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Bore hole drilling begins for Malé–Hulhulé bridge survey

A team of Chinese technicians began drilling bore holes on the ocean floor today to gather information for the Malé-Hulhulé bridge project.

Tourism minister Ahmed Adeeb, economic development minister Mohamed Saeed, and other cabinet ministers attended an inauguration ceremony for the bore hole drilling at the raalhugadu (surf point) area of the capital this morning.

Housing and infrastructure minister Dr Mohamed Muiz said at the ceremony that information gathered from drilling the holes will be essential for designing the bridge.

Technicians are drilling 29 bore holes that will be six inches wide and 50 metres deep. Four of the bore holes will be on land.

Surveys and feasibility studies ahead of the design process are being conducted with free aid and technical assistance from the Chinese government.

Muiz said the Maldivian government will seek a developer once the designs are finalised. The project will be financed with a soft loan from the Chinese EXIM bank. The government has previously said the project may cost between US$100million and US$150million.

The six-lane bridge will run from Malé’s surf point to the southwest corner of Hulhulé island’s airport runway, Muiz had previously said.

China has said it would “favourably consider financing” the bridge project if the design proves feasible, while President Xi Jinping said he hoped the government would call the bridge “the China-Maldives friendship bridge”.

The government has said construction of the bridge will be completed by 2017.

Speaking at this morning’s ceremony, Adeeb said the current administration is fulfilling its campaign pledges “like a set of firecrackers on fire.”

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Maldives to build Chinese-friendly hotels and resorts

The tourism ministry has announced plans to build Chinese-friendly hotels and resorts in the Maldives to cater to increasing tourist arrivals from China.

Tourism minister Ahmed Adeeb leased the island of Kalhufahalufushi in Thaa Atoll for resort development to the China Machinery Engineering Corporation (CMEC).

The global engineering contractor is set to become the first Chinese company to invest in the Maldives and in the tourism industry.

Maldivian resorts were designed to cater to European holiday makers, Adeeb said. But with the new deal “Chinese tourists will see hotels that are designed for them. But tourists from other countries will also go there.”

The number of Chinese tourists visiting the Maldives tripled from about 100,000 in 2010 to more than 300,000 last year.

With a total of 363,626 arrivals in 2014, Chinese tourists accounted for nearly one-third of arrivals with a 30 percent market share, representing the single biggest source market for tourists to the Maldives.

Adeeb said CMEC will now undertake a feasibility study and propose its development concept and other details to the government, adding that a lease agreement will be signed before the end of the year.

The tourism minister said he expects CMEC to invest at least US$200 million in the Maldives.

He also said islands leased by the current administration for resort development will open for business in 2016.

Adeeb claimed development is proceeding rapidly due to concessions from the government, such as waiving import duties for construction material and providing sovereign guarantees for foreign loans.

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Vice president defends Islam textbooks

Criticism of Islam textbooks from a Western perspective is “inappropriate for the education system of a 100 percent Muslim nation,” Vice President Dr Mohamed Jameel Ahmed said yesterday.

Jameel declared that Islamic sharia and history will be taught in Maldivian schools.

The vice president’s remarks comes after human rights NGO Maldivian Democracy Network (MDN) published a report saying textbooks used to teach Islam promote anti-Semitism and xenophobia, and glorify jihad or war.

The report said only the textbooks made for grade one, two and three, introduced this year, are free from xenophobic narratives.

Criticism of the Islam subject cannot be accepted as “sincere,” Jameel said.

The new school curriculum was formulated to ensure that the Maldives remains an Islamic country, he said, and special focus was given to the Islam subject.

The new Islam syllabus and textbooks will help overcome “challenges” posed by changes the Maldivian society is experiencing, he said.

Punishments prescribed in the Quran must be taught in an Islamic country, Jameel continued, and all Muslims must take pride in Islamic history.

Muslims were the “main architects” of civilisation since the time of Caliph Umar, he said.

Jameel said it is obligatory upon a Muslim people to teach children about the successes of the Islamic civilisation, the challenges it overcame, and wars waged by Muslims in self-defence.

Human rights, freedom of expression, and other fundamental rights guaranteed in the constitution must be exercised within boundaries set by Islam.

The constitution states that Sunni Islam is the state religion and that no law contrary to Islam shall be enacted in the Maldives.

The vice president made the remarks in a meeting with heads of private colleges in the Maldives.

He urged the educators to “work together to maintain the Maldives’ Islamic identity.”

The MDN had said that from fourth grade onwards, “the xenophobic material gradually increases to the point where the radical outweighs the moderate.”

Two whole pages of the eleventh grade textbook were dedicated to “fruits” of jihad, claiming that the ultimate fruit of jihad is martyrdom, for which the reward in Islam is an eternity in heaven, the report read.

The textbooks describe the Ahmadiyya sect as a “plot by the British to destroy Islamic unity,” and says Muslims educated in the West, or Muslims who speak for secularism are considered co-conspirators with the West to undermine Islam.

“Due to the prevalence of these radical ideas, the text books fail to primarily instil a positive interpretation of Islam that is manifested in the [2008] Maldivian Constitution,” the report concluded.

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Maldives launches plan to combat human trafficking, content undisclosed

The government has launched today a five year strategic action plan to prevent human trafficking in Maldives, but the ministry of economic development did not disclose details of the plan.

“There will be no room for human trafficking in the Maldives. The government of President Adbulla Yameen will close all the doors open to human trafficking,” foreign minister Dunya Maumoon said at a ceremony this morning.

The action plan will improve the legal framework set by the Anti-Human Trafficking Act of 2013 by “implementing the anti-human trafficking law and putting together policies to prevent people from human trafficking,” she said.

A government report in 2011 revealed human trafficking to be the Maldives second most lucrative industry after tourism – worth an estimated US$123 million a year. The US state department said foreign workers in the Maldives experience forced labor, including fraudulent recruitment, confiscation of identity and travel documents, withholding or nonpayment of wages, and debt bondage.

With the Anti-Human Trafficking Act, the Maldives avoided last year a downgrade to the state department’s lowest tier on human trafficking and possible non-humanitarian and non-trade sanctions.

In March, the government prevented foreign workers from holding a protest over a spate of fatal stabbings.

The immigration department last week said 1,953 undocumented foreign workers were identified and deported in 12 operations conducted in 2015. More than 8,800 undocumented workers were deported last year.

Economic minister Mohamed Saeed, who is the chair of the steering committee on preventing human trafficking, assured today that the government will stop abuse of foreign workers: “We cannot traffic humans. It is an inhumane act. The government of Maldives will do everything to stop it from happening. The labour industry of Maldives should not be abused. The economy of Maldives will set examples to Asia for setting exemplary standards in the labour industry.”

Minivan News requested the economic ministry for details of the plan, but it was not available at the time of going to press.

Meanwhile, commissioner of police Hussein Waheed said the police had investigated eight cases of human trafficking since the anti-trafficking law came into force.

“We have also busted a foreign human trafficking network that was openly engaging in the crime, and have deported the foreigners involved. We are also investigating the cases of Maldivians who were part of it,” he said.

The state department report, released in June 2014, said the Maldivian authorities had not prosecuted any recruiting agencies for fraudulent recruitment practices. Some victims were penalized for offences committed as a result of being trafficked, while thousands were deported without adequately screening for indications of forced labor.

But the Maldives had opened its first shelter for trafficking victims, distributed pamphlets about rights to migrant workers in a number of other languages, and blacklisted some companies for fraudulent recruitment practices.

Police and other officials require training on trafficking, and procedures to identify victims and refer them to protective services, the report said.

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Women’s rights NGO slams court’s US$13 fine for domestic violence

Local women’s rights NGO Hope for Women has said that a MVR200 (US$13) fine imposed on a man found guilty of assaulting his wife defeats the purpose of the prosecution.

Luthfee Umar from Laamu Isdhoo was found guilty on May 17 for physically assaulting his wife and shoving her onto the deck of a fishing boat in January.

The NGO said the victim, Hawwa Ibrahim, from Matharesmaage in Faafu Nilandhoo, did not want to press charges against her husband.

The NGO praised the police for investigating the case and the prosecutor general’s office for filing charges at the criminal court.

“However, sadly, the outcome has defeated the purpose of the prosecution. And society has been given a message completely contrary to that purpose. Therefore, we believe that the people who carry out such acts will receive further encouragement,” Hope for Women said in a statement yesterday.

While it does not encourage meting out severe punishments for first time offenders, the NGO said judges must take the nature of the crime, its repercussions, and familial obligations of the accused into consideration.

“Moreover, we believe that the responsibility of the prosecutor is working with the aim of achieving a just outcome instead of just raising charges,” it added.

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PPM accused of bribery over x-ray machine

The ruling Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM) has been accused of bribery for delivering an x-ray machine to the island of Muli in Meemu Atoll two weeks ahead of a parliamentary by-election.

PPM parliamentary group leader Ahmed Nihan said the government had delivered an x-ray machine to Muli, in the Dhiggaru constituency, and urged islanders to vote for PPM candidate Faris Maumoon.

“The government fulfills its pledges, vote for our candidate Faris Maumoon,” he said in a tweet yesterday.

The tweet triggered accusations of bribery, with one Twitter user describing the move as “cannibalism.”

Others questioned if the state had also paid for a radiologist at the island hospital.

One highlighted the distribution of air conditioners in Raa Atoll Alifushi before an island council by-election in April, and said the donation of x-ray machines to Muli were similar.

“Islanders only needs x-ray machine when the Malé man needs a vote,” another said, referring to the lingering discrimination between islanders and residents of Malé.

“The x-ray machine will only gather dust. A technical will only be set for the next election. That is OK, one at a time,” June Rasheed said.

However, speaking to Minivan News today, Nihan said funds for the x-ray machines was allocated in the 2015 budget, and described the move as “a service to the people.”

“This is a government which makes promises and fulfills them. That is why the people should vote for Faris Maumoon in the upcoming election,” said Nihan.

The government has also signed an agreement with state-owned Maldives Transport and Construction Company to build to harbors in the Dhiggaru constituency.

“All of these projects were included in the budget, after the former MP asked for the development projects for his constituency,” he said.

The by-election, scheduled for June 6, was triggered by the conviction of former PPM MP Ahmed Nazim on corruption charges. The Supreme Court had stripped Nazim of his seat after sentencing him to 25 years in prison on April 6 for defrauding the state of MVR1.4 million (US$91,400).

Former President Maumoon Abdull Gayyoom’s son Faris secured the ruling party ticket after winning a primary with 67 percent of the vote against Meemu atoll council president.

Another PPM atoll councillor, Moosa Naseer Ahmed, is also contesting the by-election as an independent candidate. The third candidate is the main opposition Maldivian Democratic Party’s Ahmed Raazee.

The ruling part was previously also accused of vote-buying after a high-profile handout of air-conditioners to a school in Raa Atoll Alifushi, shortly before a council by-election.

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Opposition alliance opens meeting hall in Malé

The opposition alliance says its new haruge (meeting hall) opened in Malé last night will give renewed impetus to the ‘Maldivians against tyranny’ campaign.

Addressing opposition supporters gathered for the opening, Jumhooree Party (JP) deputy leader Ameen Ibrahim said the opposition resume its activities with more passion and resolve with the meeting hall.

The “song and melody” of the opposition alliance has not changed, Ameen said, and the parties were united through a common purpose.

Ameen said forthcoming talks between the government and opposition could be fruitful if President Abdulla Yameen’s invitation for dialogue is sincere.

The opposition parties will accept the invitation in the interest of peace and for the sake of detained opposition leaders and supporters, he said.

While the three opposition parties will respond separately to the official invitations, Ameen said the “agenda” and stance of the allied parties are the same.

President Yameen’s proposed agenda focuses on three aspects; political reconciliation, strengthening the judiciary and legal system and political party participation in economic and social development.

President’s office spokesperson Ibrahim Muaz Ali, however, ruled out negotiations over the imprisonment of ex-president Mohamed Nasheed and ex-defence minister Mohamed Nazim.

The pair’s arrest in February and subsequent imprisonment triggered the ongoing political crisis. The opposition alliance has staged mass demonstrations on February 27 and May 1 calling for their release.

Some 30 protesters arrested from the May Day anti-government demonstration meanwhile cut ribbons at last night’s opening ceremony. The meeting hall is located in front of the artificial beach stage.

A donation box has also been placed at the meeting hall to raise funds for the opposition cause.

The wives of detained main opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) chairperson Ali Waheed and Adhaalath Party president Sheikh Imran Abdulla also attended last night’s rally.

The opposition leaders were arrested in the wake of the May Day protest and accused of inciting violence against the government.

Ameen said the pair were being held in solitary confinement in small cells at the Dhoonidhoo detention centre. Ali Waheed was suffering back pains because his concrete bunk was too small for his size, Ameen said.

The former transport minister called on the president to cease the government’s alleged efforts to foster “a culture of brutality,” warning that President Yameen could be remembered as the “most brutal ruler” in the country’s history.

MDP vice president Mohamed Shifaz said the opposition alliance will continue its activities until imprisoned politicians are released.

Adhaalath Party council member Shidhatha Shareef questioned the sincerity of President Yameen’s call for talks as he had not accepted the opposition’s repeated appeals during the past three months.

“President Yameen is not part of the delegation he assigned after calls for talks. We are calling for talks to resolve the serious political turmoil in the country. If the president of the Maldives does not have the capability to do it, I don’t believe he has the capability to be the president,” she said.

The president’s office sent official invitations to the three opposition parties yesterday. So far, only the JP has officially accepted the invitation and assigned representatives for the talks.

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Nasheed denied right to fair trial, concludes Bar Human Rights Committee

Former President Mohamed Nasheed was denied the right to a fair trial ahead of his conviction on terrorism charges in March, the UK’s Bar Human Rights Committee (BHRC) has concluded in its trial observation report.

The BHRC’s findings echo widespread criticism from foreign governments, the UN, and international human rights organisations over the apparent lack of due process in the 19-day trial.

Following its third legal observation mission to the Maldives from February 26 to March 6, the BHRC found that there was “a clear appearance of bias on behalf of two of the three judges, such as to vitiate the fairness of the entire proceedings.”

Two of the three judges presiding over the trial had provided witness statements to the 2012 investigation of the case.

Nasheed was also “deprived, as a self-representing defendant, of adequate time and facilities to prepare his defence,” denied legal representation at the arraignment hearing the day after his arrest, and the criminal court failed to adequately guarantee the right to a public hearing.

The BHRC is an independent body and the international human rights arm of the Bar of England and Wales.

The mission, undertaken by Blinne Ní Ghrálaigh, BHRC vice chair and barrister at Matrix Chambers, assessed the trial on compliance with international fair trial standards, in particular Article 14 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR).

On March 13, Nasheed was found guilty of terrorism and sentenced to 13 years in prison over the military’s detention of criminal court chief judge Abdulla Mohamed in January 2012.

“Serious concerns also arise regarding the unexplained delay of 15 months post-election in pursing criminal proceedings against Mr Nasheed, the overall speed at which the terrorism trial before the criminal court took place, once the new charges were laid, the limited time given to his defence team to prepare and the refusal by the court to permit defence witnesses to be called,” the report stated.

“In light of the above, Mr Nasheed’s conviction cannot properly be regarded as safe.”

The prosecutor general had withdrawn previous charges of illegal detention against Nasheed in early February and pressed terrorism charges on the day of his arrest (February 22). The surprise trial began the next day.

In several recommendations made to the government, the BHRC called for an investigation of “all serious allegations of violations of due process and fair trial rights through independent and impartial processes and hold to account those found responsible for those violations.”

The committee also recommended reforms to “strengthen the independence and impartiality of the judiciary.”

The BHRC advised the government to adopt a new penal code, evidence code, and criminal procedures law to codify fair trial and due process guarantees in the constitution, and “institute mandatory training in fair trial rights and guarantees, including those arising under the ICCPR, for all judges, at all levels of seniority.”

Following international criticism of Nasheed’s conviction, President Abdulla Yameen had called on all parties to respect the criminal court’s verdict.

Meanwhile, during the Maldives’ Universal Period Review in Geneva on May 6, foreign minister Dunya Maumoon claimed that Nasheed chose not to appeal his 13-year sentence and that due process concerns regarding the trial were procedural and not substantive.

Criticism of Nasheed’s trial had “mainly focused on the process and not the merits,” she said.

But Nasheed’s office contends he was deliberately denied the right to appeal after the criminal court failed to provide necessary documentation within the ten day appeal period specified by the Supreme Court.

Amnesty International had meanwhile called Nasheed conviction a “travesty of justice” while the UN human rights chief said the opposition leader was sentenced after a “hasty and apparently unfair trial” and noted “flagrant irregularities.”

The UN special rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers noted “serious due process violations” such as denial of the opportunity to present defence witnesses, which led her to believe “the outcome of the trial may have been pre-determined.”

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JP council member’s detention extended by 10 days

The criminal court has extended the remand detention of opposition Jumhooree Party (JP) council member Sobah Rasheed by ten days.

Sobah was arrested under a court warrant on May 3 from an opposition rally and held in police custody for 15 days. He is accused of inciting violence at a mass anti-government protest on May 1.

The high court yesterday upheld the criminal court’s initial 15-day remand.

The opposition has raised concern over what it calls unnecessary detention of opposition leaders, pointing out the constitution only allows the extension of remand if the accused is deemed a danger to society, if they may influence witnesses or might flee or if further interrogation is needed.

The criminal court on Sunday extended the remand detention of Adhaalath Party president Sheikh Imran Abdulla and main opposition Maldivian Democratic Party chairperson Ali Waheed by 10 days and seven days, respectively.

The two were arrested on May 1 on charges of inciting violence and held in police custody for 15 days. The High Court last week rejected appeals from the pair challenging the legality of the criminal court’s remand detention orders.

Lawyers have filed a second appeal of the criminal court’s decision to extend remand detention.

The two were brought to Medica hospital in Malé for treatment yesterday. Ali Waheed was also brought to ADK hospital last week for an MRI scan of his spine.

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