Month: January 2010

Custodial abuse sparks Cabinet clamp down on “culture of torture”

Cabinet has appointed a committee to reform the Maldives Police Service (MPS) after allegations that the institution continues to have a “culture of police torture”.

The committee includes the Attorney General Husnu Suood, Minister of Human Resources, Youth and Sports Hassan Latheef, and Minister of Tourism Arts and Culture, Dr Ahmed Ali Sawad, a human rights lawyer. The Cabinet also elected to appoint Minister of State Principal Collector of Customs Mohamed Aswan as Minister of State for Home Affairs, giving him a mandate to reform the police service.

The decision to form the committee was made following the new government’s first emergency cabinet meeting, held on Saturday shortly after DhiTV aired a story showing six men claiming they had been arrested and tortured in Atolhuvei detention centre. The men, several of whom displayed bruises to the TV station, alleged that police kept them face down, cuffed their hands and feet behind them, tied the cuffs and jumped on them.

The president’s press secretary Mohamed Zuhair said the decision to form the committee was not made “in response to a particular incident”, and was instead an attempt to implement reform after public complaints about the culture of the police force.

“All the cabinet ministers appointed to the committee are lawyers and will listen to any allegations and those made by the police as well,’ he said, adding that the committee would act “as a bridge” by speeding up the resolution of existing complaints.

Clash with PIC

Shahindha Ismail from the Police Integrity Commission (PIC) and former head of the Maldivian Detainee Network said she was unaware of why the committee was set up “because the police integrity commission has a mandate to investigate everything the committee was set up to do. They are duplicating our work.”

The PIC had “more powers by law [than cabinet] to conduct investigations,” she said. “I wish the government would give more thought to letting the PIC carry out its mandate. Right now we are stuck because of our financial difficulties, we have to go to the finance ministry for everything. We’ve sent reports on this to the president, because if the government want us to do our job they have to allow us to do it.”

Shahindha said while no one had made a complaint to the PIC, she “has a slight idea” that cabinet’s response was due to six people who were alleging they had been beaten in custody.

“When police took them to the criminal court to extend their detention periods [two] showed the judge marks and bruises on their bodies, saying they were beaten,” Shahindha said.

“My sense is that the beatings were quite severe because the judge apparently ordered them to be released because he felt they were not safe in the hands of the police – upon their release they contacted the media while they were in hospital.

“The original arrests were related to the physical sexual harrassment of women, and these people are no longer in police custody,” she added.

Shahindha said she had asked police for an official report into the matter “but they have not submitted it.”

Police spokesman Sergeant Ahmed Shiyam said the MPS was not commenting at this stage.

“A culture of torture”?

The government’s decision was surprising not only because it risked duplicating the work of the PIC, but because “these [beatings] appear to happen every day. I don’t know what’s special about this incident, I’m guessing the beatings were very severe,” Shahindha said.

Incidents of police brutality were usually confined to a minority of field officers, she said.

“I wouldn’t call it a culture any more. We find during our investigations that senior police are unware of what goes on in the field as to brutality. The problem is that some of the field officers are still carrying it around. It has reduced quite a lot, but now they do it inside and don’t let people see, unlike during the demonstrations when police used to beat people in broad daylight. Now it happens either in police vehicles or detention centres.”

She was positive about the appointment of Aswan to the new role of State Minister for Home Affairs, “although I would like to know more about the committee’s mandate.”

Zuhair said the committee’s aim was police reform following “public complaints about the culture of the force”, and “nothing to do with police integrity.”

For his part, Aswan said he had only just taken up the new post after being on holiday for two weeks and was still gathering information. The appointment was “sudden”, he said, adding that while he believed his law enforcement experience would be very valuable for his new role, he had “mixed feelings” about leaving his customs portfolio.

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The rise and fall of the Maldivian shipping fleet

Maldivians and the ocean have always gone hand-in-hand. Maldivians have always been good seamen, and the country’s sea-going culture has always been strong.

During President Nasir’s rule, Maldives Shipping Limited (MSL) was one of the region’s leading shipping companies.

Under the leadership of Ali Umar Maniku and the late Ali Hussein Didi, the company prospered as the flag carrier of the Maldives.

During the 50s and 60s, the MSL had a fleet of almost 60 ships. Many of these were ancient vessels, but due to the hard work of their crews were kept running at very high standards.

“There wasn’t a day when a port in Colombo, Bombay, Karachi, the Gulf or the Red sea had at least five MSL ships,” says a shipping analyst and former captain of a MSL vessel.

“All MSL ships in those days had the red white and green colours of the Maldivian flag painted as stripes onto the funnel; it was a very prestigious company.”

Maldivian seamen were recognised and sought after by international companies for their work ethic, despite being paid very basic salaries.

The MSL fleet was maintained due to the hard work of the many seamen – their diligence kept the ageing ships in excellent condition: “There wasn’t a moment when they wouldn’t be painting a hull.”

These were the glory days of the Maldivian shipping industry. Ships were running profitably and making a huge contribution to the Maldivian economy.

Fall of a fleet

However during the 80s, MSL ran into hardship. Most of the fleet consisted of bulk carriers, while container ships were fast becoming the preferred vessel for many shipping companies.

MSL was unable to keep up with the fast moving modern shipping industry, and its ageing vessels had finally reached their last port.

Many blame the fall of the MSL on the government at the time, for not investing enough in such a vital sector.

In a recent interview with Dhi FM, former President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom said “When I became president, the shipping that existed had started to decline… in the reign of the president before me, during Ibrahim Nasir’s time, vessels that were shipwrecked were salvaged and repaired for use. Then very old boats, as old as 20 or 25 years, were bought to create the shipping line.”

“What came next was the change to container shipping. We didn’t have [it] at the time. When it changed to container shipping, we had to find bigger boats that could fit containers. We didn’t have the capacity for it.”

However, many other parties believe this isn’t the case.

The shipping analyst told Minivan News that “If private parties could succeed in the shipping industry, I don’t see any reason why the flag carrier of the nation couldn’t succeed. The fleet was outdated, and the focus was not on the number of ships anymore, rather the total tonnage.”

Mismanagement?

Many people believe that the fall of the MSL was due to mismanagement and negligence.

In the 80’s, all vessels of the MSL were under the same company name, and all were under one insurance company.

In 1983, this particular insurance company went bankrupt and many MSL ships began to be impounded at ports.

This happened whenever an insurance claim was made against them – even if a ship did not have a claim against them, all sailed under the same company and were stopped for being a sister ship.

This most probably led to the fall of MSL.

What followed was an attempt to modernise the fleet. All the ships were renamed and each sailed under a different company.

MSL was renamed Maldives National Shipping Management Limited, MNSML, and the fleet size decreased. The size of the ships did begin to increase, but these ships were mostly still bulk carriers even though container shipping was becoming popular.

Today MNSML is known as MNSL, and opereates a modest fleet of three ships. The potential for growth is still there, as the Maldives still lies in the middle of a popular shipping route.

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Sheereen’s body put in suitcase for transport by taxi

Following the death of Mariyam Sheereen her body was put into a small suitcase and transported to a construction site by taxi cab, the Maldives Police Service have claimed.

“We have found the suitcase and there is evidence in there that shows it once held Sheereen’s body,” Inspector Hamdhoon Rasheed told a press conference late today.

“The taxi driver had no knowledge that he was carrying a body in his boot.”

Thirty year-old Sheereen, of Laamu Gan, was found dead in a construction site in Male’ on 3 January by a Bangladeshi labourer.

“We can confirm that the body was found 36 hours after death, but we don’t believe she was [in the construction site] for that time,” Rasheed said.

Asked how the 4 foot 9 inch Sheereen could have fitted into the 2.5 foot long suitcase, Rasheed replied that “there were no bones broken in her body, but our investigations have shown that after death it is possible to fit a body into a small suitcase such as this.”

The Maldives Police Service have also confirmed that the man arrested in relation to the death of Mariyam Sheereen death was her boyfriend, 30 year-old Mohamed Najah of Laamu Kalhaidhoo, Ocean Villa (pictured).

Rasheed said that Najah was maintaining his innocence and was cooperating with police.

Police are still investigating the case and no other suspects have been arrested so far.

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Imports decreased in 2009

Maldives Customs have announced that imports to the country have reduced by 34% over the last year, Miadhu reports.

Total imports for 2008 were Rf16 billion while in the 2009 total was down to Rf11 billion.

Aggregate rock, corrugated tin, fruits and vegetables all showed significant levels of decrease, customs said.

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Two children in row boat rescued by MNDF

Two children in a rowboat who were swept away by strong currents have been rescued by MNDF Northern Command.

The two children were travelling from Haa Alif Muraidhoo to Haa Alif Baa Rah, when their boat was pulled off course by strong currents. Both children tried to desperately row towards Baa Rah but failed.

When MNDF got news of the incident, they dispatched Coast Guard harbour craft 103 to the scene. The boys were rescued near Haa Alif Alidhoo around 6,14pm.

Both children are reported to be fine.

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More violence in Male’

A man was attacked and stabbed with a sharp object in the early hours of this morning.

According to police the man was attacked by a gang of six. He is currently receiving treatment in Indira Gandhi Memorial Hospital.

The incident occurred around 2.45am near Maafanu Nalahiyya.

Police have arrested a boy under 18 years of age, who was connected to the incident.

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President launches Ghiyasuddin school open day

Ghiyasuddin International School held an open day which was officially launched by President Mohamed Nasheed.

At the ceremony, Nasheed claimed that the government would bring more international expertise and knowledge into the country.

According to the president’s office, Nasheed claimed that such public private partnerships would only improve the education system.

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Galaxy wins Nasandhura bid

Galaxy Enterprises has won the bid to manage Nasandhura Palace Hotel.

The tourism ministry opened up bidding for the hotel on 6 November 2009. Initially 24 parties had purchased the bid documents, however only eight parties submitted.

According to Miadhu, Galaxy has already finalised terms and conditions for managing the hotel.

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Former president denies human rights abuses in 30-year rule

Former President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom has denied that human rights abuses and torture in prisons occurred during his 30-year reign.

Taking questions from listeners yesterday on DhiFM’s “One-to-One” live call-in show, Gayoom categorically denied that he ordered anyone to be tortured.

“No Maldivian citizen was unjustly punished that I was aware of or on my orders,” he said.

He added he was not aware of torture in jails or custodial deaths and it would not have taken place on his orders.

“When I received complaints, I looked into it. I did get complaints of torture in jails or unjust punishment in other ways. Every case would have been investigated,” he said.

In some cases, commissions were formed to investigate the allegations, he continued, while other cases were sent to court.

Responding to a question on whether he could prove his 30-year rule was not autocratic, Gayoom said he always governed in full compliance with the constitution and was re-elected in free and fair elections.

“I did not come to power or remain in power by using military force,” he said.

Appearing on the same show last week, President Mohamed Nasheed, a former Amnesty International “Prisoner of Conscience”, said he recently found a letter to the former president, also minister of defence at the time, from the officer-in-charge of police.

“It says in a lot of cases many citizens were taken before court without any evidence in the way the government wanted,” he said.

At the time, said Nasheed, such things were commonplace.

Asked about the letter, Gayoom said he could not recall a particular letter as he would have received thousands during the past 30 years.

“I might remember if it happened or not if that letter is shown to me and how I acted upon it or if I didn’t,” he said, adding he could not recall it off the top of his head.

If Nasheed showed him the letter, he continued, he would explain how it happened.

Although the pair has not met since the hand-over of power last year, Gayoom said he has had telephone conversations with the president and exchanged text messages.

Fielding questions

After thanking him for “getting rid of drugs in four months”, a caller asked Gayoom about a man from Fuahmulah who was “brought to Male’ on an allegation, punished and killed in Dhoonidhoo” in 1982.

Another caller asked, “Do you know that an island called Mandhoo exists?”

Gayoom addressed a number of issues ranging from tsunami reconstruction, his future in politics and the state of the nation.

The former president said he has not made a decision on remaining as leader of the opposition Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party or contesting for the presidency in 2013.

“I am still thinking about it. God willing, the people will know my decision very soon,” he said.

Defending his record on island development, Gayoom said there was only one government school in the atolls when he took office in 1978, but there were schools now in all inhabited islands.

Moreover, he built island offices, atoll offices and atoll houses as well as mosques, health centres and harbours.

Infant mortality was reduced from 120 from every 1,000 births to 10, he said, while life expectancy rose from 48 to over 70 years.

International institutions and agencies have noted that of all the Asian countries affected by the tsunami, he said, Maldives made the best use of foreign aid.

Gayoom said about US$80 million pledged by the institutions and foreign nations was not delivered.

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