Day: March 22, 2010

PA claims senior government officials “are not very religious”

People’s Alliance (PA) Leader and MP Abdulla Yameen has claimed that the senior officials of the government are “not very religious”, during a rally to celebrate the day the Maldives embraced Islam.

Secretary General of the PA, Ahmed Shareef, also claimed the government was not interested in religion and had done “many things to weaken Islam in the country.”

”Last year during Ramadan the government allowed non-muslims to eat in day time,” Shareef said,”and they disbanded women’s mosques.”

He said the government had also dismissed many Imams from their position, “and gave away the land belonging to the Kulliyathu Dhiraasathul Islamiyya school,” he added, when it was brought under the Maldives College of Higher Education.

”They also discussed the building of temples in the country and selling alcohol on inhabited islands,” he said.

Press Secretary for the President’s Office Mohamed Zuhair said the claims were untrue.

”The government has done many things to strengthen and protect Islam in the country,” Zuhair said.

He said the government’s policy was to leave all the religious issues to Islamic scholars.

”As we are not religious scholars we always leave religious issues to the religious scholars,” he said, pointing to new freedoms given to scholars.

“Yameen is not a religious scholar,” he added.

Spokesperson for Maldivian Democratic Party MDP Ahmed Haleem said the government had always tried to protect Islam in the Maldives.

”It’s a fact that the government has never arrested a religious scholar, unlike the former government,” Haleem said.

Haleem claimed the former government arrested more than 20 religious scholars after their sermons.

”I never knew that Abdulla Yameen was so religious,” Haleem said. “Maybe in the future we will see him at the mosque with a long beard and short trousers.”

Sheikh Abdulla Jameel said in his view Islam in the Maldives “has become very strong”, particularly among young people “who are now very interested in Islam.”

”I have noted that the number of people going to the mosques has also raised,” he said.

He said he believed this had happening because the government’s efforts to promote the role of religion in people’s hearts.

”The new government allows scholars to give sermons as they wish,” he said.

President of Islamic NGO Jamiyyath-al-Salaf, Sheikh Abdullah Bin Mohamed Ibrahim, said the group did not wish to comment on issue.

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Olympic rower to cross equator between atolls in world first

British Olympic rower Guin Batten says that while she loves visiting the Maldives, “like most people I get a little bored with just lying around on a beach.”

So during her next trip, on 29 March, the 42 year-old silver medallist intends to row 60 kilometres across the ‘zero degree’ channel that bisects the equator between Foammulah and Huvadhoo Atoll.

In the first ever attempt at the crossing in a rowboat, Batten expects to spend seven hours battling the swells, tides and currents of the Indian Ocean, in coastal rowing vessel just 78 centimetres wide and weighing 35 kilograms.

“The boat has an open stern and is designed so waves can break over it,” Batten explains. “The attempt will involve a lot of technical skill, and I have to make sure I don’t catch the waves with the oars. Ocean waves are long and slow, but there’s very little information available on the currents and conditions – I don’t think it’s going to be straightforward.”

Batten has been preparing by studying surf reports in the area, and expects the Somali current to be a formidable adversary (“that’s what gives the surfers their southwest swell”).

As far as madcap record-setting rowing enterprises go, Batten is well qualified. She holds the current world record – male or female – for rowing solo across the English Channel in an Olympic hull, in a time of three hours and 14 minutes.

But that was only 30 kilometres – half the distance she will face next week.

“As an athlete I’m designed to race two kilometres in seven minutes, not 60 kilometres in seven hours. It will be very different in style,” she predicts.

“Last weekend I rowed for five hours, and it was tough. Your hands get very sore from the blisters, and you go through the highs and lows.”

One of Batten’s major concerns during the equator crossing will be regulating her body temperature: “I’m coming straight from a freezing British winter to the lovely tropical Maldives where it’s 30 degrees,” she says, predicting it was very likely she would develop some level of heat exposure during the attempt.

“The critical thing is to make sure you drink enough and have enough energy on board. I’ll have to drink two litres of water an hour, and I’ll probably sweat more than that.”

Beyond her record-setting attempt, Batten says she hopes to inspire Maldivians to take up rowing again after it lapsed from the culture.

“I thought it was interesting that rowing used to be very popular here in the 80s – there were even competitions but they all died away.

“It’s a great tradition for a country like the Maldives to have – there’s a lack of space for sports [on land], but there’s so much beach and sea. We’re exploring how to bring over four-man rowing boats and start up a rowing club. My ambition is to see it take off again, and come back in 5-6 years and see islands having boat races with each other.”

Batten’s trip to the Maldives next week might be a little less sedentary than that of most visitors, but she says it won’t be entirely beach-free: “I’ll just be getting a bit of exercise first.”

Batten’s world-first attempt at the zero degree crossing is supported by UK-based NGO Friends of Maldives, with assistance from British Airways, Coco Palm Resorts (Maldives) and Crew Room.

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Baa Atoll ‘running out of water’, say residents

A prolonged dry spell has led to critical shortages of fresh water on several islands in Baa Atoll.

The islands of Kendhu, Kihadhu and Kamadhu in Baa Atoll are among the islands afraid that they might completely run out of rain water if the government does not provide aid.

Island councilor of Kendhu Adbul Rahman said the water stored in the tanks was running low as it had not rained for a long time.

”We use rain water for cooking, cleaning and drinking, and it would be very difficult for us if the tanks run out,” Rahman said.

Rahman said water tanks on some of the island’s had run dry, forcing the occupants to now sharing water with neighbours.

”It is possible all the tanks with be empty if does not rain soon,” he said, explaining that the islanders were doing a survey “and after that if we think we should ask for help from the government, we will.”

He said this happened every year during at same time, and noted that the government helped only last year.

Island chief for Kihadhu Adnan Ibrahim said that six 5000 litre tanks on the island were now empty.

”We just sent the message to the Atoll office,” Adnan said. “People are now sharing water from those neighbour whose water tanks are not empty.”

Adnan said there were water tanks on every house,  but many of them were now empty.

”The government has provided us a 10000 litre water tank but it is too big and not usable,” he said. ”It’s too long and its very difficult to clean.”

He said the islanders relied on only rainwater for everything.

Island councilor of Kamadhu Ahmed Shafeeq also said their water tanks would be empty very soon if it did not rain.

Shafeeq said the government had helped them only last year when their water tanks ran out.

”if the government did not provide aid we might run out of water,” he said.

Press secretary for the president’s office Mohamed Zuhair, State minister for Home Affairs Ahmed Adil and Atoll Councilor Mohamed Habib did not respond to Minivan News at time of press.

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Discrepancies in rape statistics highlighted in NGOs report

A coalition of NGOs have condemned the performance of the judiciary and the State for its treatment of criminal cases, especially those concerning rape.

Maldivian Detainee Network, Trasparency Maldives, Rights for All, Maldives Aid, Madulu, Democracy House, Maldives NGO Federation and Strength of Society issued a statement “condemning the increase in serious crime and the failure of the state and responsible authorities to convict those responsible for these crimes.”

The statement referred to statistics on crimes such as murder, child abuse, assault with sharp weapons, and threats to journalists and others in the media, comparing these with the number of crimes investigated by police, the number sent to the Prosecutor General’s office and the number tried in the Criminal Court.

The NGOs said the blame for the “failure to deliver justice” should not be placed on the new democratic system or human rights safeguards, “but rather [on] the unsatisfactory implementation of these systems and safeguards.”

They “note with great concern that there is not a single case of ‘rape’ in the statistics maintained by either the PG or the Criminal Court.”

Technical misunderstanding

Information provided by the Maldives Police Service (MPS) to Transparency Maldives states that in 2009 ten cases of rape were reported to police, eight of which were investigated and five sent to the Prosecutor General (PG)’s office.

Police Sub-Inspector Ahmed Shiyam said in the instance of these rape cases, the three that had been labelled as ‘finished’ by police but were not sent to the PG were still “being checked” by police before being sent to the PG’s office.

“Sometimes we check and update information,” Shiyam said, “and there could be other documents being collected.”

Information gathered by the coalition of NGOs from the Criminal Court show zero cases under ‘rape’ were prosecuted in 2008 and 2009.

But Senior Judge at the Criminal Court Abdulla Mohamed said the Criminal Court had processed six cases of rape during the year.

Deputy Prosecutor General Hussein Shameem said the discrepancy was “a misunderstanding of technical terms.”

“If consent is lacking, regardless of whether or not there was intercourse, the case would fall under sexual misconduct,” he said.

Shameem said when the PG’s office received cases from the police, they decided whether or not to prosecute it depending on the evidence.

He added that the statistics from the police might “not give a clear idea” of the number of cases, as the PG’s office might prosecute for a different offence.

“For example, if police investigate a case for rape, and within the document we find evidence for battery and assault, we would prosecute both charges.”

In the document provided by the Criminal Court, 37 cases falling under the category of “sexual misconduct” are shown as being received by the court.

Of those, nine were dismissed due to lack of evidence while fourteen were tried.

Aishath Velazinee from the Judicial Service Commission said the remaining fourteen cases did not appear asdismissed or tried because they were still being processed by the court.

She said that “because rape is not a crime under the current Penal Code” cases of rape would fall under the category of “sexual misconduct”.

“The existing Penal Code is not adequate,” she noted, adding that under the new Penal Code (which is still tabled in the Parliament) rape, including spousal rape, would be considered a crime under its own category.

Rising concerns, rising crime

The coalition of NGOs said “lack of communication between the [State] authorities” was one of the “main reasons behind the recent failure to convict criminals.”

They called upon the State to “comprehensively study and identify the causes for the recent rise in crime, in particular, identify why convicted criminals are able to offend repeatedly.”

The Human Rights Commission Maldives (HRCM) has also recently condemned the rise in crime.

In their 2009 annual report released on 9 March 2010, they claimed the crime rates in the country had risen, and communities in the Maldives have reached a state of fear, mainly because of “failure to enforce sentences for convicts.”

The United States 2009 annual country reports on human rights, published on 11 March 2010, also expressed concern for increased violence against women in the Maldives and lack of convictions by the judiciary.

The report cited that “In 2008 the Ministry of Gender and Family released data showing an increase in the reported cases of violence against women, although NGOs believed that most cases remained unreported.”

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Boy arrested with 53 packets of suspected drugs

Police have arrested a boy under the age of 18 for carrying 53 packets of suspected narcotics in Fuvamula.

Police received information that a person was trying to carry drugs from Addu to Fuvamulah and raided the harbor area, arresting the boy at 3:00pm.

Fuvamulah police station and the drug enforcement unit are now investigating the case.

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Vice President meets Saudi Crown Prince and members of RCCI

As part of his official visit to Saudi Arabia, Vice President Dr Mohamed Waheed met with the Crown Prince Sultan bin Abdulaziz.

Vice President Waheed said the Maldives and Saudi Arabia had always had close bilateral ties, and they discussed ways of improving relations between the countries.

Dr Waheed briefed the Crown Prince on the upcoming Donor Conference and asked the Saudi government to participate.

The Crown Prince assured Vice President Waheed that his country would participate in the conference and would continue to assist the Maldives.

Dr Waheed then met with the Riyadh Chamber of Commerce and Industry (RCCI).

The meeting was hosted by Chairman of RCCI Dr Abdulrahman bin Ali Al-Jeraisi.

Vice President Waheed briefed the RCCI on the conference and said Maldives was specifically looking for investors in the areas of housing, infrastructure, utilities and renewable energy.

Saudi Minister of State for Finance and Treasury Ahmed As-ad was also present at the meeting and said it was important to establish a trade link between the two countries.

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Germany to assist in training Maldives police

Minister of Foreign Affairs Dr Ahmed Shaheed has said Germany will assist the Maldives with police training, reports Miadhu.

This decision has been made after President Mohamed Nasheed’s visit to Germany, where he met with Chief Director of German Police on 9 March to seek assistance in training and building a qualified police force in the Maldives.

Dr Shaheed said the training would begin soon and will train the police on working in a democratic society.

The project will be sponsored by Germany and conducted in the Maldives.

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Maldives studying the extension of its continental shelf

The Maldives National Defense Force (MNDF) is working on the possibility of extending the Maldives’ continental shelf, reports Miadhu.

Major Mohamed Ibrahim said the Maldives had to make its submission to the UN Commission on Continental Shelf on the findings of its studies by 7 September 2010.

He said a study had already been prepared with assistance from the Commonwealth Secretariat.

Major Ibrahim said the technical team had studied the Indian Ocean and the Maldives since the 1970s.

He also noted the difficulty of finding experts to conduct the studies.

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