa.

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Nasheed to appear in dock: Telegraph

Nearly eight months after he was toppled as leader of the Indian Ocean archipelago, Mr Nasheed is due to appear in the dock over accusations that he abused his power by ordering the arrest of a senior judge during his tenure, reports the UK’s Telegraph newspaper.

The arrest fuelled already simmering anti-government protests which culminated in a police mutiny in February and led to Mr Nasheed’s deputy being installed as president.

The climate change campaigner, who was tortured during previous stints in jail for his political activism, insists that he was threatened by armed rebel officers and forced to announce his resignation on television.

“The judiciary in the Maldives is so deeply politicised, there is no chance of a fair trial, particularly in a case as political as this,” he said.

The 45-year-old became leader after the Maldives held their first democratic elections in 2008 following three decades of autocratic rule by Maumoon Abdul Gayoom.

A conviction could see Mr Nasheed handed a jail term of up to three years in prison or banishment to an small islet, a move that would disqualify him from running for office.

The case centres around Mr Nasheed’s decision in January to send the military to arrest the head of the country’s criminal court Abdullah Mohamed on charges of corruption, misconduct and favouring then-opposition figures.

Mr Nasheed justified the arrest saying that the judicial service commission had failed to take action against the judge, who had a string of allegations against him.

Apart from the criminal case, Mr Nasheed now faces two defamation suits filed against him by Police Commissioner Abdulla Riyaz and by Defence Minister Mohamed Nazim.

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Juvenile Court acquits minor charged with murder of 65 year-old Hassan Abubakur

The Juvenile Court has ruled that there was not enough evidence submitted to the court to convict a minor charged with the murder of Hassan Abubakur, and has closed the case.

An official from the Juvenile Court today confirmed to Minivan News that the court has acquitted one minor charged with the murder of Abubakur.

‘’The case was based on a confession he [the minor] made during the police investigation. The state had not produced any witness or evidence after he denied the charges in the court,’’ the Juvenile Court official said. ‘’When the case was presented the DNA was also produced but it did not match with the boy.’’

Officials at the Juvenile Court have confirmed this to the local media as well. Hearings conducted at the Juvenile Court are closed for the public and the media as the court only presides over cases concerning minors.

According to newspaper ‘Haveeru’ there was no evidence against the minor except for his confession he made at the police while he was under investigation. But he later denied the charges at the court.

On May 30 this year, 65 year-old Hassan Abubakur was found murdered inside his own house at about 6:00pm that day on the island of Manafaru in Noonu Atoll.

In June police arrested two men and a minor in connection with the murder. The two men were aged 26 and 27 while the minor was 17.

In July the police concluded the investigation into the case and forwarded it to the Prosecutor General.

Head of Maafaru Island Health Centre Ali Shareef said according to rumours, the man 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 at the time.

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

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Judicial statistics show 90 percent of those convicted for fornication are female

Almost 90 percent of the people found guilty of “Zina” – fornication – and sentenced to flogging in 2011 were female, according to new statistics published by the Department of Judicial Administration last week.

A total of 129 fornication cases were filed last year and 104 people sentenced, out of which 93 were female. This includes 10 underage girls (below 18), 79 women between age 18-40 and and four women above 40 years.

Of the 11 males who were sentenced, only one was a minor, with the others aged between 25-40.

Compared to 2010, the overall sentences in fornication increased by 23 percent in 2011, but the number of males sentenced for flogging decreased by 15 percent while the women increased by 30 percent.

According to Maldivian law, a person found guilty of fornication is subjected to 100 lashes and sentenced to one year of house arrest or banishment while a minor’s flogging is postponed until she or he reaches 18.

It takes four witnesses or a confession to prove the offence in court based on Islamic Sharia. The Maldives’ legal system consists of elements of both common law and Sharia.

Earlier this year, the Maldives made international headlines when a 16 year-old girl was sentenced to 100 lashes and eight months house arrest by Hulhudhufaaru Magistrate Court in Raa Atoll, for fornication while the 29 year-old man  was sentenced to 10 years imprisonment after finding him guilty of sexually abusing the girl.

Being a minor, the court stated that the girl’s sentence would be implemented when she turned 18.

After visiting the country in November last year, UN Human Rights Chief Navi Pillay called for a moratorium on corporal punishment, describing it as “inhumane and degrading.”

“This practice constitutes one of the most inhumane and degrading forms of violence against women, and should have no place in the legal framework of a democratic country,” said Pillay.

However, her statements and calls for discussion on the issue were met with outrage from the opposition and religious Adhaalath party, giving rise to protests and demonstrations. The Foreign Ministry itself dismissed the calls for discussion on the issue, stating: “There is nothing to debate about in a matter clearly stated in the religion of Islam. No one can argue with God.”

Minivan News could not verify if all the people sentenced last year had been flogged at the time of the report’s release, although former Former Minister of Gender and Family Aneesa Ahmed confirmed that the sentences were being carried out.

The Judicial Sector Statistics Report 2011 highlights the sheer scale of the long-known and unaddressed issues of gender bias in the justice system.

A 2004 UNICEF study titled “Gender issues in the Maldives Criminal Justice System” raised serious concerns over cases of ‘Zina’ – both consensual and non-consensual alike.

As rape was at the time and is still defined as “forced fornication”, as with any other fornication case, four witnesses or a confession is still required by the court to prove rape.

“In these cases a woman’s accusations need to be verified by two men or four women, thus, rape and sexual violence remain impossible to prove in virtually all cases,” the 2004 study noted.

The prosecutor general’s office had earlier confirmed that as these two necessary elements are almost impossible to find, in all rape cases the suspects are charged with forced sexual misconduct, which carries a lesser punishment.

However if the victim is a minor, the PG says that such cases are tried under the 2009 Act on Stipulating Strict Punishment for Child Abusers.

This is the major reason why no rape cases were found in the new statistics revealed by the judiciary despite the high number of reported rape cases. It is also likely that rapes involving minors have fallen into the category of child abuse while others have been categorised under forced sexual misconduct.

However, its also noteworthy that in 2010, eight men were convicted for forced sexual misconduct but the following year the sentenced decreased by 50 percent. Out of the men charged with forced sexual misconduct in 2011, six walked free while only four were sentenced.

The 2004 study further added at the time the current law establishes a minimum age limit of 18 for a person to receive adult punishments, but one of the three exceptions is “if the woman has had a child.”

The Judicial report 2011 says that 10 females were convicted for “giving birth outside a wedlock”, including a minor – a criminal offense which explicitly is directed at women and carries a sentence of maximum one to two years house arrest.

The UNICEF study explained that the current law allows for a young woman under the age of 18, who has been a victim of sexual abuse and is consequently pregnant, to receive lashings in a public setting.

“The victim must then endure the pain and public humiliation of her situation, both the illegitimate pregnancy and the public lashings, which have significant ramifications for her subsequent life opportunities. The perpetrator, on the other hand, is likely to remain publicly unidentified.” it noted.

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Participaton key focus of provocative National Gallery exhibition

Societal challenges in addressing the prevalence of child abuse within the Maldives was the central theme of a one-day contemporary art exhibition held at the National Art Gallery in Male’ on Saturday.

Ismail Asif, who coordinated the exhibition along with a number of fellow local artists, said each installation aimed to focus on fears of how “common” child abuse had become within the Maldives, partly as a result of an unwillingness to discuss and tackle the matter within society.

“[The exhibition] is about trying to break taboos, it really is a challenge to discuss these matters.  The system has so many flaws we wanted to depict; these are flaws within the education system, the judicial system and wider society,” he said.

Despite the difficult subject matter, organisers claimed that after three weeks of work, the exhibition, which ran from 4:00pm to 6:00pm, aimed to encourage participation from members of the public to try and encourage discussion about child abuse.

Asif talked about the exhibition’s wider themes, without trying to play down the provocative nature of the installations.

“We very much wanted to focus on participation, normally when it comes to trying to address child abuse as an issue, people will just have a poster or banners they can look at concerning the problem.  We wanted to try and give more a sense of looking through the eyes of the victims,” he said.

The exhibition itself combined installations involving a sculpture of a female figure holding up a toilet, depicting what Asif claimed was the discrepancy between national perceptions of the  traditional status of local women and their treatment within real life.

Among perhaps the more outré installations on display at the yesterday’s exhibition was a specially-constructed walkway that required members of the public upon entry to pass through a small passageway with artificial hands attached to either side of the exhibit.

Asif said that the exhibit was used to open the event to try and reflect themes concerning harassment of vulnerable young people.

Scale of the problem

In recent years, local authorities and NGOs have released a number of findings trying to detail the extent of child abuse and wider sexual assaults within society.

The state-run Indira Gandhi Memorial Hospital’s (IGMH’s) Family Protection Unit reported in 2010 that the centre was notified of 42 cases of rape between 2005-2010. Most of these cases were found to involve minors.

According to the Human Rights Commission of the Maldives, 13 rape cases were reported last year alone, the majority of which most were gang rapes or assaults involving minors.

Almost one in seven children of secondary school age in the Maldives have been sexually abused at some time in their lives, according to an unpublished 2009 study on violence against minors.

Rates of sexual abuse for girls are almost twice as high than for boys at 20 percent – one in five girls have been sexually abused – while the figure for boys was 11 percent. Girls are particularly at risk in the capital Male’, the report found.

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