Author: Hawwa Lubna

President and inquiry commission pass responsibility for reforming CNI

President Dr Mohamed Waheed Hassan on Wednesday claimed that it is was up to the Commission of National Inquiry (CNI) to allow new members in its investigation of the controversial transfer of power on February 7, while the commission insists that it cannot self-enact changes to its composition.

Speaking at a press conference this afternoon, Waheed contended that it was upto the commission to “allow new members” to join the investigation.

“It is a matter that commission has to decide on. I met with the commission’s president and mentioned it. Even though I had appointed the commission, I have said that it is an independent commission. I do not criticise or oversee their work,” Waheed observed. “I am open to work as they commission want.”

However, when contacted by Minivan News on April 17, a spokesperson for the CNI said that the commission was itself unable to enact changes to its composition.

“The CNI was set up by the president, so it will be for the government to discuss this [CMAG’s findings],” the spokesperson said.

The CNI was set up by Dr Waheed Hassan to investigate the controversial change of power on February 7 which the ousted Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) maintains was a coup d’état orchestrated by remnants of the former dictatorship, funded by several resort interests and carried out by mutinous police and military units.

However, the commission’s credibility has been challenged by both local NGOs and the Commonwealth which has urged the government “to review immediately the composition and terms of reference of the Commission to make it genuinely independent, credible and impartial.”

According to Waheed, discussions on reforming the CNI are underway, but stopped short from giving a date on when the changes will be finalised. The government-set deadline for producing the final inquiry report is May 31.

“Talks are underway on reforming the Inquiry Commission. But no decisions have been made yet. We will inform as soon as decisions are finalised,” Dr Waheed told the press.

Responding to Waheed’s remarks, Aiman Rasheed, Project Coordinator at Transparency Maldives today contended that the “changes should have been made months back”.

Transparency Maldives, Maldivian Democracy Network, Democracy House, and the Maldives NGO Federation, itself representing 59 organisations, joined forces to push for “immediate changes to the Commission of National Inquiry (CNI) so that it gains public trust and confidence and is able to achieve its objectives.”

“To put it simply, the commission was established by a presidential decree. Therefore any changes to the commission’s mandate, composition or scope of investigation can only be made by the president himself,” Aiman pointed out.

He observed that the government has failed to respond to the civil society’s requests to reform the mandate and scope of the CNI based on cross-party agreement.

“If the CNI completes its investigation with the current composition, it is bound to create further chaos,” Aiman concluded.

Waheed noted that he has spoken to the head of the commission over civil society’s request for observer status and added that the decision must be taken by the commission.

Meanwhile, CNI has come under fire from the Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group (CMAG) which released a statement last week giving the government four weeks to reform the body established to investigate the February 7 change of power lest CMAG consider “further and stronger measures”.

“The group was of the view that the Commission of National Inquiry, established to assess the events leading to the transfer of power on 7 February 2012, is not independent or impartial, and has failed to gain sufficient support in Maldives,” read the CMAG statement.

Subsequently, members of parliament backing President Waheed have called on the state to withdraw the country’s membership from the Commonwealth, during a debate on a resolution forwarded on Monday.

Newly sworn in Vice President Mohamed Waheed Deen claimed at the same press conference that allowing foreigners to intervene in the domestic affairs would be an an “attack on our independence and national sovereignty”.

However, Waheed today noted that the “government does not consider leaving Commonwealth” and added that the international organisation in which Maldives participates, can continue to make recommendations, but the decisions on the national matters “will be solely made by us”.  “We are not going to do whatever someone tells us to do.”

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Police mistakenly release picture of college student in drug suspect case

The Maldives Police Service has apologised to a 23 year-old female college student after she was wrongfully identified and pictured in the media as a suspect in a drug investigation.

Police released the picture of Aishath Hanaa of G Shady Ground on Wednesday night, after identifying her as a suspect in a case involving narcotics and money seized from a house in capital Male’ following a police raid.

However, the real suspect arrested was actually Aishath Hanaa,22, from M Fanari – a woman who shared the same name.

In a statement released on Sunday, police apologised for the incident, claiming that the innocent woman’s picture was sent out by “mistake” as both she and the actual suspect shared the same name.

Police further confirmed that the “woman in the first photo released by the police is a college student and did not have any police record”.

According to the statement, police accepted complaints from the woman’s family, who are reported to be “outraged” over the release of wrong photo.

Hanaa’s mother told Minivan News that the family was “deeply shocked” when Hanaa’s photo was published by several media outlets, painting her as a prime suspect in a drug case.

“My daughter was at the class when I first heard the news. I called her phone and she disconnected it. I was really scared and thought what if she had actually been arrested. But I called the police and found out from them that the photo was a mistake. I was outraged but relieved that it was not my daughter,” she said. “Now I am afraid of what people may think of my family and children.”

Although the police service has now publicly apologised for the error, she said that the family is discussing filing a defamation suit against the police as “their mistake has brought irreparable damage to Hanaa and her family’s reputation”.

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Domestic Violence Bill ratified by President Waheed

President Dr Mohamed Waheed Hassan has today ratified the Domestic Violence Bill – the first piece of legislation to be approved by him since taking office on February 7.  The bill was passed by the parliament on April 9 and how now been approved by the president, allowing it to come into force as the Prevention of Domestic Violence Act.

This act defines domestic violence as an attack against someone by any other person with whom that they are presently, or have been in a domestic relationship. It also provides protection for victims of domestic violence and seeks to punish the perpetrators of such crimes.

According to the President’s Office, some of the objectives of the act include; declaring all acts of domestic violence as a punishable crime, giving protection and safety to victims of domestic violence and giving cost-effective, due and timely justice to victims of domestic violence.

The Prevention of Domestic Violence Act also includes frameworks for  conducting programmes to support victims of domestic violence.  This includes setting out measures for taking all necessary steps to prevent domestic violence, whilst rehabilitating perpetrators of such crimes and facilitating the implementation of court orders and orders from other law enforcement authorities to prevent domestic violence.

Speaking after ratifying the bill, President Waheed announced that the Family Protection Authority (FPA), which is required to be established under the act, would be formed soon.  The president has pledged to appoint the seven member FPA board without any further delay.

UN Women, which provided detailed inputs on the draft bill with other United Nations agencies has meanwhile welcomed the passage of the law and pledged its full support to consolidate the Act.

“This is a remarkable gain for the women of Maldives,” said Anne F. Stenhammer, the Regional Programme Director of UN Women in South Asia in a statement released last week.

“We hope to work together with the government and other UN agencies to raise awareness of the law and help in its implementation.”

Michiyo Yamada, Gender Specialist at the UN Women Maldives organisation added that her office has been working together with other UN agencies to support the government in developing the 4th and 5th combined state report for the Convention on The Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW).

“Addressing violence against women is one of the key areas highlighted in the previous concluding remarks in 2007. UN Women hopes to support the Maldives in implementing the UN Secretary General’s Campaign, UNiTE to End Violence Against Women, which aims at adopting national laws and multi-sectoral action plans and collecting data on the prevalence of violence against women and girls.” Yamada observed.

According to a national survey on “Women’s Health and Life Experiences”, which was conducted with the support of UNFPA, UNICEF and the WHO, one in every three Maldivian women aged between 15 and 49 reported experiencing some form of physical or sexual violence at least once.

Information from Family Protection Units confirm such a prevalence, and indicate that 87 per cent of perpetrators are known to the survivors.

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Prosecutor General recieves cases against five suspects in Muheeth’s murder case

The police have forwarded the case of 21 year-old Abdul Muheeth’s murder to the Prosecutor General’s (PG) office, requesting five suspects be charged in connection to the attack.

Muheeth, of G. Veyru, was stabbed to death near the Finance Ministry building on February 19.

Police have released the pictures and names of three suspects, while the identity of two other suspects linked to the murder were withheld as they are minors.

A statement released by the police says that cases have been forwarded against Muhujath Ahmed Naasih of Abulagee Ge on Gahdhoo in Gaaf Dhaal Atoll, Mohamed Maimoon of Zaithoonige, on Naifaru of Lhaviyani atoll and Ali Mushahfau of Sultan Villa on Maradhoo in Seenu Atoll.

According to police, Muheeth was allegedly murdered by the gang in a case of mistaken identity.

Police Inspector Abdulla Satheeh earlier told the press that the investigation into Muheeth’s death showed that he was not attacked for any involvement in gang related crimes, and that he had no police record.

He also noted that Satheeh was not a member of any gang, and was working in a responsible job at the time.

Satheeh added that there was enough evidence to prosecute the suspects, but said police were still working to collect more evidence.

He said that police gave high priority to such cases and assured the public that the case was proceeding at a fast pace.

A close friend of Muheeth told Minivan News that Muheeth was attacked by the gang because he was a close friend of the person they wanted to attack.

‘’It was a week after the person they wanted to attack had left the country to study and was killed,’’ he claimed. ‘’I say the assailants should receive the death penalty, and the police should also make them apologise to his mother and father,” he said, on condition of anonymity.

Almost two months after Muheeth’s murder, a 33 year-old man was was stabbed to death. Police have arrested five people in connection with the murder of Ali Shifan ‘Tholhi Palay’ of M.Fairy Corner. The case is currently being investigated.

Meanwhile, the courts are hearing cases against six suspects, including who have been charged with brutally murdering 76 year-old Ali Hassan, who was discovered with multiple stab wounds in an abandoned home on Kudahuvadhoo of Dhaalu Atoll in January.

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Mixed political responses as PPM becomes minority party in Majlis

Ahmed Shareef of the Progressive Party of the Maldives (PPM ) was sworn in as MP for Thimarafushi on Wednesday, enabling former President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom’s party to achieve official recognition in the 77 seat parliament as the minority leadership.

Since its formation as a party in October 2011, PPM MPs have been required to stand as independent members in the Majlis chamber.

This requirement is based on parliament regulations that refuses a political party official representation in the People’s Majlis until one of its members contests and wins an election. PPM MPs had been previously elected to their respective seats in 2009 under a Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP) ticket.

Following the oath-taking ceremony yesterday, Shareef attended his first parliamentary session as an MP to speak on the amendment proposed to the Decentralisation Act.

Shareef won the Thimarafushi seat in a by-election this weekend against Mohamed Musthafa, a Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) member who had previously held the seat. Musthafa was disqualified by the Supreme Court in February over decreed debt.

Jumhoory Party (JP) Deputy Leader Abdullah Jabir, who had won the Kashidhoo constituency’s by-election is expected to be sworn in today, raising the number of JP representatives in the parliament
to three.

Local media has reported that 44 MPs representing the PPM, DRP, JP and Dhivehi Qaumee Party (DQP), alongside several independent members, have now pledged allegiance to President Mohamed Waheed Hassan’s national unity government.

PPM representation

The DRP was the first official party registered by Maumoon Abdul Gayoom before he announced his resignation from politics in February 2010. After his resignation, Gayoom became the party’s “honorary leader”.

However, Gayoom last year became increasingly politically active and later fell out with his anointed replacement, Ahmed Thasmeen Ali in a public war of words.

This dispute led the former president to form the PPM after an acrimonious split. Several then-DRP MPs loyal to Gayoom and his half brother Abdullah Yameen’s People’s Alliance (PA) party then joined the PPM.

While Shareef’s victory has enabled the PPM to achieve official representation in the People’s Majlis, the party also stands to gain the minority leadership in parliament with a total of 17 members.

The DRP, which formerly held the minority leadership position, presently holds 15 MPs, while the now opposition MDP holds the majority party status with a 32 member parliamentary group.

In this environment, PPM Parliamentary Group Leader Abdulla Yameen contended that the party would become the largest in the country. Yameen has said that “any seats that become vacant in the parliament will be won by PPM hereafter”.

“PPM will become the leading party in working for the people’s right without any personal agenda,” he claimed in a rally held Sunday on Guraidhoo Island to celebrate PPM’s by-election victory.

DRP response

Deputy Leader of the DRP parliamentary group, Dr. Abdullah Mausoom meanwhile has told Minivan News that the party welcomed the PPM’s entry as an official party into parliament, adding that its promotion to minority party leadership did not “bother” DRP members.

Parliament’s current minority leader is Ahmed Thasmeen Ali, but once the change is finalised, Yameen said is expected to take the position.

“We do note work in the parliament, debate or vote based on minority or majority party. We prioritize people and nation’s interests,” Mausoom observed.

He further claimed that there was now a great opportunity to “enrich parliament’s debates through a variety of arguments and dimensions.”

While the DRP stands to lose its minority leadership, the MDP is meanwhile pushing for a no confidence motion against Speaker Abdullah Shahid, a DRP MP.

However, Mausoom insists that the vote will not succeed, adding that the MDP was “mistaken to think” that they will secure enough votes to remove Shahid.

PPM’s spokesperson Ahmed Mahloof meanwhile has been reported as saying in the local media that he would “like very much to vote against Shahid”.

However, Mahloof stressed that the PPM would decide what action should be taken against the speaker through a parliamentary group meeting.  The PPM spokesperson said there were important issues to be addressed in relation to Shahid’s position. Mahloof  alleged additionally that the motion was an attempt by the MDP to fragment the pro-government coalition in which DRP and PPM members are at the forefront.  Several of the parties’ MPs currently serve as cabinet ministers.

Shahid has been target of no-confidence motions over the years, as various political parties have accused him of favouring other sides in the country’s highly partisan parliament.

“Witch hunt”

MDP spokesperson Hamid Abdul Ghafoor told Minivan News that the party accepted the “PPM as the new political reality” after years of facing the DRP as its major parliamentary opponent.

However, he noted that the PPM’s road to official representation in parliament and obtaining the minority leadership has been “aided through the February 7 coup.”  The MDP continues to allege that former President Mohamed Nasheed was forced to resign “under duress” on February 7.

Ghafoor claimed that the MDP was concerned that the “current government is on a political realignment witch hunt against its MPs to force them to cross party lines.”

“As you know there are MP’s with skeletons in their closets. These MPs will be the first to realign and we are already witnessing some two to three members within the MDP flirting with crossing party lines. They are not saying they will resign. But as you can see they are attending government ceremonies and showing support,” Ghafoor explained.

Ghafoor speculated that the country was witnessing a significant “political realignment”.

“We are seeing the tip of it. If it [new government] is allowed to entrench for longer, MDP will lose several political gains,” he said.

“The MDP government’s democratic reforms to decentralisation and social protection policies all are under attack and the country will fall back from the centre right policy into the elements of the old dictatorial regime.”

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Palestine President visits Maldives: “Strong Palestine would enable Israel security,” Dr.Waheed

Palestine President Dr Mahmoud Abbas arrived in the Maldives Tuesday, marking the highest-level visit to the Maldives by an official from the Middle Eastern state for 28 years.

Former Palestinian Leader Yasser Arafat had previously visited the Maldives in 1984.

The Maldives Foreign Ministry described the visit today as a “historic moment for Maldives-Palestine relations” and a “time for us to reaffirm the close brotherly bonds which bind our peoples together and to reassert our support for Palestinian statehood.”

As part of the visit, Abbas met with President Dr Mohamed Waheed Hassan Manik this afternoon at the President’s Office.  Following official talks between the two leaders, a joint statement was given to the media in which Abbas expressed hope that the visit would “enhance the historic relations that already exist between our two countries and peoples”.

Whilst speaking on the current political situation in Palestine and in the Middle-East, Abbas noted that the “peace process in the Middle-East is facing many obstacles because of the Israeli rejection of its obligations according to the international law and quartet statements”.

“In spite of that we are confirming our dedication for negotiations as the best way to implement the two state solution – Israel and Palestine living side by side in peace and prosperity according to Arab peace initiatives and quartet statements,” Abbas observed.

Meanwhile, briefing the media on discussions with the Palestinian delegation, President Waheed stated that he had “reassured President Abbas of our strong support for the peace process” and that the “Maldives endorses Palestine’s stand that direct peace talks with Israel can only be fruitful when Israel suspends the building of settlements in the West Bank.”

The president also added that Maldives would support Palestine’s application for membership of the United Nations and any other international organisations, while noting that Maldives has been a strong supporter of Palestine at the UN Human Rights Council and had utilised every opportunity at the Council to advocate the rights of the Palestinian people.

Even though there is broad support for these calls in Human Rights Council, Waheed stated that the “world has to realise that without a Palestinian State, there can never be Palestinian rights”.

“International recognition of the State of Palestine is no barrier to the continuation of the peace talks. Rather, it helps to bring a sense of equality to both sides in the negotiations,” Waheed continued.

“The security of Israel is equally important. It is also in the best interest of Israel to see the emergence of a viable and strong Palestine. Only a viable and strong Palestine would enable Israel to achieve its own security,” he contended.

“It is therefore profoundly important, and indeed, necessary that a strong and thriving Palestinian State is established on the lands occupied by Israel since 1967. An independent Palestinian state is necessary for achieving durable peace in the region. Most of all, it is necessary for healing the wounds of the past, and achieving reconciliation based on the principles of justice and equality. These are challenging yet attainable objectives. Given the President’s own extra-ordinary life story, I am confident that these objectives can be achieved under the President’s leadership,” Waheed noted.

The floor was closed for questions from reporters and President Abbas was immediately escorted to the jetty to leave for Kurumba Resort.  Upon arriving at the resort, the Palestinian leader met with Former President and Leader of the pro-government Progressive Party of the Maldives (PPM) Maumoon Abdul Gayoom and Abduallah Shahid, Speaker of the Parliament.

“Grievances”

Following the talks with Abbas, Maumoon told local media that Abbas had aired grievances over the Maldives absence in a vote taken in October 2011 to grant Palestine full membership to the the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).

He claimed that Palestinian delegation had noted that Maldives did not vote in the UNESCO meeting and it was a “big shock” to Palestine and it had “deeply upset” them.  The former president noted: “I was very embarrassed to hear that. Maldives should not have done something like that. I told the [delegation] the Maldives did it [not vote] because of the government at the time was under overwhelming foreign influence. But in future, it will not be repeated.”

Minivan News asked whether Abbas had shared any concerns over the former Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) government’s ties with the Isreali government.

Whilst in power, the MDP were repeatedly criticised by the then-opposition claiming the government was conspiring with “Christian missionaries” and “Jews” to “wipe out Islam” from Maldives.  The former government has continued to deny the charges, adding that it held the same diplomatic and business relations with Israel that it has with countless other nations around the world.

The Maldives was amongst the nations that were openly critical of the Israeli military response in 2010 to a so-called “Freedom Flotilla” bound for Palestine that reportedly led to nine people being killed aboard the MV Mavi Marmara vessel during an assault in international waters. An estimated 60 activists and 10 Israeli soldiers were also injured in the scuffles that the Maldives’ Ministry of Foreign Affairs condemned “in the strongest possible terms”.

However, Gayoom also said that he had been informed by the visiting Palestinian delegation that they do not want Maldives to establish ties with Isreal.

“They do not want Maldives to do something like that. Because Palestine is still a country which has not acheived its people’s rights and Isreal is the one blocking it. Therefore, the Palestinian government does not want at all for Maldivian government to foster relations with them [Isreal]. Neither do the Maldivians want that,” Gayoom further claimed.

The former president contended that Maldives had always shared good relations with Palestine apart from the last three years of Mohamed Nasheed’s rule, which he described as having “supported Isreal”.

However, Nasheed’s administration contended such claims were “slanderous allegations” and in a visit to Palestine last year, then Foreign Minister Ahmed Naseem announced that the Maldives would work towards the establishment of a sovereign state of Palestine by garnering international support.

According to foreign ministry officials, discussions were held over the opening of a Palestinian Embassy in the Maldives, as well as the creation of a joint Ministerial Action Group to further develop multi-sectoral relationships betwen the two countries.

Abbas is scheduled to depart tomorrow afternoon following a State Luncheon hosted by Dr Waheed.

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Gayoom claims “special motive” behind international calls for early elections

Former President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom has claimed that international calls for early elections are driven by a “special motive” that poses a direct threat to the Maldives’ sovereignty and religious heritage.

Gayoom, currently the leader of the Progressive Party of the Maldives (PPM), alleged that during his 30 year reign, international parties had always been attempting to influence the Maldives because of its 100 percent Muslim status.

The comments were made during a PPM rally on the island of Guraidhoo, Thaa atoll, where people had gathered to celebrate a weekend parliamentary by-election victory for the party.

Reporting from the island, Minivan News’ Hawwa Lubna witnessed hundreds of people in the audience for Gayoom’s address, which was made ahead of a meeting of  the Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group (CMAG) today.

The ministerial action group is expected to discuss the controversial transfer of power that brought President Waheed into office on February 7 amongst a number of issues during today’s meeting.

CMAG was last month accused by members of President Waheed’s government of showing “bias” towards certain political parties in calling for general elections as early as possible to resolve questions over the administrations legitimacy.

The Commonwealth has since been supported by both the EU and US in calling for programs to be put in place to facilitate early elections before 2013.

The calls follow allegations by former President Mohamed Nasheed that he was removed from office in a “coup d’etat” on February 7 after sections of the military and police mutinied.

On the back of international pressure for fresh polling, Gayoom has claimed that the PPM – as part of the national unity government bought to power under President Waheed – has been given a public mandate following the weekend’s by elections.

Speaking at Monday night’s rally held to celebrate party candidate Ahmed Shareef’s win in the Thimarafushi parliamentary by-election, Gayoom contended that the “by-elections are the early elections”.

“The results prove PPM has the support of people,” the former president said.

Gayoom therefore argued that there was no room for early elections in the country, adding that the next constitutionally mandated election should be held in 2013.

“We must not not talk about holding an election which the constitution does not allow. However, several foreign parties are calling for this [early elections]. They are talking about it with a special motive,” Gayoom claimed.

“We must protect our sovereignty. We must protect our independence. We must not let anyone [foreigners] to intervene in our internal affairs.”

Gayoom also alleged that “different foreign parties are influencing Maldives because we are a 100 percent Muslim nation” and added that he “knows clearly why the international community is attempting by different means to restore Former President Mohamed Nasheed’s rule.”

“A very reliable person had told me former [President Nasheed’s] government had said that within a year of them coming to power, a church, a Christian church will be built in Maldives. But [Nasheed] could not do it,” Gayoom claimed.

Nasheed’s opponents have repeatedly accused his government of cooperating with “Christian missionaries” and “Jewish parties” to “wipe out Islam” from the Maldives.

Independence

Meanwhile, Gayoom further alleged that even during his 30 year rule, several foreign parties had “offered money” in return for implementing their proposals in Maldives, although he did not articulate on those proposals.

“But I put the nation’s interest first. I put the nation’s independence first. No matter how much money was offered, how many things they proposed to do in return, we did not want to give even the smallest part of our land. We did not want to handover any part of our independence to foreigners.” Gayoom contended.

The comments by Gayoom, who served in office for thirty years before being voted out in the country’s first democratic general election in 2008, mirrored earlier claims by the government that presidential elections were not needed this year – despite international calls to the contrary.

The government said that it believed victory for its coalition partners in the weekend’s two parliamentary by-elections was a clear indication of its “mandate” amongst the Maldivian people to remain in power until 2013.

Government spokesperson Abbas Adil Riza additionally called on international bodies like CMAG to take the results of the polls into consideration this week when reflecting on the need for fresh national polls.

From a government perspective, Abbas claimed that the two parliamentary and two island council by-elections should be seen as a “vote of confidence” by the public in the national unity government made up of several national parties.

Commonwealth membership

Following CMAG’s calls last month for early elections to be held in the Maldives at the earliest date possible, the government said it was concerned over the “language” used by the commonwealth in its statement.

The President’s Office said that although it was not for the time being looking to leave the Commonwealth, it added that such a move could be considered if CMAG continued to use similar language in the future.

“If this language continues, we will look to consider our position [in the Commonwealth],” government spokesperson Abbas Adil Riza told Minivan News at the time.

The government later denied it had made such claims, alleging to local media that the report in Minivan News had been “politically motived”.

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Record high convictions of child sex offenders in Ugoofaaru court

The magistrate court on the Ungoofaaru island of Raa atoll has sentenced a  man to 15 years imprisonment for sexually abusing his step daughter.

He was also found guilty of possession of pornographic images and sentenced to additional four months in jail.

The man was arrested from Maduvaree island and charged under the Use of Special Procedures in Dealing with Child Abusers Act which stipulates strict punishments for persons found guilty of sexually abusing children.

Ungoofaru magistrate court has a notable record in convicting child sex offenders from Raa Atoll, which has a population of nearly 20,000 on 16 different inhabited islands.

In a press statement released Monday,  the Maldives Police Service noted that last year Ugoofaaru court had convicted eight people in relation to 10 different child abuse cases.

In February 2011, the court sentenced a man from the island of Kinolhas to 10 years in prison for abusing a 12 year-old disabled girl, and another man from Ugoofaaru was sentenced in April to 10 years imprisonment for sexually abusing a 17 year old girl.

A man from Rasmaadhoo was found guilty of sexually abusing his step daughters aged 12 and 14 for several years. He was sentenced to 15 years in jail while in a similar case a man from Alifushi was sentenced to 20 years in jail for sexually abusing his 17  year old daughter on multiple occasions.

Ungoofaaru court had also sentenced a man from capital Male’  to 20 years imprisonment after he was  found guilty of threatening his 15 year old daughter with a knife and sexually abusing her. His wife from Maakurathu was meanwhile sentenced to six months in jail for hiding her husband’s crime, while another man who had given strong medicine to the 15 year old girl was fined up Rf 200 (US$13).

In October, the court sentenced a man from Kandolhudhoo island for sexually abusing a 13 year old boy and later had that month also sentenced a man from Inamaadhoo island for sexually abuing an 11 year old girl.

The police observed that all cases were investigated by the Ungoofaaru police station in partnership with the Family and Children Centre on the island.

According to the Gender Department, a total of between December 2010 and October 2011, 1,138 cases of child abuse were reported to from atoll family and children service centres. A total of 1,005 cases involved minors while 133 cases involved victims aged 18 and above.

Approximately a third of the 81 cases involving children less than one year-old involved neglect. Sexual abuse was reported in a quarter of the 192 cases for age group one to five, and in a fifth of the 230 cases age group five to ten.

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MDP attempts to stop courts from preventing disciplinary action against judges

Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) MP Imthiyaz Fahmy today submitted a parliamentary motion aimed at blocking the country’s courts from issuing rulings preventing their own watchdog body from taking disciplinary action against judges.

The motion follows a recent decision by the High Court to uphold a civil court injunction preventing the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) from taking action against Criminal Court Chief Judge Abdullah Mohamed until a final verdict was reached at the Civil Court.

Judge Abdulla was a central figure in the downfall of former President Mohamed Nasheed after he was detained by the military.  Abdulla’s controversial detention was made after the government accused him of political bias, obstructing police, stalling cases, links with organised crime and “taking the entire criminal justice system in his fist” to protect key figures of the former dictatorship from human rights and corruption cases.

Abdulla Mohamed obtained the injunction against his investigation by the judicial watchdog in September 2011 after it produced a report stating that he had violated the Judge’s Code of Conduct by making politically biased statements in an interview he gave to private broadcaster DhiTV.

According to the motion submitted today by MP Imthiyaz Fahmy, it is unconstitutional for a superior court to rule on a cases pertaining to the JSC’s decisions, as well as to prevent the commission from performing its statutory obligation to investigate and take action against judges.

Fahmy argued that allowing the courts to defy the JSC’s decision contravened the purpose of establishing the court watchdog as an independent institution in the first place.  He argued that such a decision violated the system of checks and balances designed to ensure separate powers of state.

Fahmy also observed that the parliament cannot remove the judge from a bench while a case concerning the matter is at court and noted that it would be an obstruction to parliament’s duty as well.

Several pro-government MP’s challenged the motion, citing the judge had not been convicted of any offence and must not subjected to unfair treatment or intimidation.

Former President’s member on the JSC and whistle-blower Aishath Velezinee for several years contended that Abdulla Mohamed was a central, controlling “father figure” in the lower courts, answerable to former President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom.  She also claimed the judge was a key figure responsible for scuttling the independence of the judiciary under the new constitution.

Allegations against the judge, which date back to 2005, include misogyny, sexual deviancy, throwing out an assault case despite the confession of the accused, political bias, obstruction of police duty, disregarding decisions of high courts, deliberately holding up cases involving opposition figures and barring media from corruption trials.  He also stands accused of ordering the release of suspects detained for serious crimes without a single hearing, maintaining “suspicious ties” with family members of convicts sentenced for dangerous crimes, and releasing a murder suspect “in the name of holding ministers accountable” who went on to kill another victim.

In one instance, Abdulla Mohamed was accused of requesting that two underage victims of sexual assault act out their attack in court in front of the perpetrator.

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