Category: Society & Culture

JSC abolishes complaints committee in name of efficiency

The Judicial Services Commission (JSC) has abolished its Complaints Committee citing “efficiency”, with complaints against judges now being forwarded for review by the legal section and Commission head Adam Mohamed.

Last year the JSC received 143 complaints concerning the conduct of judges. By its own statistics none were tabled in the commission, and only five were ever replied to.

Chair of the former complaints commission, the President’s Member of the JSC Aishath Velezinee who was stabbed in the street in January this year, said the complaints committee had been unable to operate as the chair had persistently scheduled meetings “during the same days and hours as the committee meetings, and it came to the point where it was impossible for the committee to meet and work.”

“Several members including Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP) MP Afrashim Ali also boycotted the meetings making it difficult for the committee to function,” Velezinee said, claiming that no procedure had been followed in abolishing the committee, and intention was to stop complaints against judges from being investigated.

“The JSC recently adopted house rules, which gives extraordinary powers to the chair. The chair decides whether to table complaints, routinely withholds information from the Commission and responds [to complaints] himself,” she said.

The JSC has failed to table or even acknowledge receipt of a report on the judiciary produced by the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ), which questioned whether the JSC’s possessed the technical ability and knowledge to investigate complaints and hold the judiciary accountable, as well as its independence.

The opposition-majority parliament has meanwhile yet to back the government’s request that the Maldives join the International Criminal Court (ICC), of which half the world’s nations are members. Velezinee has previously accused certain opposition MPs of manipulating the judiciary through JSC in an attempt to retain control of the legal impunity provided them under the previous government’s Ministry of Justice.

Central to the International Criminal Court’s mandate “is the principle of complementarity, which holds that the Court will only intervene if national legal systems are unable or unwilling to investigate and prosecute perpetrators of genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes,” the ICC’s international NGO coalition said in a statement.

“Perpetrators of genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity must be held accountable. Greater support for the ICC in Asia is needed in order to increase the region’s commitment to the fight against impunity. The Coalition therefore encourages Maldives to assert its commitment to ending the culture of impunity by acceding to the Rome Statute of the ICC.”

Parliament has meanwhile been deliberating on an amendment to the Clemency Act whereby death sentences issued by judges would be acted upon when all appeals failed. The last person be judicially executed in the Maldives was Hakim Didi in 1953, who was executed by firing squad after being found guilty of conspiracy to murder using black magic.

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Suspect in Sheereen murder case sentenced to 10 years on drug charges

A suspect in the murder case of 30 year-old Maryam Sheereen has been to sentenced 10 years imprisonment after he was found guilty of drug offences by the Criminal Court.

The court verdict read that on January 8 2009, police officers arrested Mohamed Najah and found illegal narcotics in his possession during a search of his person.

Najah’s urine also tested positive to benzodiazepine and opiates, the court stated, sentencing him to five years for possession of illegal narcotics and five years for use of illegal narcotics.

Sheereen’s murder case is still pending in the Criminal Court and will soon conclude. If found guilty, Najah will likely face the death penalty.

Heirs of Sheereen were recently summoned to the court to ask if they had any objections to the execution of Najah if he was found guilty, none of whom did.

According to the Penal Code if a person is found guilty of murder, Shariah law must be applied and the murderer must to be sentenced to death if no heir of the victim has an objection.

Evidence including video footage, phone recordings, DNA samples and testimony from both the taxi driver who unwittingly carried a suit case containing Sheereen’s body and a man who lived in the same apartment as the pair has been presented to the court by the prosecution. Sheereen was found dead under a stack of cement bags a construction site in Male’.

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Police officer caught with charged mobile phone batteries in Maafushi Prison

Head of Department and Penitentiary and Rehabilitation Services (DPRS) Mohamed Rasheed has confirmed that a police officer is being questioned for allegedly attempting to smuggle charged phone batteries to inmates at Maafushi prison.

”When he [the police officer] entered through the prison gates, our prison officers suspected that he was up to something,” said Rasheed. ”So prison officers followed him and made sure that something was going with him.”

After the prison officers were sure, Rasheed said prison officers immediately informed the police about the matter.

”Police searched his body and discovered those items on him,” he said. ”We did not search his body because he was a police officer and we thought it would be best to let the police do it.”

Rasheed said that a part of Maafushi Prison had been given to police temporarily to use to keep pre-trial detainees.

Police Sub-Inspector Ahmed Shiyam also confirmed that a police officer was caught with two charged batteries on him.

”We are investigating the case,” Shiyam said. ”Two extra mobile phones were found with him as well.”

In March last year, State Home Minister Ahmed Adil said several jail officers are being investigated on suspicion of helping inmates to bring mobile phones and drugs into cells in Male’ prison.

He also claimed that prison officers were helping inmates to bring in mobile phones and drugs.

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Local boduberu artist Meyna Hassan arrested in drug-related case

Famous local Boduberu singer and close ally of the ruling Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) ‘Meyna’ Hassaan Mohamed has been arrested over a drug-related matter.

‘’It was a drug related case and at the moment we are not disclosing further information,’’ confirmed a police spokesperson. ‘’He was arrested last week.’’

A close friend of Meyna Hassaan told Minivan News that he was “not a bad person” who was also working in a good job when he was arrested.

‘’He likes to sing but sometimes gives up his career and grows his beard and becomes a religious person,’’ he said. “Then later he might give up being religious and start singing again.’’

An MDP Official said that Meyna Hassaan was a normal member of the party but had contributed his talents to the party on several occasions.

He responsible for composing the theme song for the MDP Local Council Election Campaign, and a song for the campaign of MDP MP Alhan Fahmy.

In September last year another famous Maldivian musician, reggae artist Haisham Mohamed Rasheed, was sentenced to 10 years prison for use and possession of less than one gram of cannabis.

Haisham, who is also the lead singer of the band ‘Palm Fever’, was arrested with a bag containing cannabis while at a resort to perform a live music show.

The Criminal Court convicted Haisham under Article 4 [a][1] of the Drug Act after he tested positive for cannabis, an illegal substance under the Act. Haisham received five years for using the drug and five years for possession.

President Mohamed Nasheed granted clemency to Haisham and suspended his verdict in March 2011.

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Trade Ministry to fine businesses selling staple products higher than control price

The Trade Ministry will force the sale of staples including rice, flour and sugar according to a price control list.

The ministry said that businesses selling flour, sugar and rice higher than the price control list will be fined up to Rf 100,000 (US$6500).

‘’Items should be available at the specified prices at all venues trading in these items from May 16, 2011,’’ the ministry said, adding that the enforcement was justified under Article 7 (a) of the Consumer Protection Act (Act number 1/96).

According to the ministry’s price control list for the capital Male’, flour has to be sold at Rf3.28 per kilo, sugar Rf4.30 per kilo and normal rice Rf4.28 per kilo. For the rest of Kaafu Atoll, the price of flour per kilo is Rf3.56, sugar Rf4.58 per kilo and normal rice Rf4.56 per kilo. Meanwhile in Seenu Atoll in the country’s south flour must be sold for Rf3.98 per kilo, sugar Rf5 per kilo and normal rice Rf4.98 per kilo.

The control price of flour per kilo for Haa Alifu Atoll is Rf3.81, Sugar Rf4.83 and the price for normal rice is Rf4.81.

For Haa Dhaalu Atoll, the price of flour is Rf3.76 per kilo, Sugar Rf4.78 per kilo and normal rice Rf4.76 per kilo.

In Shaviyan Atoll flour has to be sold for Rf3.71 per kilo, Sugar Rf4.73 per kilo and normal rice Rf4.71 per kilo while in Noonu Atoll flour has to be sold for Rf3.66 per kilo, sugar Rf4.68 per kilo, normal rice Rf4.66 per kilo.

In Raa Atoll flour has to be Rf3.68 per kilo, sugar Rf 4.70 per kilo and normal rice has to be sold Rf4.68 per kilo.

As for Baa Atoll, price of flour mentioned in the control list is Rf3.61 per kilo, sugar Rf4.63 per kilo and normal rice Rf4.61 per kilo.

According to the list, price for flour in Lhaviyani Atoll has to be Rf3.61 per kilo, sugar Rf4.63 per kilo and normal rice Rf4.61 per kilo.

While in Fuvamulah flour has to be sold at Rf3.94 per kilo, sugar Rf4.96 per kilo and normal rice Rf4.94 per kilo.

Recently a group of youths along with some opposition political figures protested in the streets of Male’ calling for the government to reduce the price of products and reduce living costs, and opposed the government’s decision to implement a managed float of the rufiya within a 20 percent band of the pegged rate of Rf12.85 to the dollar.

The move comes on top of a decision last week to halve the import duty on diesel, used to fuel the country’s extensive dhoni fleet.

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Maldives targets global TV audience as it finalises beach games plans

Organisers of the first Maldives Beach Games tournament scheduled for later this year claim they are confident of leaving a long lasting sporting legacy in the country for local people and tourists, despite the challenges of self-funding and a lack of event hosting experience.

Hassan Ismail, Chairman of Marketing and PR for the Maldives Beach Games 2011, told Minivan News that the event – running from September 18 to September 25 – was expected to bring unprecedented opportunities, as well as a number of challenges, to the Maldives’ shores.

According to event organizers, the games will aim to bring hundreds of athletes from around the world to the country in order to compete in 10 sporting disciplines involving the sun, as well as potentially receiving coverage from a number of sports broadcasters.

In looking to host the event, Ismail claimed that some 500 to 700 local people were expected to be trained to look after guests and participants while overseeing the games, which is being designed to run as a commercially profitable and ongoing annual event.

“As well as providing entertainment for visitors, we are also trying to ensure sports development for local people to use and train on,” he said. “At present, we don’t have people trained to deal with such as event, so the organising committee is learning during the process. This is a big challenge, though we are bringing in foreign experts to help provide expertise and training.”

Costing

In light of recent protests and criticism of governmental financial policy in the Maldives, Ismail claimed that the event would ideally be funded 100 percent through sponsorship, although he conceded that state funding may be needed to “fill gaps” that would eventually then be paid back by organisers.

The event’s marketing head added that the games would be a relatively unique opportunity for participants to come to the Maldives from all over the world without having to pay to enter, serving as an event that was completely self-financed.

“We have not yet disclosed the cost for hosting the event, but will be doing so soon. We are consulting with international sponsors and we even hope we may be able to make a small profit for the event,” he said. “We believe there are plenty of commercial opportunities from this, particularly with broadcasters such as Eurosport and ESPN who have agreed to screen the games.”

Pointing to the Maldives’ present lack of experience with hosting international events, Ismail said that all the country’s broadcasters had agreed to produce programming for national and international coverage of the games, though investments in camera and television equipment would be needed.

“We are looking at sponsorship for local channels to buy equipment that they can produce related programming with,” he said. “We are looking for quotations for equipment, though there is also an important South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) conference taking place in Addu Atoll this year, so perhaps we can find a joint solution [for broadcasting these events].”

A wealth of sports including triathlon, kabaddi, beach cricket, football and ‘volleyball’ along with body building, swimming, rowing, surfing and wind surfing will be contested during the games at different locations around the country that are yet to be identified.

While this year’s inaugural event is not expected to be officially recognised with official status by the International Olympic Committee (IOC), Ismail said that discussions were ongoing with the global sporting body about receiving an official stamp within the next few years.

“A number of official bodies are assisting in the games with the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) involved in beach soccer and the regional body building association helping with that event,” he said. “By year three, we ideally need the IOC to officially stamp us as an event. But all the sports at the games will be assisted by official bodies, which are important developments to help us gain an official status.”

Ismail claimed that beyond dealing with these potential hosting challenges, the games had two main objectives in the Maldives.

Beyond attempting to host a major international multi-sports event for the first time in the Maldives, he said that it would also be vital to help develop pitches and grounds where both local people and international visitors could train and enjoy sports.

“The Maldives is more than just a beach and cocktail venue, we hope to create a strong sport tourism scene here as well,” he said. “Our hope is that eventually every resort will be hosting mini-events for visitors to take part in.”

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“Is this Malaysia?”: Authorities playing a blame game over modern-day slave trade

Authorities in the Maldives are engaged in a “blame game” over human trafficking in the country, and have been “pointing at each other and going around in circles” observed Professor Mondira Dutta, of the Central Asian Studies Programme at Jawaharlal Nehru University in New Delhi.

“The Maldives is on the tier two watch list in the US State Department’s trafficking in persons report. This means that there are enough policy recommendations in place to combat human trafficking, but there isn’t much evidence in the field to show the government is working towards it,” Dr Dutta said.

Dr Dutta presented a lecture on human trafficking yesterday at the invitation of the Human Rights Commission of the Maldives (HRCM), after spending a week interviewing stakeholders.

“There are cases of elderly men going to India and marrying young women, and returning [to the Maldives] with a free domestic servant,” she said. “I know of one such woman who was returned to her home country at the expense of the Indian High Commission.”

In other instances police had conducted raids on massage parlours, “but they are unable to do anything as there is no law against human trafficking in place.”

The Maldives was primarily a destination country for traffickers, she said, “with workers trafficked into forced labour or commercial sexual exploitation.”

With human trafficking not expressly prohibited and the only prescribed penalty for labour trafficking a small fine, unregistered rogue employment agents were” rampant” in the country, she said.

“Immigration attests that in one case a quota for 99 workers was issued in the name of an 80 year-old disabled Maldivian man, not in his senses, who knew nothing about migrant workers being brought to the country in his name. This was sanctioned not just for one year, but year after year.”

Immigration officials told Dr Dutta that a common question asked by many workers arriving in the country was “Is this Malaysia?”

“They do not know the agent’s number or even his name. You cannot blame this on them,” she said. “They are told they have work in a resort, but it turns out to be a small restaurant in Male’.”

Whenever fraudulent agents were arrested, the maximum sentences handed out were no more than three months in prison, “and then it’s back to business again.”

Even the Ministry of Education was retaining the passports of expatriates, Dr Dutta said, “in order to ‘ease out the visa application system’, which is not something I’ve heard happen anywhere else in the world. This contributes to the conversion of legal migrants into illegal ones.”

The Tourism Ministry had acknowledged that there were “cases in resorts that were not normal”, however the Ministry claimed these were outside its jurisdiction, Dr Dutta added.

“Hospitals also attest the fact that low numbers of expatriates [attend hospital] because they have no money to pay, so they are left to the mercy of God.”

Even the number of migrant workers in the country was unknown, Dr Dutta said, with the only estimates based on data from 2008. According to that information, 85,000 foreign workers were in the Maldives, approximately 28,000 Indians with the majority Bangladeshis.

“More that 50 percent of workers are illegal – why?” she asked. “Because they are paid irregular salaries, go without pay for months, work extremely hard for long hours in inhuman living conditions and face constant insecurity. The majority are illiterate and the poorest of the poor from the developing world.”

False promises of “rosy scenarios” overseas compelled many to seek a better life in countries such as the Maldives, Dr Dutta said, but placed them at high risk of exploitation by unscrupulous employment agents in countries where the authorities were disinterested or laws and regulations protecting workers did not exist.

“Law enforcement machinery for trafficking does not exist – there are no laws for human trafficking in Maldives, and existing laws can even be a hurdle for booking culprits,” Dr Dutta said, using the example of a trafficked sex worker who local laws viewed as a criminal rather than a victim.

Trafficking – “trade in flesh” – was one of the “world’s most heinous crimes” and “a modern-day slave trade,” Dr Dutta said.

“We used to living in a society that accepts the barbaric treatment of men, women and children, that this starts to become accepted. The initial shock of these outlandish crimes wears off quickly in an environment where rape, murder and humiliation are not only a staple of the news, but an important cornerstone of the nation’s entertainment,” she added.

HRCM is currently working on a report on human trafficking in the Maldives.

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High Court upholds Civil Court’s ruling in favor of CSC regarding salary issue

The High Court has today ruled that Finance Ministry does not have the legal authority to overturn the salaries and allowances of civil servants against the will of the Civil Service Commission (CSC).

In April last year the Civil Court ruled in favor of the Civil Service Commission in a case against the Ministry of Finance regarding civil servants’ salary cuts. The CSC successfully contended that the Finance Ministry did not have the legal authority to make amendments to civil servant salaries.

Delivering the verdict at the time, Civil Court Judge Aisha Shujoon said that the Finance Ministry was not authorised to order offices to prepare salary sheets according to its revised (lower) salaries, and also ruled that the Ministry could not issue an order narrowing the powers of the commission to decide the civil servants’ salaries under articles 6, 18(a) and 43 of the Civil Service Act.

The salaries of the Civil Servants were reduced in October 2009 for three months, after an agreement between the Finance Ministry and CSC, part of austerity measures favoured by the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

After the three months duration was over, the Finance Ministry extended the duration for another three months without the consent of the CSC.

In January 2010, the CSC ordered permanent secretaries to submit the sheets with salaries at the levels prior to the government’s reductions in October, while the Finance Ministry threatened legal action against any civil servants who filled in salary sheets according to the restored amount.

Civil servants held protests in Male’ over the salary reduction, with the support of the opposition, after the government refused to restore the salaries to pre-cut levels citing the poor economic condition of the country.

The situation became especially heated that Feburary after the Finance Ministry filed a case against the CSC with police, alleging the commission was attempting to “to sow discord between the government and public”, and “bring the government to a halt.”

The Finance Ministry further claimed that certain members of the CSC were using the issue as a cover to attain “a hidden political agenda.”

“The CSC is making it difficult for the government to implement the necessary economic policies [and are therefore] indirectly trying to damage the economy,” the Ministry said in a statement, at the time.

“[The CSC’s actions] will result in an increased budget deficit, make it difficult to maintain the value of the rufiyaa against the dollar and will damage the Maldivian economy, affecting each and every citizen of this country.”

After the matter descended into the court system, the government appear to accept that it was unlikely to shake the CSC’s hold on the salary issue, as demanded by the IMF, and instead embarked on an ambitious program of corporatisation whereby entire departments were transformed into 100 percent government-owned corporate entities, outside the jurisdiction of the CSC.

More recently, cabinet launched a program to encourage civil servants to leave the government and enter the private sector or further their education, a move welcomed by the CSC.

Under the scheme, civil servants and government employees were eligible for one of four retirement incentive packages: no assistance, a one time payment of Rf 150,000 (US$11,700), a payment of Rf 150,000 and priority in the small and medium enterprises loan scheme (for those 18-50 years of age), or a lump sum of Rf 200,000 (US$15,600) and priority in government training and scholarship programmes (for those 18-40 years of age).

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Police probe staff sexual assault allegations at Shangri-La resort

Police are investigating allegations that a female member of staff at the Shangri-La Vilingilli resort in Addu Atoll was sexually assaulted by a colleague.

The Maldives Police Service confirmed to Minivan News that it was investigating a complaint from a young woman working at the resort that she had been sexually assaulted by a co-worker. Police added that no one has been held or arrested at present over the allegations.

Police Sub-Inspector Ahmed Shiyam said that according to the investigation, the alleged victim, who worked at a bar on the resort, had reported feeling unwell after drinking an alcoholic drink and was helped to her room by another member of staff.

According to police, upon being returned to her room, the alleged victim claimed that she had not been unaware of any assault upon herself.

However, Shiyam said that other sources had later come forward to claim that some sexual activity was believed to have occurred in the room involving the alleged victim.

“She doesn’t have any recollection and wasn’t aware of any sexual assault occurring, although someone in the room said they had witnessed something happening,” he added.

After raising the issue with resort management, the girl was taken to hospital, though police claimed that no injuries or indication of a possible sexual assault had been found so far.

“We have not arrested any one so far [in relation to the investigations] and the victim does not appear to have been injured,” he said. “We sent one officer to the resort and he couldn’t find any evidence related to the complaint made to police.”

Earlier this morning, a spokesperson for Hithadhoo Police Station also confirmed that an alleged sexual assault at the Shangri-La resort was under investigation.

Management at Shangri-La’s Villingili Resort and Spa confirmed the investigation was taking place. Resort General Manager Jens Moesker told Minivan News that a male member of staff had been questioned by police over his suspected involvement in the alleged assault, believed to have taken place on Saturday night (May 7).

Moesker claimed that the ongoing police investigation was being viewed as an isolated incident. He added that the company would wait for authorities to conclude their work before considering any operational changes for staff at the site.

“We need to wait for the outcome of the investigation before making any decisions on possible changes at the site,” he said. “If the [police] investigation highlights the need for any reviews of our systems we would certainly do this.”

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