Category: Society & Culture

Police release owner of fraudulent Maleesha Hajj Group to house arrest

Police have released the 42 year-old Head of Maleesha Hajj Group Abdul Latheef, who was arrested on charges of fraudulently collecting MVR 11.9 million (US$77,0000) from clients of his Hajj Group, under house arrest.

Police Sub-Inspector Hassan Haneef told Minivan News Abdul Latheef was switched to house arrest two days ago due to his medical condition.

‘’Police made the decision to release him after considering his medical condition, on advice from doctors who examined his case,’’ Haneef said.

In late September police alleged that Abdul Latheef had defrauded 175 people of MVR 12 million (US$778,000) after they made payments to the Maleesha Hajj Group to travel to Mecca to perform Hajj.

The owner of the business allegedly collected MVR 68,000 (US$4400) from each person, who wished to go to Mecca this year to fulfill the Hajj, one of the five pillars of Islam.

The issue was reported to police after clients of Maleesha Hajj Group noticed that the group had not called them or responded to any of their calls, and that the Maleesha Hajj Group office on Hulhumale’ was closed.

By the time police began looking for Abdul Latheef he had fled from the Maldives, and his whereabouts were unknown.

On October 2, 2012, Interpol issued a red notice to locate and apprehend Abdul Latheef and on November 25, police located and arrested him at the Mount Lavinia Hotel in Colombo, Sri Lanka.

At the time, Sri Lankan police told local newspaper Haveeru that Abdul Latheef was suspected of being involved in a Sri Lankan money laundering ring as well, and that he was also suspected of collecting money from Sri Lankans.

Likes(0)Dislikes(0)

Parliament fails to pass critical child protection bills: report

A study recently published by the Human Rights Commission of the Maldives (HRCM) highlights numerous participation and protection policy deficiencies putting Maldivian children at serious risk of harm.

The report, Child participation in the Maldives: An assessment of knowledge analyses how much the Maldives – as a fledgling democratic state and society – knows of children’s rights to participation, and assesses the mechanisms in place to protect their fundamental human rights.

The UNICEF-backed report, which was finished in 2011 but only published in January 2013, discusses children’s rights in regard to situations of violence, healthcare, family, media, and play. Children consulted were primarily from Male’ and various alternative care facilities located near Male’.

Ultimately the report recommends government and civil society organisations “push for a radical change in the traditional thinking which dominates Maldivian perceptions of children: children should be seen and not heard,” as this study states.

“If children are not heard today, who will speak for the Maldivian democracy tomorrow?”

The wide gaps between policies, legislative instruments, and their actual implementation are limiting the realisation of “progressive” measures that have been developed to enable and protect children’s rights, according to the report.

These shortcomings occur as a result of a lack of resources, political will, qualified professionals, and deliberate obstruction due to political polarisation.

In one example the report highlights the lack of a tracking system for the Ministry of Education to monitor nationwide attendance records. Thus, without the cooperation of the parliament, education cannot be made compulsory.

“The Ministry of Education is concerned with the remarkably long period of time it is taking for the parliament to pass the education bill (pending from 2009 onwards),” the report states.

The Juvenile Justice Act is another piece of legislation parliament has yet to be enacted, despite the establishment of a Juvenile Justice Court.

“This has meant that minors who commit offences, however major or minor, enter into the country’s criminal justice system, and have to be dealt with as adults.”

In practice this has led to sentencing being delayed until the child has reached 18 years of age, despite “substantial changes in behavior”. There are no separate detention centers for adults and minors, and “reformatories” are only available for boys.

“This is a form of gender discrimination at the state level that should not be occurring, and which the state should address as a matter of urgency,” the report added.

“We feel that we don’t have any rights to speak”

Focus group consultations with children as well as interviews with youth in “alternative care” facilities demonstrated how these policy shortcomings are harming Maldivian children.

The political polarisation paralysing parliament has prevented concepts of “democracy, human rights, and active citizenship,” as well as current affairs, from being discussed in schools, the report states. As a result many children are unaware of their legal rights and try to seek information outside of school.

“When we ask about issues that are talked about in parliament, we don’t really get an explanation. Also, if we become unruly and loud in the class, we are seen as ‘becoming the Majlis’,” said one child.

In a related issue, school administrations are preventing children’s participation in civil society organisations by either banning it outright or requiring school permission.

“Please let me go” – 13 year-old ETCC Maafushi resident

Government alternative care institutions intended to provide shelter, rehabilitation, or “restorative justice” suffer from the “large gaps between policy and reality,” the report stated.

Acute staffing and budget shortfalls combined with the lack of children’s rights education and the exclusion of children’s feedback have “deprived [residents] of their liberty”. Staff caring for the children are often excluded from important decisions impacting children’s quality of life at the facilities, the report said.

It cites the conditions at the Maafushi island Education and Training Centre for Children (ETCC) run by the Ministry of Education as an example.

“None of [the children] are properly informed of the reasons why they are at the centre, nor are they given any clear indications as to why they have been detained, how long they can expect to be there, and what the procedures are for leaving.

“Many were left completely in the dark by their families about their intentions to send them to Maafushi—some children only found out en route or once they arrived at the centre,” the report added.

Similar circumstances exist at the Kudakudhinge Hiyaa (Children’s Shelter) on Villingili island. The limited access to resources creates a gulf between the government’s Minimum Standards for Alternative Care Institutions and actual quality of life at the centre, the report found.

Feydhoo Finolhu Detention Centre

“A fundamental problem with the facility” exists at the Correctional Training Centre for Children on Feydhoo Finolhu island – run by the Juvenile Justice Unit (JJU) of the Ministry of Home Affairs and the Maldives Police Service’s Child Protection Unit.

“None of the children who are at the facility have been charged with a crime, let alone convicted of one,” stated the report.

The children held in “administrative detention” at Feydhoo Finolhu are identified by police as “dangerous to the wider society and themselves… because they possess the potential for committing serious offenses,” the report added.

Police officers in civilian clothes care for, guard, and teach the children. The centre reports that its success rate for correcting antisocial behavior is 80 percent.

However, sources familiar with the facility alleged to Minivan News that two juveniles detained at the facility were beaten by police officers and chose to swim to Male’ rather than stay in the facility.

Children’s rights marginalised

No state or independent institutions are mandated solely to protect children’s rights, and no coordinating body exists for the various government agencies to address different children’s issues. “Lumping” children’s rights with issues pertaining to other vulnerable groups has marginalised them, according to the report.

“[This] reinforces the general perception of children as no more than another segment of society that needs protection… thus children at large – not just their views and opinions – are very often neglected or pushed to the bottom of the state’s list of priorities.”

Few policy and legislative mechanisms exist that “formally require” children participate in decisions that will affect their lives. Both the 2008 constitution and the Law on the Protection of the Rights of the Child (91/9) lack such a provision.

Instead there is a tendency to focus on protections while excluding “positive” rights, such as children’s right to be heard, to information, and participation in political and social affairs, the report notes.

Likes(0)Dislikes(0)

Male’ City Council to appeal following court order to hand MDP protest site to government

Male’ City Council (MCC) has appealed to the High Court asking for it suspend a Civil Court ruling to hand over the Usfasgandu area to the Ministry of Housing and Infrastructure.

The Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) has been using the area as a protest camp after it was allocated the land by MCC. According to a Civil Court order, the MCC violated the government’s land use plan because it lacks the authority to hand over the land to other parties.

MCC Mayor ‘Maizan’ Ali Manik told Minivan News that the city council allocated the Usfasgandu area to the MDP in order to keep them from protesting on the streets around Male’, and that a letter had been sent to High Court today (January 21) asking it to suspend the Civil Court’s ruling.

“Usfasgandu is not only for the MDP but for the whole of Male’. Without it (the MDP) would be on the streets. To prevent this we gave them the area.

“The government want the MDP to go onto the streets, that way they can say there is no stability in the county and prevent early elections from being held,” Manik alleged.

Asked if the MDP would be allocated another area should they be removed from Usfasgandu, Manik answered “If they request for it, we will reply”.

Home Minister Mohamed Jameel Ahmed was not responding to calls from Minivan News at time of press.

The area has been used for protests by the MDP since their former site near the tsunami monument was forcibly dismantled by police and military on March 19, 2012.

Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) Spokesman Hamid Abdul Ghafoor said the threat of eviction is not an issue for the party who, if removed, “will simply have to find a new space”.

“Occasionally there are efforts made by the government to go to great lengths in order to restrict freedom of expression and assembly and this is one of them. This should not impact the MDP, we have grown in the past without space,” Ghafoor added.

“MDP are thinking in a nutshell”

Responding to allegations that the government is attempting to limit freedom assembly, President’s Office Spokesman Masood Imad told Minivan News that “if anything [the Usfasgandu handover] is facilitating freedom of assembly for everyone else”.

“By constantly being at Ufasgandu, are the MDP not limiting other people’s freedom of assembly and expression? If the Home Ministry is to take the site accessible for other parties to use the space as well as the MDP, it is not a restriction of assembly.

“They could make it like the artificial beach area so it can be used by all parties based on request, I am sure the MDP will be given the chance to use it,” Imad said.

Regarding Mayor Manik’s comments, Masood claimed the mayor needs to be more “Male’ mayor” than “MDP mayor”.

“Who is to say the MDP will start protesting on the streets if Usfasgandu is handed over? Why do some people think the [MDP] always protest?

“Contrary to what Mayor Manik thinks, I don’t think they go around making protests, I think the MDP are good guys,” Imad said.

Should MCC’s appeal to High Court fail to suspend the Civil Court’s order, MDP Spokesman Ghafoor stated it would be up to the National Executive Committee or the National Council to take the matter further.

“The reason for this would be because the MDP is being denied a constitutional right and cornerstone of the human rights based democracy we achieved through peaceful assembly,” he added.

The civil court’s ruling, which orders the area to be handed over within the next seven days, states that MMC’s current use of the area is in contradiction to the agreement made between the council, Ministry of Housing and Infrastructure, and Ministry of Finance and Treasury.

According to the agreement, the land “shall be kept empty for public use and that the land shall be developed in manner accessible to the public all times.”

Ghafoor further claimed the government has become “very adamant” in taking back control of land from local councils, alleging that the ultimate aim is to prevent freedom assembly.

Condoms and black magic: Previous Usfasgandu raid

In May 2012, Maldives’ cabinet announced its decision to hand over the Usfasgandu area to the Ministry of Housing and Environment.

Following the “non-compliance” of MCC in handing over the area, police were asked to intervene and “take over”.

Police raided the MDP protest camp at Usfasgandu on the morning of May 29, 2012, after obtaining a search warrant from the Criminal Court and cordoning off the area from MDP demonstrators.

Reasons for the search as stated on the warrant included: “suspected criminal activity”, “damage to public property”, and “suspected black magic performed in the area”.

Under evidence, the warrant alleged that people in the Usfasgandu area verbally abused police officers and damaged a police vehicle on April 20, obstructed a Maldives National Defence Force (MNDF) exercise of May 9, and on May 25 “MDP protesters threw a cursed rooster at MNDF officers.”

Likes(0)Dislikes(0)

Parliament committee to investigate detention of underage orphanage minors in Maafushi prison

Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) MP for Madaveli Mohamed Nazim has called on parliament’s national security committee to investigate the arrest of two minors living in the Villingili Orphanage.

The issue was discussed at the National Security Committee meeting on Monday. MPs decided to summon the head of the Department of Penitentiary and Rehabilitation Services (DPRS), the Ministry of Gender, Family and Human Rights, the Human Rights Commission of the Maldives (HRCM), and representatives from the Villingili orphanage.

The committee has summoned the heads of the authorities to appear on Tuesday night at 8:30pm.

In a letter to the chair of the committee, MDP MP ‘Reeko’ Moosa Manik, MP Nazim said there was public concern regardingthe arrest of the two minors.

The letter said that media reports regarding the arrest of the two minors revealed that HRCM and the Ministry of Gender, Family and Human Rights were in dispute over the issue.

Nazim asked the committee to publish details of its investigation on completion.

On January 17, HRCM called for the immediate release of two underage females living in the Villingili orphanage, who were arrested and sent to Maafushi prison.

Local media alleged the two girls, aged 15 and 16, were arrested on December 28, 2012, after escaping the orphanage in the middle of the night to fraternise with some boys.

HRCM asked the Ministry of Gender, Family and Human Rights to return the girls to the Villingili orphanage immediately, noting that their incarceration in Maafushi prison violated chapter 2, article 35[a] of the constitution.

The commission stated that government authorities had not cooperated with the commission’s investigation and had furthermore provided false information on the matter.

In response last Friday, the Ministry of Gender, Family and Human Rights issued a statement condemning the HRCM and alleging that its official who went to meet the two underage girls had forced them to talk about their past.

The ministry said it was considering taking legal action against the HRCM.

Later the same day the HRCM issued a counter statement, claiming HRCM officials who visited the jail were highly qualified.

Meanwhile, sources familiar with Maafushi prison confirmed to Minivan News that the two underage females had now been moved to a separate area of the prison, but were being kept with two other underage female inmates completing their sentences.

According to the sources, at least one man was arrested in connection with the same case as the two girls.

‘’The girls have not met the inmate [population], they have have met inmates who are participants in the handicraft workshop,’’ the source told Minivan News.

Likes(0)Dislikes(0)

Maldives government ratifies ILO conventions on worker rights

The Maldives government has ratified eight “fundamental” International Labour Organisation (ILO) conventions designed to bring legislation on employee rights and trade unions in line with international standards.

According to the ILO the conventions, which were ratified by authorities on January 4 this year, outline rights in a number of areas including allowing staff freedom of association and the prevention of child labour and discrimination on the basis of gender, religion, race or age.

The ratification of the conventions comes as foreign governments and civil society organisations continue to raise concerns about rights abuses of expatriate workers in the Maldives.

Foreign labourers are estimated to account for a significant proportion of the country’s workforce.  Just over a quarter of the Maldives population of 394,451 people is estimated to be made up of foreign workers, according to recent statistics supplied by the Department of Immigration and Emigration.

The official immigration figures found that the expatriate workforce in the Maldives had risen by September 2011 to 99,369 people from just 57,968 registered workers in December 2009.

According to the local coordination team overseeing the ILO’s work in the Maldives, many of the rights outlined in the eight fundamental conventions are already included in the country’s constitution and the Employment Act 2008.

However, the project’s organisers told Minivan News this week that its main challenge was to try and implement these laws by working with the government as well as employer and employee organisations.

“Ratification of the conventions will be beneficial to workers and workers organisations as it will improve the national labour standards concerning the freedom of association and collective bargaining rights and also help ensure better implementation of these standards in practice,” a project coordinator for the ILO told Minivan News.

“Respect for freedom of association and collective bargaining rights can lead to better labour management relations and co-operation between them. This will reduce costly labour-management conflicts and promote industrial harmony and social stability.”

The eight fundamental conventions ratified by the Maldivian government this month are:

  • The Forced Labour Convention, 1930 (No. 29)
  • The Abolition of Forced Labour Convention, 1957 (No. 105)
  • The Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise Convention, 1948 (No. 87)
  • The Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining Convention, 1949 (No. 98)
  • The Equal Remuneration Convention, 1951 (No. 100)
  • The Discrimination (Employment and Occupation) Convention, 1958 (No. 111),
  • The Minimum Age Convention, 1973 (No. 138),
  • The Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention, 1999 (No. 182)

With the ratification of these conventions, which will come into effect in a year’s time, the ILO project’s coordinators have set three main objectives that it will aim to meet  over the course of the next three years.

These objectives include introducing a legal framework to implement international labour standards, improving the capacity of national mechanisms to resolve labour disputes and strengthen worker and employer organisations to try to improve overall working conditions and productivity.

In a statement released following the ratification of the conventions, Minister of Foreign Affairs Dr Samad Abdullah praised the government’s ratification of the conventions as a “major achievement” for the present administration.

Dr Samad cliamed that the conventions would allow the country to break new ground in protecting labour rights in the country.

“It is also an important accomplishment in the government’s human rights agenda and one which will fill an existing gap in the national human rights framework,” he stated.

According to the ILO, the Maldives has become the fourth country to ratify all eight of the organisation’s fundamental conventions in the South Asia region. The Maldives became a member of the ILO back in 2009.

Beyond signing the convention on labour rights, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs this month also inaugurated an initiative targeted at raising awareness of the human trafficking issue in the Maldives.

The strategy, entitled ‘Blue Ribbon Campaign Against Human Trafficking’ is expected to include activities to try and raise awareness among students and the business community.

Rights concerns

Both these commitments have been agreed as the Maldives has come under continued criticism for its treatment of foreign workers.

Indian authorities by the end of last year warned that tightened restrictions enforced at the time on providing medical visas to Maldivians were a “signal” to the country’s authorities to address a number of concerns about the nation’s treatment of migrant workers.

A commission spokesperson expressed concerns over a number of practices being used by both public and private employers in the Maldives such as the confiscation of passports of some migrant workers.

Meanwhile, back in November, the Human Rights Commission of Maldives (HRCM) called for an end to discrimination against foreign workers, criticising Maldivian society for failing to recognise “the significant contribution” expatriates have made to national development.

However, concerns about worker treatment in the country are not exclusively focused on migrant workers.

A letter from the President’s Office claiming to have addressed alleged rights abuses by the state-owned Maldives Ports Limited (MPL) had been labelled “interesting, but not convincing” by the International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF) last November.

The ITF previously raised concern over a lack of correspondence from the President’s Office, announcing the same month that it was calling on the government to intervene over “union intimidation”, or “face embarrassment wrought by widespread international solidarity action”.

Likes(0)Dislikes(0)

Gender Ministry threatens legal action against HRCM over handing of Maafushi minors case

The Ministry of Gender, Family and Human Rights has rejected accusations by the Human Rights Commission of the Maldives (HRCM) that two minors were locked up in Maafushi prison, and has threatened legal action against the institution.

On January 17, HRCM issued a statement calling for the immediate release of two teenage girls living in Villingili orphanage, who were being held in Maafushi prison after being arrested by police.

Responding to the HRCM’s allegations, the Gender Ministry denied the two minors were kept in cells with other prisoners. The ministry also claimed that a HRCM team that went to meet the minors had forced one of the girls to speak about her past.

The statement added the Ministry was “very seriously” considering taking legal action against the HRCM for forcing one of the two minors to speak to the commission about her past.  The Gender Ministry said it strongly condemned the HRCM’s conduct in the matter, which it claimed could undo its efforts to help the girls recover from their past issues.

‘’The HRCM officials asked one of the minors about her past and she first refused to talk about the matter in the absence of her case worker.  The HRCM officials forced the minors to talk about it,’’ read the ministry statement.

The HRCM has responded to the Gender Ministry’s criticisms with its own statement, claiming that members of staff who met the minors were all highly qualified to do so.

The commission also denied allegations made by the ministry that it had forced the minors to speak about their past. It noted that no representatives from the Gender Ministry had met with the two minors since they were arrested.

The HRCM claimed that the commission was very concerned over the issue over the minors’ alleged detention, adding that two state institutions should not be disputing such a matter.

The commission also continued its calls for the two girls to be transferred to a safe place rather than keeping them in Maafushi prison.

Local media has alleged that the two girls, aged 15 and 16, were arrested on December 28, 2012, after escaping the orphanage in the middle of the night to fraternise with some boys.

A source familiar with Maafushi prison confirmed to Minivan News that the two minors were kept inside a cell in Unit 1 of the prison. According to the source, Unit 1 is the area designated for female inmates and contains women sentenced for all sorts of crimes.

Likes(0)Dislikes(0)

Abdulla ‘Jaa’ Javid released from custody, brother detained by police

Abdulla ‘Jaa’ Javid has been released from custody following his 45-day detention in connection with the murder of MP Dr Afrasheem Ali last year.

On the day of his release (January 17) however, Javid’s brother Shahin Mohamed was taken away by police whilst waiting with Javid’s family outside of the court.

Chairperson of Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) ‘Reeko’ Moosa Manik – Javid’s father-in-law – told Minivan News on Thursday that the police “took away” Mohamed without any warning.

“He was waiting for his brother to come out of court and the police came along and took him away. He was waiting silently and they took him without giving a reason,” Manik claimed.

Regarding Mohamed being held by police, Maldives Police Service (MPS) Spokesperson Sub-Inspector Hassan Haneef said that police would not be releasing any information of the Afrasheem murder case due to the “sensitivity” of the investigation.

Minivan News has since learned that Mohamed was released from police custody three hours after he was taken away by police.

Local media reported that Javid was released after he was brought to court to extend his detention period following the expiry of his previous term.

Javid’s lawyer, according to Manik, said the judge stated there was “no way” Javid could be kept in custody any longer.

“If they had any evidence they would have kept him there,” Manik added.

Former Deputy Prosecutor General Hussain Shameem said that Javid’s 45-day detention was “unreasonable” given that two people had already been charged of the crime.

“As for the arrest it is a constitutional right of the accused – and detained – for his case to be processed through the criminal justice system within a ‘reasonable time’,” Shameem added.

Javid had previously attempted to file a case to High Court claiming that the extension of detention order issued against him by the Criminal Court was unlawful.

However, the High Court ruled that there was no reasonable ground to support this adding that police claimed to have a phone call recording that supported their accusations of Javid’s involvement in the murder.

In December last year the MDP accused the police of attempting to pin Afrasheem’s murder of MDP members instead of going after those guilty of the crime, a statement seen by local media has read.

The party further reportedly stated that police had detained two of its members Mariyam Naifa and Alli ‘Smith’ Hashim for an extended period of time before releasing them without any charges.

Minivan News is awaiting for additional information from Director Department of Judicial Administration Ahmed Maajid regarding the release of Javid.

‘A desperate plea to help free my husband’

In a letter obtained by Minivan News, Javid’s wife Mida Moosa pleaded for the release of her husband claiming that the family were “very confused” regarding the information they had received about his detention.

The letter claims that Javid’s arrest took place hours before parliament was scheduled to finalise a decision on whether the proposed no-confidence vote against President Mohamed Waheed Hassan Manik should be held via secret votes.

Upon Javid’s initial extension of custodial detention, the letter alleges that Javid was kept in solitary confinement and that this matter was taken to the High Court.

“At the High Court hearing on December 13, MPS stated that Javid was kept in solitary confinement most likely because of an error made by the prison he was kept in,” the letter claims.

After the first 14 days of Javid’s detention the letter notes that he was brought back to court and on December 19 he was given another 15 day extension on his detention.

According to the letter, the prosecutors had brought a request form to court by the MPS stating that Javid was being kept in prison “for his own safety and to interrogate him on some evidence they had regarding the case.”

Afrasheem’s murder

Commissioner of Police Abdulla Riyaz has claimed that the murder of MP for Ungoofaaru constituency Dr Afrasheem Ali was a well-planned murder and insisted it was politically motivated.

The Commissioner alleged that the assassins were offered MVR 4 million (US$260,000) and that 200 items were collected as forensic and digital evidence.

“Over 500 hours of CCTV footage have been analysed, more than 100 people have been interviewed and about 13,000 phone call recordings have been analysed out of which 12,000 were from one single tower,” Riyaz said.

Afrasheem was killed on October 1. His wife discovered the body lying on the staircase of their home.

Dr Afrasheem was elected to parliament in 2009 as a member of the then-opposition Dhivehi Rayithunge Party (DRP).

Following the opposition’s split, Afrasheem sided with the Progressive Party of the Maldives (PPM) of former President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, and faded into the political background.

Widely considered an Islamic moderate, Dr Afrasheem took outspoken and controversial positions on issues such as allowing the playing of music, and praying next to the deceased.

Likes(0)Dislikes(0)

Main suspect in Dr Afrasheem’s murder case denies charges

Hussain Humam, a suspect arrested in connection to the murder of Ungoofaaru Constituency MP Dr Afrasheem Ali, today denied the charges against him during the first hearing of his case at the Criminal Court.

During today’s hearing, the state attorney read out the charges against Humam, who pleaded not guilty and requested the court to grant him the opportunity to appoint a lawyer for his defence.

Attorneys representing the state told the Criminal Court that on 1 October 2012, Humam and a group of people had attacked and murdered Dr Afrasheem Ali.

According to the local media, during the hearing the judge asked Humam how soon he could appoint a lawyer. Humam replied that he would have to speak to his family. He was given one week  by the presiding judge.

Ali Shan, of Hikost House in Henveiru, was also arrested as a suspect in the murder case. The police have now concluded the investigation and have sent the case to the Prosecutor General.

Commissioner of Police Abdulla Riyaz has previously alleged that the murder of the MP for Ungoofaaru constituency was a well planned murder worth MVR 4 million (US$260,000).

In a presentation shown during a press conference last year, Riyaz claimed that 11 suspects were initially arrested, however three had now been released. He added that about 200 items had been analysed as evidence, including forensic and digital evidence, which he claimed were enough to prosecute the prime suspects.

“Over 500 hours of CCTV footage have been analysed, more than a hundred people have been interviewed and about 13,000 phone call recordings have been analysed out of which 12,000 were from one single tower,” Riyaz said.

The commissioner claimed Afrasheem was last seen alive inside the premises of the state broadcaster, Television Maldives (TVM). The presentation suggested that Afrasheem was seen leaving the premises in his car around 11:04pm, according to the nearby CCTV camera footage.

Afrasheem left the station after participating in a religious TV program called “Islamee Dhiriulhun” (Islamic Life), with Deputy Minister of Islamic Affairs Mohamed Qubad Aboobakuru.

In his last words, aired on the show, Afrasheem said that he was deeply saddened and asked for forgiveness from citizens if he had created a misconception in their minds due to his inability to express himself in the right manner.

Minister of Islamic Affairs Sheikh Shaheem Ali Saeed was quoted in local media as saying that the Islamic Ministry had not forced Afrasheem to offer a public apology for anything during his last television appearance and disputed that there was any religious motivation in the death of the moderate scholar.

Likes(0)Dislikes(0)

Human traffickers sabotaging border control deal: Nexbis

The Malaysian IT company at the center of legal wrangling over a deal to provide a border control system (BCS) to the Maldivian government has alleged “criminal elements” could be behind efforts to scupper the agreement.

Vice President for Nexbis Nafies Aziz told Minivan News that “intelligence” received by the company suggested groups backing the country’s lucrative human trafficking industry could be seeking to stymie the introduction of its BCS to undermine national security controls.

The comments were made following an appeal hearing held at the country’s Supreme Court on January 9 to block an unanimous vote by parliament to terminate Nexbis’ agreement with the government over allegations of “foul play”.

The country’s Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) said that regardless of its concerns about human trafficking in the Maldives, a case regarding the Nexbis’ deal had been submitted to the Prosecutor General (PG’s) Office under the previous government.

Meanwhile, a source with knowledge of the present immigration and border control system said that should parliament’s termination decision be upheld, the Immigration Department would be returning to “a pen and paper system” for monitoring arrivals to the country.

The Maldives has come under strong criticism internationally in recent years for the prevalence of people trafficking, and the  country has appeared on the US State Department’s Tier Two Watch List for Human Trafficking for three years in a row.

In a statement to Minivan News, Nexbis Vice President Aziz said that the company was now awaiting the Supreme Court’s decision concerning its appeal hearing on January 9.

“The ACC in the previous Supreme Court hearing submitted that there was no implication on Nexbis or any corruption whatsoever in the contracting state of the Border Control System project,” he said. “The Border Control System is fully implemented and is operational in Male’ International Airport.”

Responding to allegations of wrong-doing in its signing of a border control agreement with the Maldives government, Aziz alleged that “criminal elements supporting human trafficking” had been identified through its “intelligence” as potentially funding a campaign to halt its agreement.

“Stakeholders across the political spectrum have in the recent past all highlighted the growth of human trafficking in the Maldives and pointed out to hundreds of millions of dollars of illegal gains made by the criminal elements behind the growth of human trafficking in the Maldives who stand to lose out the most from the full implementation of the Maldives Immigration Border Control System,” he claimed. “To that end, as the public can clearly see, there is an elaborate amount of money that is being spent to campaign against the Border Control System and the security it will bring to the country.”

Aziz also contended that any attempts to weaken border controls in the country would only serve detrimental to the nation due to not only an “influx of illegal immigrants to the country,” but also the nation’s international standing.

“In addition to this, the Maldives has been on the US State Department’s Tier 2 Watch List for Human Trafficking for three years running now and may possibly be re-classified this year into Tier 3, which is the worst category, if proper controls and systems are not put in place,” he said.

“The implications are far reaching and would again impact the people of Maldives as countries around the world begin imposing stringent visa requirements on Maldivians.”

Aziz said it had become “imperative” for Maldives’ national security that supposed efforts by human traffickers to sabotage its agreement did not succeed.

“The full implementation and operation of the Nexbis BCS will undoubtedly help curb issues of human trafficking, identity fraud as well as weak enforcement controls. The Border Control System encompasses a total end-to-end solution for a Build, Operate, Transfer (BOT) contract term as stipulated by the National Planning Council,” he said.

“This is a proven and internationally certified system, and shall provide the required border control capabilities including foreign worker management and mobile enforcement features, which will increase the efficiency of the current immigration processes. The biometric capabilities of the system are certified to be of the highest performance worldwide for speed and accuracy,” he said.

Immigration Controller Dr Mohamed Ali was not responding to calls at the time of press.

However, a source with knowledge of the current immigration and emigration system – who asked not to be identified – told Minivan News that border control authorities were facing “lots of problems” in performing their function. These problems were said to have arisen due to ongoing wrangling over the Nexbis deal.

While not wishing to comment on Nexbis’ allegations of possible criminal involvement in efforts to halt the project, the source claimed that a failure to implement a BCS like that being offered by the Malaysia-based firm would “strengthen the hand” of human traffickers operating in and out of the country.

The source said that the biometric systems included within Nexbis’ system were a step towards curbing a common practice of returning illegal immigrants – in some cases with criminal convictions – to the Maldives under new identities.

With the Supreme Court yet to decide on the legality of parliament’s decision to terminate the Nexbis agreement, Minivan News understands the company’s BCS is still being used at Ibrahim Nasir International Airport (INIA) to screen arrivals.

However, the source said that Nexbis technical staff who had implemented the border system had been removed from the project, meaning that any bugs or issues with the technology were unable to be resolved.

“We need the system to capture biometric details from passengers in cases where people are changing names. This would make it impossible to create false passport under separate names as people are doing right now,” the source said.

The same source also said the automated system would allow authorities to run background checks on passengers on incoming flights.

A decision to uphold parliament’s decision to cancel the Nexbis agreement – a stance the government has said it will honour – would see immigration officials having to use “a pen and paper system” for monitoring immigration, the source claimed.

ACC view

The MVR 500 million (US$39 million) BCS project moved ahead last year after a series of high-profile court battles and delays that led Nexbis to last year threaten legal action against the Maldivian government should it incur losses for the work already done on the project.

The Malaysia-based mobile security provider has come under scrutiny by political parties who claim that the project is detrimental to the state, while the Anti-Corruption Committee (ACC) has alleged corruption in the bidding process.

Despite Nexbis’ claims that “no implication” of corruption had been registered by the ACC, the corruption commission’s President Hassan Luthfee said his department would only have previously sent a case to the PG’s Office if it held concerns with the agreement.

However, Luthfee also conceded his department had been made aware of issues regarding human trafficking in and out of the country.

“We have received complaints about people smuggling to the country, but we have not been able to start an investigation as the size of such a case is beyond our capacity,” he claimed, adding that the ACC was not tasked to investigate such matters.

“This is just too big a case. [For example] there have been some claims that ships from Sri Lanka and India are travelling to the Maldives around 20 kilometres from Male’ and transferring people to fishing vessels, and from there they are distributed as laborers across the country. These are reports I have received.”

Migrant concerns

Speaking on January 13 at a ceremony to celebrate National Day, President Dr Mohamed Waheed Hassan Manik stated the Maldives was being “forced” to take measures against changes to the “national character” due to the rising number of migrant workers in the country.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs earlier this month inaugurated an initiative targeted at raising awareness of the human trafficking issue in the Maldives.

The strategy, entitled ‘Blue Ribbon Campaign Against Human Trafficking’ is expected to include activities to try and raise awareness among students and the business community.

The Foreign Ministry announced that it had signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with multiple local media outlets in the country as part of the campaign’s aim to raising awareness of human trafficking and other related issues.

Meanwhile, late last year, Indian authorities told Minivan News that tightened restrictions on providing medical visas to Maldivians was a “signal” for the country’s government to address a number of concerns about the nation’s treatment of migrant workers.

Likes(0)Dislikes(0)