The Human Rights Commission of the Maldives (HRCM) has warned that “deliberate disrespect towards upholding the rule of law” in the Maldives risks the population losing respect for democracy as a system of governance.
Making the claim in its draft contribution to UN Human Rights Council’s Universal Periodic Review, now released to public review and comment, HRCM claimed that a continual failure to legislate and install regulatory frameworks concerning human rights would “inevitably” lead to violations in the future.
HRCM’s report is particularly damning towards parliament, stating that efforts to establish a standing committee on human rights tasked with pushing bills for human rights compliance “have failed to materialise”.
The report also noted that while the Maldives has ratified six of the nine core international human rights instruments, it had yet to sign the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families.
It noted that the Maldives has seen “a dramatic increase in the numbers of undocumented migrant workers”, as many workers had been either abandoned by recruitment agencies or simply arriving on tourist visas.
“Their illegal status makes them hesitant in expressing their grievances to the relevant authorities. Most migrant workers, who are abandoned while engaged in low paying day jobs, are vulnerable to exploitation by employers,” the report noted.
Another area of concern raised in the report was child protection, national mechanism concerning which “remain severely inadequate to deal with the dramatic increase in child abuse cases reported to the Department of Gender and Family Protection Services, and the Maldives Police Service.”
The report noted that even despite recent legislation protecting children from sexual abuse, “strict evidentiary requirements” and “non-enforcement of sentences” remain major problems.
Furthermore, the report claimed, there was little capacity to rehabilitate victims of child sexual abuse besides institutionalising them.
Inadequate housing was another concern, particularly in Malé, where a lack of minimum standards had led to 85 per cent of the population “living in houses that fall short of meeting all components of the Right to Adequate Housing.””
Furthermore, the government’s announcement in January 2009 that it would build 10,000 housing units in some cases involved “a lack of consultations with local island communities in developing the project and related land use plans.”
“The continuing practice of allocating land also needs to be reviewed in light of plans for the housing scheme,” the report noted.
Detention and drugs
According to the HRCM report, 90 per cent of the prison population are drug offenders, the majority young people.
“Public perception is such that drug abuse is an issue for retribution, rather than one for rehabilitation,” the report noted, highlighting a general discrepancy between the use and supply of drugs.
“Penalties for drug use and possession and trade need to be differentiated, with the former aligned with rehabilitative programmes,” the report recommended.
“The existence of only a single residential rehabilitation centre, the lack of a halfway house and availability of just two detoxification centres with limited capacity, indicate an urgent
need to expand availability of and accessibility to treatment facilities throughout the country,” it noted.
Despite the prevalence of young offenders, the prison system contained no separate institution for juvenile detention “and thus juveniles are kept, sometimes in the same cells, with adults.”
In some situations, it noted, “persons detained by police, persons remanded in custody and persons serving their sentences are held together on the same premises [without] segregation by category of offence, gender, medical condition, or security risk.”
In addition, “rehabilitation, education facilities and employment opportunities are unavailable as a means of restorative justice.”
The UPR report was established by the UN General Assembly to review the fulfillment by each of the 192 United Nations Member States of their human rights obligations and commitments. Reports are sought from a country’s government, major human rights organisation, and NGOs.
The HCRM report is now open for public review and comment; send all submissions to [email protected] before 3:00pm Sunday April 11, 2010.
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Despite their short comings, HRCM is one of the better independent institutions in this country. I have worked with their staff on numerous occasions and I must say that I was very impressed with the work that they were doing and their professionalism (albeit faced with threats and bullying by a lot of people from the public).
They still have a long way to go but they are headed in the right directions.
saleem n all the members are doing a good job.keep it up!!!!!!!
As an ex employee, I am heartened to see HRCM coming up with yet another report that is factual, to the point, and much needed at a time where the nation's top decision makers are embroiled in a dangerous and silly political chaos, especially inside parliament. The contents of this report need to be taken seriously, thoughtfully and immediately.
It is also pleasing to see HRCM becoming more vocal on advocating for the right to adequate housing. A lack of minimum standards had made a staggering 85 per cent of Male population living in dire conditions not appropriate for human habitation as per the right to adequate housing guaranteed by ICESCR.
Now this is a serious national concern and its time parliamentarians and housing authorities take action! And it is time to take recommendations and concerns from independent commissions like the HRCM, seriously!
The report could have been improved if HRCM had actually quoted figures to show the extent of the problem, eg those affected by drug use, housing, etc.
Personally, I feel that at this stage it is important to ensure that all first generation (ie civil and political rights)are enshrined in the constitution even if it means that the constitution has to be amended.
The suggestion that human rights are to be introduced in the school curriculum is a very good idea. However, it is equally important that our lawmakers (ie Majlis) and the judiciary are fully versed in the three generations of human rights. I guess even the report would have been more comprehensive if it had been laid out to reflect these generational lines. Then it would have followed along the lines of the different international conventions too.