Thailand’s Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn arrived for an official visit to the Maldives today (August 22), reported local media.
The princess is scheduled to visit the National Museum during her trip. Today she met with President Mohamed Waheed and First Lady Ilham Hussain as well as other cabinet members, said the President’s Office.
Sirindhorn will remain in the Maldives until Friday (August 23).
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(0)The new chair appointed to the Civil Service Commission (CSC) Dr Mohamed Latheef has sent a letter to President Dr Mohamed Waheed asking him to find a solution to ongoing issues with previous commission chief Mohamed Fahmy Hassan.
Former CSC Chair Fahmy was dismissed by the parliament over allegations of sexual harassment against a female staff member.
In the letter, Dr Latheef stated that the issue of former CSC Chair Fahmy coming into work after his dismissal by the parliament was still unresolved and that it was an obstruction to the running of the institution.
Latheef told the president that this issue affected both the civil servants themselves and the services being provided to the public.
He referred to constitution Article 196(c) 116, stating that it was the responsibility of the president to solve the issues within government institutions and to uphold the constitution and laws.
Article 196(c) states that “the principles of governance of the state being determined by this constitution, the president shall uphold, defend and respect the constitution, and shall promote the unity of the state.’’
Parliament Yesterday (21 August) sent a letter to President Waheed informing him of the decision made to appoint Dr Mohamed Latheef as the new chair of the CSC.
On August 13, the parliament appointed a new member to the CSC to replace Fahmy, who was dismissed in November 2012 over allegations that he sexually harassed a female member of staff.
51 out of 54 MPs present in the parliament at the time voted in favor of appointing Fathimath Reenee Abdulsathar as Fahmy’s replacement, while the remaining three MPs abstained.
In November last year, parliament voted 38 – 32 in favour of removing the CSC chair after the Independent Institutions Committee investigated a complaint of sexual harassment against him lodged by a female CSC employee.
On 14 March 2013, the Supreme Court ruled that parliament’s decision to remove Fahmy from his position was not based on reasonable grounds and invalidated the decision.
On August 15, the Supreme Court issued an injunction to halt parliament’s appointment just as the President’s Office prepared to give credentials to Reenee.
However, the following day Chief Justice Ahmed Faiz Hussain accused his own court of issuing the injunction without his knowledge.
Former Judicial Services Commission (JSC) member Aishath Velazinee has argued that the Majlis was given authority over CSC appointments in 2010, describing the Supreme Court’s move as a “mutiny”.
During a visit to Fuvahmulah this week, President Waheed expressed his disappointment with the court’s dispute, whilst maintaining that his hands were constitutionally tied.
“All institutions are independent. Although the head of state is the president, there are no arrangements in place for him to take action against other institutions. There is not much authority. The president has quite ceremonial powers,” he is reported to have said.
(0)Dislikes(0)Chair of the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) and Supreme Court Justice Adam Mohamed is set to face a no-confidence vote introduced by fellow commission member Shuaib Abdul Rahmaan.
Speaking to local newspaper Haveeru, Rahman said that he had filed the motion earlier this week but that the Commission Chair Adam Mohamed had refused to table it during last Wednesday’s commission meeting.
“When I first filed the motion, the Secretary General of the Commission said that he could only table the motion with a proper reason. Then I told him all the reasons why the motion should be filed. But still Adam Mohamed refused to table the motion. Now he has unofficially said that he would table the motion in coming Monday,” he said.
Even though the motion has yet to be officially introduced, Rahman said that some members of the commission had talked about how the commission was currently running.
Rahman claimed that the motion was filed because the entire commission is now in a state of limbo and that Commission Chair Adam Mohamed had been abusing his powers.
Among other reasons for the motion to be filed, Rahman claims included the JSC’s failure to look into the leaked sex-tape scandal of Supreme Court Justice Ali Hameed, and abusing the power to release press statements on behalf of the commission.
Rahman alleged that Adam Mohamed has also repeatedly requested the High Court to expedite the case concerning the legitimacy of Hulhumale Magistrate Court while other important cases concerning the commission were still pending at the courts.
“There are several other issues regarding Adam Mohamed. Even other members of the commission discuss these and have on some occasions said that a motion of no confidence against Adam Mohamed needs to be filed. However none of those attempts materialised,” he said.
Rahman added that no member of the commission opposed the idea of filing a no-confidence motion against Adam Mohamed.
Rahman told Minivan News today (August 22) that he is trying to table the motion next Monday, but said that Adam Mohamed has been “very reluctant” to acquiesce.
When asked if he had discussed the matter with other commission members, Rahman said that he did not wish to comment on the outcome of the motion at the moment.
“Right now I am trying to table the motion. But I do not wish to talk about the outcome of the motion. But other members have expressed their concerns over how the commission is being run currently,” he repeated.
The JSC has meanwhile refused to comment on the matter.
(1)Dislikes(0)The Prosecutor General (PG) has filed drug related charges against Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) senior figures arrested on Hondaidhoo Island in November last year in alleged possession – and under the influence – of illegal substances.
Criminal Court Media Official Ahmed Mohamed Manik today told Minivan News that the PG had charged MPs Abdulla Jabir and Hamed Abdul Ghafoor, and a person identified as Jadhulla Jameel, with smuggling alcohol into the country and consuming alcohol.
According to Manik, the PG has also forwarded additional charges against other individuals arrested from Hondaidhoo.
Jabir, Ghafoor, and Jadhulla Jameel were also charged for objecting to urine testing and possessing of cannabis.
Former President Mohamed Nasheed’s Press Secretary Mohamed Zuhair and his wife Mariyam Faiza were also charged for objecting to take a urine test, said Manik.
Additionally, the son of former President Nasheed’s Special Envoy, Mohamed Hamdhoon Zaki, has been charged for trafficking illegal drugs into the country – the penalty for which is 25 years and can be fined up to MVR10million.
According to the Drug Act, Sections 123(a), 161(a), and 161(b), any person arrested on suspicion of having abused alcohol or narcotics has an obligation to comply with police requests for routine urine examination by promptly providing urine samples, and failure to comply is a criminal offence punishable with a one-year jail sentence.
A total of 10 people were taken into police custody on November 16 after police raided and searched Hondaidhoo with a court warrant. Officers alleged they found large amounts of suspected drugs and alcohol upon searching the island.
Two Sri Lankan nationals named Raj Mohan and Anoor Bandaranayk, as well as a Bangladeshi named Suhail Rana, were taken into custody following the island raid. Their cases have not been filed at the PG’s office.
(0)Dislikes(0)Maldives former 30 year autocratic leader, Maumoon Abdul Gayoom has said that the Elections Commission (EC) has not prepared itself to the necessary standards to hold the presidential election scheduled for September 7.
Previously, Gayoom’s party Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM) has raised several concerns over the EC that include the involvement of Indian IT specialists handling its database, the wife of the Elections Commissioner Fuwad Thowfeek being an outspoken Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) supporter, and “politicised tweets” by the commission’s Legal Director Haneefa Khalid.
In an interview given to Minivan News this week, Thowfeek revealed that the PPM had requested access to the commission’s IT section.
The PPM denied the accusation but did reiterate their concern over expat IT experts working in the commission.
“We are still quite uncertain and unsure why these people are here at this time,” said PPM MP Ahmed Nihan.
Thowfeek meanwhile told the local media this week that the commission’s internet server was continuously being attacked by hackers from both within the country and outside.
“Our server is continuously being attacked… For that reason, our IT team is continuously monitoring the server and blocking these attacks round the clock. I assure that our data is still safe and protected. There are no imminent threats of a security breach,” Fuwad told Haveeru.
Gayoom – who was on his way to Gaaf Dhaal Atoll to campaign for PPM’s Presidential Candidate Abdulla Yameen – told the media shortly before departing on Wednesday that it was critical that the EC address the issues raised by political parties.
The former president elaborated that the stability of the country relied heavily upon the freedom and fairness of the upcoming presidential elections, and that therefore it was imperative for the EC to carry out its duties in an open and transparent manner.
“We are seeing problems within the framework they have established. Other parties have even noted that. We are not, by any means, saying that they are doing things wrong. But instead, we are saying that we don’t see the Elections Commission making necessary arrangements for the presidential elections in an adequate and proper way,” Gayoom said.
Gayoom, who faced defeat at the hands of Mohamed Nasheed – now the opposition MDP’s Presidential Candidate – in the 2008 presidential elections, said that despite the days leading up to the elections being few, there “is still time to make amends”.
Speaking about PPM’s Presidential Candidate Yameen – also Gayoom’s half brother – the former president said that he had high hopes that Yameen would secure an election victory from the first round without needing to go into a run-off election.
Should the party not be able to win the election in the first round, Gayoom expressed confidence that PPM would still secure the election victory with the support of political parties who would ally with the PPM.
“We want to win this election in a way that will benefit the whole country, even if it means forming a coalition with other political parties. We are a party that had previously worked with other parties,” Gayoom said.
Thowfeek today defended the commission against Gayoom’s claims, contending that the it was “fully prepared” to hold next month’s poll.
“If he had said this in 2008, yes, we may have not been very prepared. But I don’t think anyone has the chance to say that now. In 2008, the interim Elections Commission was formed and the Elections were held in the next month. But it is not the case now,” Thowfeek said.
Thowfeek also reiterated that the commission had successfully held the local council elections in 2010, which was far more complex than a presidential election.
“Unlike the local council elections, in a presidential election, only one common ballot paper is used throughout the country. In 2010, there were separate ballot papers for 19 atoll councils, 2 city councils, and for all island councils,” Thowfeek explained.
He also said that, like any other institution, the EC would also examine matters that could be reformed but assured that it had no serious concerns regarding the facilitation of September’s poll in a free and fair manner.
He added that the commission was addressing the issues raised by the PPM and said that it would hold a presentation session with all political parties regarding the IT system in use.
“With all the resources we have, I think we are doing exceptionally well. We will continue to address issues raised regarding the elections.”
(1)Dislikes(0)Defence Minister Mohamed Nazim has said that “enhancements” will be made to US Government-supplied border controls in the next few days, amidst allegations the technology is not an adequate replacement for the scrapped Nexbis system.
Amendments will be made to the Personal Identification Secure Comparison and Evaluation System (PISCES) installed this week in order to ensure the US technology “matches” the capabilities of a previous border system provided by Malaysia-based IT group Nexbis, Nazim told Minivan News yesterday (August 21).
Nexbis’ border control system, used at Ibrahim Nasir International Airport (INIA) since September 2012, was replaced on August 20 following the government’s decision to terminate its concession agreement for the use and management of the system.
The US-provided PISCES system would only provide one of several functions afforded by the “total solution” Nexbis had installed, alleged a local source experienced in working with both border control systems. The source spoke to Minivan News on condition of anonymity.
The two systems are not compatible – at present PISCES can handle just one of the many modules managed by technology provided by Nexbis, the source continued.
“Nexbis provided a total solution that not only allowed for checking of biometric data, but would also be used to process visas and work permits.”
By comparison, the source claimed that PISCES was expected to serve effectively as an extension of the US government’s own border tracking system, allowing the country – as well as Maldives officials – to monitor the movements of specific individuals passing through the country.
Meanwhile, Nazim claimed that PISCES, which went into operation at INIA yesterday (August 20), was continuing to be developed by US and local authorities in order to meet the criteria required by Maldives immigration officials.
“During training [to use the system], we realised that we needed to do enhancements,” he said.
US officials are continuing to work with authorities to provide PISCES technical support, which had been provided as a “free gift” by the US government under a Memorandum of Intention agreed in March this year, added Nazim.
Asked if the country’s border controls could be open to abuse while these enhancements were being implemented, Nazim responded that several amendments were expected to be completed in the coming days.
“Total solution” to be replaced with “terrorist tracking”
The Department of Immigration and Emigration has confirmed that the PISCES system came into operation yesterday morning, with officials representing Nexbis and the government present to oversee the transfer of technology.
The system was functioning and had been transferred without many issues after coming online this week, said Immigration Department Spokesperson Ibrahim Ashraf.
PISCES is still presently reliant on data from the Nexbis system, though technical staff from the Malaysian firm and the Immigration Department were currently working on transferring the necessary information, said Ashraf.
However, immigration officials today requested Minivan News contact the Ministry of Defence over alleged challenges resulting from the implementation of the PISCES system.
A spokesperson for the US Embassy in Sri Lanka reiterated comments made in an official statement released in March that the system had been “tailored to the Maldives’ specific border control needs”.
Nexbis last week rubbished the Maldivian government’s reasons for terminating their agreement to build and operate a new border control system, accusing human traffickers – fearful of a more comprehensive system – of being behind the decision.
“The US PISCES system that is meant to replace the MIBCS [Nexbis system] is not a border control system nor is it an immigration solution, rather it is a terrorist tracking system that simply captures information of travellers and Maldivians who transit in and out of the country,” read an official statement.
In June, the Maldives was placed on the US State Department’s Tier Two Watch List for Human Trafficking for the fourth consecutive year.
The PISCES system, designed by US tech firm Booz Allen Hamilton, has already been implemented in numerous other countries around the world, including Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iraq, and Thailand.
Nexbis’s statement also took issue with Defence Minister Nazim’s claims that the installation of its system was causing “major losses” to the state – this claim was reported in local media on August 6 when the Malaysian company was informed it had 14 days to vacate the country.
Nexbis contended that the official notice of the termination it had received contradicted the statement given by the Defence Minister.
The company argued that its system was also installed and operated free of charge, and that the US$2.8million it had billed the government was the amount due for the arrival and departure of foreigners as per the original agreement.
The terms of the agreement are governed under Singapore law, as are those of the GMR airport contract – terminated in November last year. The cancellation of this deal, the largest foreign direct investment in the country’s history, has led the GMR to seek US$1.4billion in compensation.
The Nexbis deal has been dogged by allegations of corruption since it was agreed under the government of former President Mohamed Nasheed in 2010. The failure of the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) to conclusively prove foul play in this respect has exonerated Nexbis from such charges, the company has claimed.
(0)Dislikes(0)Foreign Minister Dr Abdul Samad Abdulla is now in a stable condition but remains in intensive care following a severe heart attack yesterday morning, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has reported.
A statement from the the Indian Government expressed the deep concern the Minister of External Relations had for Dr Samad’s health. Mr Salman Khurshid has written to his Maldivian counterpart wishing him a “speedy recovery”.
Dr Samad, 67, was rushed to Singapore’s Mount Elizabeth hospital after becoming ill. He was reportedly in the country for kidney dialysis treatment.
(0)Dislikes(0)British newspapers the Sun and the Daily Mail have identified the tourist killed at the Summer Island Village resort earlier this week as 34 year old Stuart Chance from Lincolnshire.
Mr Chance is reported to have travelled to the Maldives with his parents, who are regular visitors to the resort in Male’ Atoll. He is said to have drowned whilst snorkelling on Tuesday (August 20).
The Foreign Office is reportedly looking into Mr Chance’s death, though local police reportedly told Mr Chance’s family that his death was being treated as an accident.
Snorkelling incidents are the most common cause of tourist fatalities in the Maldives.
(0)Dislikes(0)The High Court has today overturned a Juvenile Court decision to sentence a 15-year old to 100 lashes after she was charged with fornication.
The case of the minor, who was previously found to have been a victim of sexual abuse, has garnered global media attention and condemnation from numerous human rights groups.
At the same time, an online petition calling for her sentence to be revoked has been being signed by over two million people.
Despite today’s hearing being held behind “closed doors” (as per Article 42 of the constitution), the High Court later released a statement with details of the verdict.
According to the statement, the High Court decided to revoke the minor’s sentence after she denied confessing to having consensual sex with an unknown partner during the Juvenile Court trial. Authorities previously said the minor had confessed to having consensual sex during a separate investigation into her sexual abuse.
According to Islamic Fiqh scholars, a confession of fornication can be retracted before the resulting sentence is carried out in full, the High Court statement added.
It was further noted by the court that there were discrepancies in the statement given by the girl to the Juvenile Court. The High Court concluded the minor, found to be suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, was also unable to correctly define pre-marital sex according to the law.
The High Court argued that its verdict had been based on the evidence that the girl was ‘unfit for trial’ during investigations into her alleged abuse and the subsequent Juvenile Court hearings against her.
The court said that the minor had provided her original statement in the capacity of a ‘victim’ and not a suspect, and that authorities had therefore not given her the fundamental rights legally required of a suspect in a crime.
The statement concluded by saying that the panel of judges presiding over the case did not believe that the Juvenile Court had enough evidence to prove beyond any doubt the charges against the girl. ‘Hadd’ sentences cannot be issued unless a crime can be proved beyond any doubt, the High Court argued.
To date, the girl remains under the care of the state, serving the sentence of house arrest at the children’s shelter on Vilimale’.
Successful appeal
The High Court verdict was issued after the conclusion of an appeal case against the Juvenile Court’s ruling, which was submitted by the Attorney General’s Office on March 27.
In January, the Prosecutor General’s Office claimed that charges of fornication had been raised against the girl “after extensive assessment of the case”, and that they had “no intention of reversing the decision”.
According to local media, Attorney General Azima Shakoor and officials from the Human Rights Commission of Maldives (HRCM) were present at the closed door hearing held today (August 21).
Vice President of the HRCM, Ahmed Tholal, stated that the commission had worked to protect the victim from the beginning of the case.
“It is due to the negligence of all state authorities that the case went as it did, subjecting her to an undeserved sentence while she was already a victim of abuse,” he said.
President’s Office Media Secretary Masood Imad described the High Court ruling as a “fantastic” development that he believed vindicated President Mohamed Waheed Hassan’s stance to have the flogging sentence overturned through the Maldives’ court system.
“The president has continued to stress his intention of having the case overturned by following the process of law. He has got it done by law, which is fantastic,” he stated.
Masood added that the government’s determination to have the sentence overturned was “typical” of President Waheed’s tenure as head of state since coming to power in February 2012.
Asked what impact today’s judgement might have on the government’s previously stated commitment to overseeing legal reforms of the treatment of sexual abuse victims and the use of flogging as a punishment, Masood requested contacting the Attorney General’s Office.
Attorney General Azima Shakoor was not responding to calls at time of press.
Victim accused
In June 2012, the victim gave birth to a baby that was later discovered buried in the outdoor bathroom at her residence. Her stepfather was subsequently charged with sexual abuse of a child, possession of pornographic material, and committing premeditated murder.
Meanwhile, her mother was charged with failing to report child sexual abuse and with concealing a crime.
In January, an official of the Prosecutor General’s Office stated that the charges of fornication were levied in relation to a separate offence of premarital sex that had emerged during the police investigation into the baby’s death.
Sources from Feydhoo, in Shaviyani Atoll, where the girl is from, previously told Minivan News that islanders had raised concerns regarding the minor as far back as 2009. Local people were said to have suspected that the girl had been the victim of sexual abuse, not just by her stepfather, but also by a number of other unidentified men from the island.
The Attorney General’s Office appealed the case on March 27. The announcement was made on the back of appeals from international human rights advocacy organizations and Avaaz.org, which launched an online petition – gaining over two million signatures.
The UN at the time released a statement which noted allegations that the child had been a victim of long-standing sexual abuse:
“Under international legal human rights obligations of Maldives, corporal punishment, including flogging, amounts to cruel, inhuman or degrading punishment or even to torture.”
Meanwhile, the religiously conservative Adhaalath Party, which heads the Ministry of Islamic Affairs in the current administration, previously declared that the 15 year old rape victim “deserves the punishment”.
“The purpose of penalties like these in Islamic Shariah is to maintain order in society and to save it from sinful acts. It is not at all an act of violence. We must turn a deaf ear to the international organisations which are calling to abolish these penalties, labeling them degrading and inhumane acts of torture,” said the party.
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