Author: JJ Robinson

Police trace online stalker

Police have traced the internet connection of a man who allegedly threatened a 14-year-old girl online in an attempt to coerce her into “sexually indecent” behaviour.

“The perpetrator tried to demand the girl go to somewhere, and that he had photos and videos of her he would leak if she did not,” said Police Sergeant Shiyam.

Police said officers were initially approached by concerned friends of the girl during a school session on child abuse run by the family and child protection unit.

An investigation involving the police’s digital evidence unit tracked the man’s internet connection to his room, where police discovered three hard disks, two multimedia cards and two pen drives containing chat logs and emails threatening the girl.

“We are investigating how long it had been going on; we were lucky we found out about it so early,” Shiyam said.

The drives also contained nude photos and video clips of other young Maldivian girls, whom police said they were now trying to trace. Police said forensic evidence indicated that some of these photos had been uploaded to the internet.

The case has been forwarded to the Office of the Prosecutor General while police have released the perpetrator on a court order.

Investigating cases of online sexual abuse was “something new” for police, Shiyam said, “and something to be really concerned about.”

“Girls and boys are good at using the web and it’s not that easy to control and monitor them.”

Jeehan Mahmoud, spokesperson for Human Rights Commission Maldives (HRCM), said the Commission hoped that if found guilty the perpetrator would be charged under parliament’s new child abuse legislation that extends sentencing periods to a maximum of 25 years.

“Secondly, we want the concerned authorities to monitor the impact of multimedia on this type of crime more closely,” she said. “The Commission believes internet monitoring needs to be considered – it is something the state is obligated to do.”

Parents also needed to monitor their children’s use of the internet, she added. “Definitely parents need to be aware of what their children have access to. There hasn’t yet been a report into online [child abuse], but as it’s a growing trend perhaps it’s time to look into it further and find a way to curb it before it gets any bigger,” she said.

The Commission has received 10 reports of child abuse this year compared to four in the previous year, Jeehan said, “although it is difficult to say whether this due to an increase in reporting. People have certainly become better educated about human rights during the last four years.”

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Dissolving IDCs an undemocratic power grab, says DQP

The government’s abolition of the Island Development Committees (IDC) is a blow against democracy in the Maldives, the Dhivehi Qaumee Party (DQP) has said.

“This is a mockery of the public and the Constitution,” the party said, “and more a feature of autocratic rule than democracy.”

The Maldivian Cabinet dissolved the IDCs – elected bodies of five to seven members, functioning like a local council – last month after
courts ruled they had no legal authority under the new constitution.

Government-appointed advisory boards will administer the islands until local councils can be elected, assuming a decentralisation bill (currently at committee stage) is passed by parliament.

“We think this is a step backwards for democracy,” said DQP Secretary General Abdullah Ameen, who accused the government of strengthening its territorial control through autocracy.

“Even during Gayoom’s time the IDCs were the only institutions where people on the islands saw democracy practiced, and were among the only democratic institutions in the country,” he said.

The move, claimed independent MP Mohamed Nasheed on DhiTV last night, amounted to “burying democracy in the islands”.

Under the terms of the constitution, the elections of island, atoll and city councils were to be held before July 1, 2009, in order to provide for decentralised administration of the country.

Instead, argued the DQP, the government had not only missed the deadline but was using the dissolution of the IDCs to claim island assets such as powerhouses for privatisation.

“Dismissing the IDCs and appointing advisory boards doesn’t accomplish anything,” Ameen said.

The deadline for the local elections elapsed after the parliamentary election was postponed from February to May because MPs failed to pass the necessary legislation.

Deputy Home Minister Ahmed Shafeeq acknowledged that island assets were currently being valued through the courts before being handed over to utility companies, but said the government was waiting for the”new rules and procedures” in the decentralisation bill to be implemented before establishing elected and salaried island and atoll councils.

“After the new constitution was introduced the Island Development Committees were no longer lawful – and that’s a problem for such an institution,” he said.

“They have no legal basis and we can’t just [continue] as if they do,” he added, explaining that the government-appointed advisory boards were only a temporary measure.

Besides dissolving the IDCs, the cabinet decided to allow the development of tourist guest houses on inhabited islands in the hope of generating additional income from visitors.

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More mules arrested in latest drug bust

Police have taken two Maldivians into custody at Male’ airport after receiving information from India that the pair were carrying drugs.

Twenty-five year-old Nishana Rasheed of M. Lansimoog and a 17-year-old girl travelling with her were detained by customs officers after arriving in Male’ from Trivandrum in India.

Searching their bags, officers discovered 1.3 kilograms of hash oil in polythene bags wrapped up inside bed sheets. A further search of the women found over 100 grams of heroin concealed on their
persons.

The total street value of the drugs would have been more than Rf400,000 (US$31,000), estimated Sergeant Shiyam from the Maldives Police Service.

“We would consider anything more than a kilogram to be a large bust,” Shiyam said.

The use of drug mules to get contraband into the country is a growing trend, according to the Maldivian Customs Service.

Last month four Maldivians also travelling back from Trivandrum were detained after over a kilogram of hash oil was found in cardboard boxes in their luggage.

Nishana Rasheed
Nishana Rasheed, suspected drug mule

The two men and two women claimed the boxes were given to them to bring to Male’ by another Maldivian in Trivandrum.

In April an elderly couple were detained after customs discovered them carrying a casserole dish containing more than a kilogram of heroin. They had also travelled from Trivandrum.

The prosecutor general has since charged Hussain Mohamed Manik of H. Rehi for his involvement in the crime.

President Mohamed Nasheed revealed in May that the identities of the country’s top six drug kingpins were known to the government, but said arrests could not be made before the parliamentary elections in case they were thought to be politically motivated.

Police meanwhile has appealed to travellers to inspect the contents of packages given to them by other people before travelling, as they would “have to bear full responsibility for anything in their luggage or possession.”

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Gang muggings net large haul

Last week a man was stabbed and robbed of Rf400,000 (over US$30,000) by a gang who attacked him at the Gadiburu roundabout near Orchid Magu in central Male’.

The previous month a pair of men were attacked with iron rods by a gang who then stole a bag containing Rf762,700 (US$60,000).

Four men were arrested by police in relation to that incident, including an underage boy, although the perpetrators of the latest assault are yet to be found.

Police Sergeant Ahmed Shiyam said store owners carrying large amounts of cash at night following the close of business were particularly at risk.

“Some businesses carry around a very big amount of money [after they close],” he said. “We’re trying to give the message that business and local residents should be careful about carrying such large amounts money.”

Shiyam said in some cases businesses were putting large amounts of money into bags and then leaving them on motorbikes, a practice he described as “very careless”.

One storekeeper, the manager of a shop selling souvenirs to tourists near Republican Square, said the incidents were generating concern among local businesses.

“It’s not very common and for this to happen recently with two incidents so close together is unbelievable and very harmful. The amount of money [stolen] is huge,” he said.

“We don’t carry large amounts of money because most of our transactions are by card – it’s much safer,” he added.

Shiyam said while police had yet to apprehend anybody in relation to the most recent incident, the investigation of last month’s mugging had linked previous cases to the same people.

Businesses needing to carry large amounts of money from one location to another could ask for police assistance, he added.

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Maldives struggles to obtain swine flu vaccine

The Maldives may have difficulty acquiring a vaccine believed to be effective against the H1N1 virus, despite it being produced nearby.

“There are a limited number of companies producing the vaccine, and global vaccine production is pretty low. There’s not enough to meet demand,” said Dr Ahmed Jamsheed Mohamed from the Centre for Community Health and Disease (CCHD).

“Neighbouring countries are producing the vaccine, but it is going to the West,” he claimed. “That’s part of a global issue that existed before swine flu, but it means there a difference between who needs and who gets the vaccine.”

The Maldives has developed a vaccine deployment plan, prioritising healthcare staff, however, nobody has yet been immunised.

There is no indication that wearing a surgical mask, now a common sight around the capital Male’, could protect people from flu infections, he said.

“If worn properly the masks can prevent transmission by people who are symptomatic because it eliminates the droplets,” he said.

“But when you walk around Male’ you see people wearing them like fashion statements, on their chin or forehead – this has no effect at all and probably adds to the problem.”

Temporary flu clinic opens

In response to a rising number of flu patients at Indira Gandhi Memorial Hospital (IGMH), the government has established a temporary hospital in Nasandhura Palace Hotel.

Jamsheed said the clinic was intended to relieve the pressure on IGMH staff with the onset of the flu season.

The clinic will provide anti-viral drug Tamiflu to patients who test positive to Influenza A, he said. Tamiflu is used to treat the virus but the drug is not an effective preventative.

“If we are suspicious that it could be the H1N1 (swine flu) virus we will start the patient on Tamiflu without delay,” Jamsheed said, adding that the country’s current stockpile of 2,500 adult doses “is sufficient”.

Thirty-four patients have tested positive for Influenza A so far, according to the ministry of health and family.

Of those patients 12 tested positive for the H1N1 ‘swine flu’ virus. One of them, a 65 year-old man from Raa Atoll, became the first Maldivian to die from the disease on 19 November.

The remaining 11 were treated and have since been released, Jamsheed said.

The World Health Organisation reports that over 1,000 people are now dying a week from the virus.

However Jamsheed noted that “the mortality rate of swine flu and seasonal flu is pretty much the same, although it depends on the country and things like socioeconomic factors.”

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Parliament vows to tackle domestic violence

MPs today signed a declaration supporting the elimination of violence against women, recognising the problem of domestic violence facing the Maldives and undertaking to bear it in mind when legislating.

The signing marked the 10th anniversary of the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women, a UN-led initiative to encourage countries to create and enforce laws punishing violence against women and girls, increase public awareness and strengthen collection of data on the issue.

“We must demand accountability for the violations, and take concrete steps to end impunity. We must listen to and support the survivors,” said UN Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon.

Kendhoo MP Ahmed Thasmeen Ali, parliamentary group leader of the opposition Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP), read the declaration on behalf of parliament this morning, promising that MPs will “take all steps to secure women’s rights, and will not accept sexual, physical and other forms of violence against women. We resolve to ensure that the state implements these measures and condemn all forms of violence against women and girls.”

During the debate, Maduvari MP Visam Ali of the DRP said a survey by the former gender ministry showed that one in five Maldivian women aged 15 to 49 had been sexually or physically abused by their partners.

One in nine suffered physical violence, she said, while one in eight had been sexually abused as a child. “We are stunned when we hear these statistics,” she said. “But the offenders have not been punished to anywhere near these numbers.”

The Maldivian culture of trust was partly to blame, she said, after the signing.

“Maldivian women place a lot of trust in their husbands and relatives, and most often the abuse comes from these people. There is an aspect of Maldivian culture that means because of this trust, women don’t speak about [domestic violence]. I think this is the part that has got to change,” she said.

MP's signing the declaration
MPs signing the declaration

A lack of sensitivity towards the issue among the police force added to women’s reluctance to come forward, she continued, “because police are an institution mostly made up of men, and they don’t feel the pain of this.
It’s only recently that women have become involved in police work.”

Even when domestic violence was reported there was a lack of protection and support for the victims afterwards, with no physical infrastructure and few institutional processes to support the victims.

“Maldivians also lack confidence and trust in social workers and counsellors; many are new and half-baked, so if I go to one and they talk about my problems to other people afterwards, then that’s my life lost,” she said.
Male’s congested living conditions were contributing to the problem of domestic violence, said MDP MP for Galholhu North Eva Abdullah, with cramped living conditions forcing large families to live together in small spaces “with a lack of breathing space.”

“Families and distant relatives are cramped together in small rooms,” she said. “A set up that makes it difficult for women to report [domestic violence].”

Thulusdhoo MP Rozaina Adam emphasised the importance of raising awareness of women’s rights, arguing that many Maldivian men used religion to justify discrimination against women.

“Girls need to be taught about equal opportunity,” she said, as many are told they are inferior to men.

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Serial paedophile sentenced to six years

Convicted paedophile Hussain Fazeel has been sentenced to six years’ imprisonment for 39 counts of child sexual abuse, the highest sentence for such a crime in the Maldives and a landmark decision for the country.

Fazeel was initially arrested in February for smuggling alcohol in Male, but when police searched his home they discovered a hard drive containing a large quantity of images and videos of Fazeel having sex with young boys, some as young as 10. In other videos, the boys were made to had sex with each other.

Inspector Ismail Athif of Maldives Police Service said at the time that many of the boys appeared to have aged in the material, suggesting the abuse had been occurring for some time.

He also noted that the material was of a sufficient resolution to be used for commercial purposes, and that it was possible Fazeel was part of a larger ring.
Assistant Public Prosecutor Mahmoud Saleem said that while Fazeel had committed the crimes before the recent Child Sexual Abuse (Special Provisions) Act was ratified this month, which carries penalties of up to 25 years, six years was the highest sentence recorded for the crime.

In particular, “the statements made by the victims carried great weight,” he said.
Police sergeant Ahmed Shiyam said Fazeel’s sentencing was only the beginning “and there will be more of the same”, adding that two other child sex offenders currently being investigated by police had been linked to some of the same boys abused by Fazeel.

“When we investigated Fazeel we found some boys involved in both cases,” Shiyam said.
As for the sentence given today, “I don’t know why it was only six years, it should have been more than that.”

Mohamed Shihab from Child Abuse Watch Maldives said while the sentence was not administered under the harsher laws only recent enacted, as a first step it promised “a very positive future.”

“We have not seen anything like this ever before; I’ve already called the prosecutor general to thank him for this very important first step,” Shihab said. “We can look at it very happily that justice has finally been done for the children.”

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Expat doctors deserting Maldives

Expatriate doctors are deserting the Maldives because of poor facilities and uncertainty over their pay, according to a doctor working at Indira Gandhi Memorial Hospital (IGMH).

“We’ve lost five expat doctors in the internal medicine department in the last four months,” said Dr Ibrahim Shiham. “Only one has been replaced, and from an island so not a new recruit.”

Foreign medical staff are vital to the country’s health services and comprise 85 per cent of the country’s doctors, according to Shiham, most of whom come from India with some from Nepal and Pakistan.

Many are showing reluctance to renew their contracts, Shiham claimed, because the latest round of cuts to government salaries have added to the uncertainty that followed the efforts to standardise civil servant renumeration in January.
“What actually happened was a lot of pay scales were streamlined, and doctors’ basic salary, including allowances, was ultimately down 30 to 40 per cent. So what [the government] did was invent another allowance to take it to the original break-even level. But the extra allowance has no legal standing, and in theory doctor’s salaries got a major decrease.”

With their salaries “propped up and not in the rulebook”, many expatriate doctors “started talking about leaving and looking for other opportunities,” according to Shiham.

“People who’ve been working [in IGMH] for 14-15 years have begun leaving in the last four months,” he added, when their contracts come up for renewal – something he says was rare in the past. “They realised that once they sign the contract there’s not much they can do [if the allowance is withdrawn].”

Deputy Director of the Health Ministry, Abdul Samad Abdul Rahman, said three specialists and six medical officers had left the Maldives in the last two months, and that replacements were declining offers because of the lower wages. CEO of IGMH, Zubair Mohamed, meanwhile told daily newspapers Haveeru that departures from the hospital were a “normal occurrence” and that “doctors are always leaving because their contract has expired.”

Because of its reliance on expatriates staff, particularly from India, the Maldives is also competing with the burgeoning Indian medical sector to attract staff.

“Even in Indian government hospitals, which have to compete with the private sector, a medical officer in Delhi undergoing training would get 52,000 Indian rupees, around 16,000 -17,000 Rf,” Shiham said.

Moreover, Male in particular was proving an unattractive destination for foreign staff because of high living costs and the need to leave families behind. The lack of facilities was also professionally unsatisfying, a particular issue for attracting senior staff, he explained.

“Here [at IGMH] I am only able to do 30-40 per cent of what I am trained to do because of a lack of facilities – out on an island, maybe five percent. Even equipment for kidney biopsies or needle for taking bone marrow samples. Doctors’ skills are underutilised and referrals overseas are common practice.”

Impact

The loss of medical staff is placing pressure on those who remain and affecting the amount of time doctors have to see patients, Shiham said.

The rule is we see four patients an hour, 15 minutes for each,” he said. “If we start seeing a patient every 5-6 minutes, then the patient is not being seen properly, even if he might be happy he’s seen a doctor. The level of documentation will also go down, and that will later attract a lot of litigation. The patient loses, the doctor loses and the system loses.”

Appointments were starting to being made through contacts, a situation Shiham describes as “embarrassing.” The pressure to thin the growing queues of patients was also leading to staff being recalled from other critical roles.

“I cannot stomach it when a medical officer is pulled off ICU (intensive care) to see a few more flu patients just because people are starting to shout outside. We don’t have a doctor on duty 24/7 in our critical care unit,” he said.

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BA holds launch party for London-Male’ route

British Airways held a launch party in Male for its fledgling London-Maldives service, intended to draw sun-starved tourists seeking escape from the cold gloom of the British winter.

Judy Jarvis, BA’s regional commercial manager for South Asia, said that while the route catered primarily to the luxury tourist market and the airline’s strength in the package holiday market, the company was also hoping to grow the number of outbound business passengers travelling to the UK.
 
“It’s very early days, we’ve been operating less than a month,” she said at the function on Tuesday.
 
Minister for Civil Aviation Mahmood Razee said the arrival of British Airways had compelled it to upgrade the airport’s capabilities for dealing with cargo assets, which historically “have not been so great.”
“[British Airways] carries a lot of cargo that originates in the Maldives as well as transit cargo,” he said. “We needed to put in place aspects of security and assurance, most of it procedural – things like storing cargo in a secure place.”

The additional three weekly flights may place further pressure on the airport’s ability to cope with peak periods.

“We have problems with bunching from 8am in the morning to 2pm in the afternoon, especially on a Monday,” Razee explained. “It’s partly because most traffic from Europe arrives early in the morning because of airport curfew requirements in that part of the world.”

The Maldives’ economy is heavily reliant on tourism, revenue from which accounts for one-third of its annual GDP.

Of the 800,000 passengers who pass through it annually, 600,000 are tourists, Razee said. The most prolific user of the airport is Sri Lanka Airways which operates 28 flights weekly, followed by Emirates and Qatar Airways.

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