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Comment: Moved by Maldivian generosity

This article is by Isha Afeef

I volunteered on Saturday to help fundraise for the Nepal earthquake relief effort in Malé. It was heart-warming to see the immense public support for the event. People of all ages stop by the donation box where I sat, from children with fistfuls of coins to a sick elderly man who stopped by the Galolhu football stadium just to donate. Some migrant workers also chipped in.

The Maldivian Red Crescent (MRC) and the Maldives Medical Association (MMA), have now collected more than MVR1.7million (US$109,677).

Nearly 9,000 people have died since an earthquake with a magnitude of 7.8 on the Richter scale struck Nepal on April 25. Another tremor measuring 7.3 on the Richter scale struck on May 15, leading to more deaths.

“When the international appeal with the lists of items and funding that Nepal needed came out from International Red Crescent, we evaluated we could deliver at our capacity, and decided that it was funding,” MRC president Ali Nashid said.

“Our sum had to be realistic. We considered two main things: the economic state of the country, and that the donors we would be asking for funds would also be assisting with our projects in the future. So we set a target of $200,000,” he said.

The MMA was the first to take the initiative, as many of its members had gone to medical school in Nepal. The MRC’s volunteers walked door to door in Addu City and Fuvahmuah Island this month, while others in Thaa Atoll Veymandhoo and Meemu Atoll Kolhufushi held children’s evenings to raise funds.

Dhiraagu and Ooredoo set up a system where customers could donate via text messages.

On Saturday, the Maldives media held a telethon. A children’s evening was held at Malé’s Raalhugandu and a music show was held at night. Fund boxes were placed at the Galolhu Stadium and ten other locations in Malé. The veterans of the Maldivian national football team and MPs also played a football match.

Nepal boduberu

At the fund box at Galolhu, people who stopped by were warm and sincere in their well wishes. To me, it showed how dear Maldivians hold the values of generosity and kindness, and how willing Maldivians are to help people affected by natural disasters, no matter where disaster strikes in the world.

Mothers donated multiple times on behalf of their children. One elderly man stopped by with a Bangladeshi man who works for him. When the expatriate worker donated, the elderly man stepped up to the box and made a generous contribution. He said he was very sick, but that he had not been able to resist coming to the stadium to make a donation with his own hands.

Hundreds also bought tickets to watch the football match between the veteran Maldivian national football team and the Maldives’ parliamentarians.

“Our main focus now is to make sure that every penny reaches Nepal Red Crescent, and we will be accountable for it,” Nashid said.

The MRC estimates the final figure to reach MVR1.9million.

A young MRC volunteer, Ahmed Shamau said, he, too was moved by the extraordinary display of kindness by the public. “It’s shown strength, all these people uniting for humanity.”

“When the Tsunami struck the Maldives, Nepal was one of the countries that contributed to help us. And now that they’re in need, we’ll do the best we can in our capacity,” he added.

The chairperson of the MRC, Mohamed Junaid, thanked all of the volunteers.

“The biggest role in these efforts in being done by these dedicated individuals. We had over 50 responses to the call for assistance by Malé branch alone. And we are proud to say that our volunteers work just for humanitarian values, as seen by their dedication to the telethon in these past four days.”

Two MRC volunteers who work with the regional disaster response team are in Nepal at present. Mariyam Aisha, the first female volunteer to be deployed on a regional mission, reached Nepal on May 16. Moosa Shifaz has been active in Nepal since May 2.

Junaid says Aisha and Shifaz are “an inspiration.”

IMG_2758

Fund-raising activities will continue till May 27. Here are the MRC’s bank details if you wish to make a donation.

BANK OF MALDIVES
7701-176022-001 (MVR)
7701-176022-002 (USD)
Maldivian Red Crescent

MALDIVES ISLAMIC BANK
9901-01-55500036-100 (MVR)
9901-01-55500036-200 (USD)
Maldivian Red Crescent

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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Topless women, dead octopus and body paint: an art exhibition sparks controversy

A video of an art exhibition on violence against women, which depicted scantily clothed women with body paint and some posing with a dead octopus, has sparked controversy.

The project was commissioned in March by the vice-president of the Maldivian National Chamber of Commerce and Industries (MNCCI) Ismail Asif as part of his fourth annual exhibition on women and children’s rights.

The first half of the video shows female models, who work for the Austrian company WB Productions, at the National Art Gallery with traditional Maldivian dress painted on to their bodies.

The second half shows some models posing with a dead octopus on the beach while others posed topless with body paint and coir rope.

Maldives Art Gallery & Experimental Bodypainting Trip

Projects in the field of bodypainting is what we do. About 2 months ago we were invited to fill the Maldivian National Art Gallery with painted bodies. ///////////////////////More about the exhibition: In the week from 7th of march 2015 "WB Production" is invited with a team to the Maldives to be part of the Installation Art Project by Ismail Asif in the Maldives National Art Gallery. It's his 4th annual exhibition about "Abuse of woman and children" in his country.It's also the first time he incorporated Bodypainting into his art. The design of the Bodypainting was taken from the Dhivehi Libaas, the traditional Maldivian dress, elaborately adorned with a gold and silver neckline called Kasabu Bovalhu.Every day protests out on the streets against the government were almost knocking the plan of an indeed nervous looking Mr. Asif off.The team of WB Production with Alex and Anna Barendregt, Aga Glińska, Anna Tuzańska and Vitaliya Abramova is very thankful to be part of this great experimental trip and very glad that the exhibition in the end did happen. WHAT A trip ;)www.wb-production.com

Posted by WB Production – event.lifestyle.media on Wednesday, May 20, 2015

The video was uploaded on May 20 on Facebook and has been viewed more than 53,000 times.

CEO of WB production Alex Barendregt said: “Our team was able to be part of a very intense art exhibition in the Maldivian art gallery. Why intense? Because for the first time we did incorporate body painting in a very strict conservative Muslim country.”

Many praised Asif for the controversial exhibition, but others said the video contained “pornographic material.” Some censured Asif for what they called double standards, claiming he had criticized former president Mohamed Nasheed’s government for allegedly secular policies.

Asif was unavailable for comment at the time of going to press.

“Great work. Nice to see the artist who was happily branding the jailed president Mohamed Nasheed’s government as un-Islamic taking the daring step to hold a body painting exhibition in Malé’s Art Gallery. Sadly even for watching this video us mere locals would be arrested and charged with having pornographic material,” Munshid Mohamed said on Facebook.

Nasheed is currently serving a 13-year jail term on terrorism charges. His trial was widely criticized for lack of due process and triggered daily anti-government protests for three months.

Another expressed concern over the national gallery allowing Asif to hold an exhibition that “pushed public norms of decency,” despite having rejected art work by Maldivian students depicting Nasheed as a hero for an exhibition on the country’s golden jubilee of independence.

Screen Shot 2015-05-23 at 5.16.32 PM

One asked: “What would have happened if this had happened during president Nasheed’s time?” Many of Nasheed’s supporters feel his opponents unfairly targeted them by branding them as un-Islamic.

Others expressed concern over artists using an octopus in the photos, to which WB productions replied: “Don’t worry, it was a dead octopus from the market, and later one of our friends took him home to cook as millions other people do.”

A supporter of the exhibition, Faiyal Ahmed said: “Nice stuff, if this is what locals are calling shooting a porn video I think we should educate them more.”

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Some Life brand bottled water unsafe for use, says MFDA

The Maldives Food and Drug Authority (MFDA) has warned against drinking some Life brand bottled water following complaints over the presence of dust and odors.

“We have noticed undesirable smells and dust in some of the Life water bottles produced and sold in the Maldives,” the MFDA said in an alert yesterday.

The authority has warned against selling and consuming bottles labeled Batch 226. All of them are 1.5 liter bottles.

However Happy Market Pvt Ltd which produces Life says its water is safe for drinking. Life is one of the three locally produced brands of water.

A significant number of households in the Maldives now drink bottled water. Exact statistics are unavailable.

Neither MFDA nor Happy Market revealed details of how many bottles were produced under Batch 226.

The MFDA said it is “investigating the matter with further research and laboratory tests.”

Happy Market’s Ahmed Suad said the company has documents proving Life water is safe for use.

“All of our bottled water batches are approved by the authority [MFDA]. The statement is worded in such a way that it causes panic,” said Suad.

But MFDA’s Director General Shareefa Adam said the authority does not approve every single bottle of water.

“We do factory audits and give approvals to the factory. We also conduct random samplings. But we don’t test every single batch, it is not possible to do so,” she said.

The MFDA’s preliminary review noted odors in the bottles which means the water does not meet standards set by the World Health Organization, she added.

Meanwhile, one Twitter user who drinks Life water regularly says he has not had any reactions.

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Islamic ministry raises concern over religious divisions

Expressing concern over religious and social divisions in the Maldives, the Islamic ministry has warned the public against “words and actions that upset social and religious customs.”

In a statement on Thursday, the ministry stressed “age-old Maldivian unity” and said any act that may disrupt religious unity is an offense under the Religious Unity Act of 1994.

“The ministry has noted a spread in words and actions that create social and religious divisions and ideological differences. This has disrupted age-old social order and social customs. Such actions that are contrary to Maldivian customs and public interest facilitate divisions, quarrels and social unrest,” the statement read.

“We take this opportunity to remind and advice [the public] that any actions that undermine religious unity, sovereignty and independence of the Maldives is prohibited under Article 4 of the Religious Unity Act.”

The Islamic ministry’s media official, Ibrahim Abdulla Saeed, declined to reveal details of actions or words that have caused concern.

“This is just a reminder,” he said.

The religious conservative Adhaalath Party, which was controlled the Islamic affairs portfolio in successive governments, split from the ruling coalition in March and launched an antigovernment campaign over the imprisonment of ex-president Mohamed Nasheed and ex-defence minister Mohamed Nazim.

Several scholars have since condemned what they call President Abdulla Yameen’s growing authoritarianism and warned of Allah’s wrath over “injustice and brutality.”

Islamic minister Dr Shaheem Ali Saeed resigned in early May shortly after Adhaalath president Sheikh Imran Abdulla’s arrest hours after he led a historic antigovernment protest on May 1.

Imran remains in police custody.

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Police officer assaulted in Malé

A group of people dragged a police office into a private residence in Malé and beat him severely last night.

A police media official told Minivan News that the policeman was forced into a house near Petrel café in Machangoalhi ward and beaten at around 11.10pm.

“He was taken to Indira Gandhi Memorial Hospital for treatment. He suffered injuries to the head and had minor cuts and bruises,” police said.

The injured officer has since been released. No arrests have been made yet.

Two police officers were assaulted during an anti-government protest on May 1. The two were taken to Sri-Lanka for further treatment.

Some 14 individuals have been arrested over the May Day assault.

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Ruling party holds children’s evening on president’s birthday

The ruling Progressive Party of the Maldives held a children’s evening in Malé to mark President Abdulla Yameen’s 56th birthday.

The president did not attend the event.

Government employees and supporters across the country cut cakes, and a special song was made for the president.

Celebrations in Lhaviyani Atoll Naifaru

In Gaaf Alif Kolamafushi:

Opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) held a children’s event and a music show in Malé on May 17 to mark jailed ex-president Mohamed Nasheed’s birthday. Supporters across the country cut cakes and posted pictures online.

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Police accused of false testimony against May Day detainees

First came a deafening shot. Then, police in riot gear charged into the crowd, shoving and pushing protesters back. But Hamid Shafeeu and his friends did not run. They were arrested in front of Minivan News journalists. Now a police officer has sworn Hamid threw bottles and stones at the riot police.

Some 193 protesters were arrested on May 1 when violent clashes broke out after a historic antigovernment protest. Scores were injured.

Protesters threw glass and plastic bottles, lead balls and rocks. Police used tear gas, pepper spray, stun grenades and made indiscriminate arrests.

The next day, the criminal court granted a blanket 15-day remand for 173 of the 193 detainees.

Hamid was held in police custody for 15 days in cramped conditions, and then transferred to house arrest for five days. He was released only today.

The high court, relying on police statements, previously rejected an appeal contesting the detention.

The 39-year-old businessman says he believes police are providing false testimony to jail him because of his vocal criticism of the government on Twitter.

Many others who were arrested at random or arrested for simply going to the protest now say police officers have accused them of assault.

The initial charges of disobedience to order carries a MVR3000 fine or six months in jail or house arrest or banishment, but attacking a police officer carries a MVR12, 000 fine and six months in jail.

It is not yet clear if the prosecutor general will file charges.

A police spokesperson has denied allegations of false testimony, but lawyers who have represented individuals arrested from past protests say the police routinely lie to keep dissidents in custody. Others have supported the claim, with the former chair of the police integrity watchdog saying several officers lied in the investigation into the transfer of power in February 7, 2012, and the brutal crackdown on protesters the next day.

A former policeman, meanwhile, said false testimony is indicative of the politicization of the force and the impunity riot police hold as very few are penalized for unlawful activities.

SO

Testifying before a Commonwealth backed inquiry into the 2012 transfer of power, ex-police chief Ahmed Faseeh described the riot police’s tactics in controlling protests: “Their language was filthy, their vocabulary was obscene. If they got hold of someone, they hit them.”

The riot police, known as Specialist Operations or SO officers, were created by former president Maumoon Abdul Gayoom to quell pro-democracy protests in the mid 2000s. The hostility between SO officers and protesters continues to this day.

May Day detainees have reported verbal and physical abuse, while several individuals arrested on suspicion of assaulting a police officer on May Day said police cheered on as others beat them at the headquarters and threatened to kill them.

The police, however, have denied brutality and urged any victims to file complaints with oversight bodies.

Blogger Yameen Rasheed’s arrest was caught on camera. He was picked up on Chaandhanee Magu with several others at about 9pm, but the police are now accused him of throwing rocks and have placed him under house arrest. Yameen says he was walking to the Somerset Hotel in the area to meet a foreign journalist at the time of his arrest. The Indian reporter corroborates Yameen’s account.

Ahmed Naeem, a 25-year-old political science student, was arrested when he reportedly stepped in front of a police van. Of the 193 detainees, he is the only one remaining in police custody.

Lawyers say the police are now accusing him of breaking the van’s windows. According to his cellmates, police beat Ahmed severely at the time of his arrest, and his face was bruised and swollen for days.

Judges can only hold people in custody if further interrogation is needed, or if they are a danger to society, or if they may influence witnesses.

But lawyers claims judges remand dissidents for long periods of time to intimidate and harass them. The criminal court often holds protesters in custody for lengthier periods than those arrested for violent crimes, including murder, they said.

Lawyer Abdulla Haseen, who represented a close aide of ex-president Nasheed following her arrest from a protest in July 2012, said the police claimed in court that they had witnessed her throwing rocks. But Shauna Aminath’s arrest, which was broadcast live on television, showed the police drag her away without any provocation.

“An individual can be held in remand for a month, two months. Judges must verify and check police’s claims before approving long remands. Who will bear responsibility for all those lost weeks?” Haseen said.

Politicized

The ex chair of the police integrity commission (PIC), Shahindha Ismail, said police officers had provided strikingly similar statements to the commission’s investigation into the February 8, 2012 crackdown “with the same phrases and words as if they were reading from a pre-prepared document.”

Although four of the five members of the then-PIC ruled police actions on February 8 as lawful, Shahindha said officers had “targeted attacks to cause immense harm to specific individuals.”

She said the squad must be disbanded and punished for unlawful behavior. She urged judges to verify police claims with photos and videos or statements by unbiased witnesses before approving requests for lengthy detentions.

In October, SO officers were accused of cutting down all of Malé City’s Areca palms. In January, they were accused of planting weapons at the ex-defence minister Mohamed Nazim’s apartment. The retired colonel was sentenced to 11 years in prison based on anonymized witness statements, which Nazim’s lawyers argue, were fabricated.

The prosecutor general’s office said it has not received complaints of false testimony by police or noticed any attempts at framing individuals.

Meanwhile, noting the role SO officers played in ex-president Mohamed Nasheed’s ouster, a former senior police officer said the squad was politically biased and “enjoy complete impunity, now to the point they feel they can do whatever they want.”

He, too, supported disbanding the SO, saying they regard routine police work as outside their duties. Faseeh had said the same in his statement.

The ex-officer said maintaining public order or riot control must be integrated into regular policing: “That way officers get to work together with people every day and will be more sensitive towards rights,” he said.

Photo by Shaari

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Police cleared of wrongdoing in manhandling ex-president

The police watchdog has determined that police officers used proportionate force and acted legally when they escorted former President Mohamed Nasheed to the criminal court on February 23.

Nasheed appeared for the first hearing of his terrorism trial with his arms in a makeshift sling. Police officers had manhandled and dragged the opposition leader inside the court building when he stopped to speak with journalists.

However, citing testimony from police officers and video footage obtained for its inquiry, the Police Integrity Commission (PIC) said “Nasheed stopped near the gate of the justice building and refused police orders to go into the building.”

Minivan News journalists saw Nasheed repeatedly asking the the police to let him walk into the court, but police officers dragged him in by force, ripping his shirt open in the process.

The PIC launched an inquiry after the former president submitted a complaint alleging police brutality.

Nasheed was subsequently sentenced to 13 years in prison over terrorism charges related to the detention of a judge during his tenure. Foreign governments, the UN, and international human rights organisations widely criticised the 19-day trial over its apparent lack of due process.

The PIC said in a press statement today that police officers acted in accordance with regulations and used “force necessary in the situation.”

The office of former President Nasheed has slammed the PIC’s statement, noting that the oversight body had not sought statements from Nasheed or journalists who witnessed the incident.

Nasheed’s office accused the commission of defending police for political reasons, calling on the watchdog to act independently and to conduct impartial investigations into complaints of police misconduct.

Meanwhile, Nasheed was brought to the Malé from Maafushi prison this afternoon for a doctor’s appointment at the Senahiya military hospital.

 

“He was brought for medical examination several days after doctors in Maafushi Health Centre recommended for him to be examined by medical specialists,” read a separate statement from Nasheed’s office.

Doctors at the health centre had recommended on May 7 that Nasheed should have an MRI and consult a dentist, but the authorities had denied requests from his family and lawyers to provide medical care, the statement added.

The former president’s office noted that “Senahiya is not a tertiary hospital and the authorities have not given any reason why he is being treated at a health clinic and not a well equipped hospital in the Maldives.”

Hundreds of supporters gathered near the Senehiya hospital this afternoon, hoping to catch a glimpse of the former president who has not been seen since he was sentenced to 13 years in jail on March 13.

Police arrested Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) MP Eva Abdulla’s husband Ahmed Shahid (Saabe) near the hospital for allegedly disobeying orders. He was released by the court within hours.

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Mother charged with murder over death of toddler

A mother has been charged with killing her three-year-old son on the island of Rakeedhoo in Vaavu atoll in January.

The prosecutor general’s office told local media that the case against Fathmath Afiya was filed at the criminal court today.

The body of three-year-old Mohamed Ibthihaal was found with signs of severe abuse on January 28 in the worst case of child abuse in recent years. The murder shocked the nation while reports that officials had been aware of Ibthihaal’s abuse sparked public outrage.

Afiya was arrested two days later and has since been held in pre-trial detention. Her stepfather, Ismail Raoof, was arrested on April 1 on suspicion of physically and sexually abusing Ibthihaal.

The PG office also pressed disobedience to order charges against Afiya over child neglect.

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