Day: January 23, 2011

Islamic Foundation condemns reports of “pre-emptive” anti-terrorism bill

Comments made by government officials to Indian magazine The Week, concerning the potential for homegrown terrorism in the Maldives, risk portraying the country as a safe haven for terrorists and creating problems for Maldivians overseas, the Islamic Foundation of the Maldives has said.

The cover feature of The Week quoted a “Maldivian intelligence official” as saying that the spread of an extremist belief system in the Maldives “is fueled by hate preachers like Sheikh Fareed and Sheikh Ilyas. Both are [under surveillance],” the magazine reported a “Maldivian intelligence official” as saying, adding that a large section of Maldivian youth were becoming “hooked” to ideas of “transnational jihad”.

“The signs are ominous as seven radicals chose to contest the Maldivian polls in 2008. Though all [of them] lost, we found that Islam is being increasingly used as a political tool in Maldivian affairs,” the magazine quoted the intelligence official as saying.

In response, the Islamic Foundation warned that the government was raising such concerns and allegations “at a time when there is a tremendous rise in religious awareness and people’s attempts to return to mainstream Islam.”

“Apart from the threat of being arrested and interrogated by authorities abroad and being kept under surveillance by foreign governments, the government’s action may create obstacles and insecurity for the Muslim religious scholars and the people of Maldives in travelling abroad,” the Islamic Foundation said in a statement.

“We also call the government to stop stereotyping the people of this country with the hope of getting financial benefits from the enemies of Islam. We also urge the individuals involved in such acts to get repent and return to the Path of Allah.”

In the statement, the Islamic Foundation expressed specific concern about the forthcoming counter-terrorism bill The Week revealed the government was drafting, reportedly in consultation with the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and Interpol.

“If the proposed bill has been passed, the law enforcement authorities would get a free hand to crackdown on religious activities with the pretext to preserve national security. The law is likely to provide an ample opportunity for the authorities to arrest Muslim religious scholars and extradite them or send them abroad for investigation, and also ban preaching Islam in public or conduct sermons and lectures to a wider audience,” the Foundation warned.

In the article, Deputy Commissioner of Maldives Police Service Ahmed Muneer is quoted as claiming that the bill would “provide sufficient powers to act pre-emptively on national security matters.”

“Our radical preachers are enjoying street credibility and radicalisation is visible at the street level. It’s a problem for us, but things would aggravate if the radicals get integrated into Maldivian politics,” Muneer told the magazine.

Speaking to newspaper Haveeru yesterday, Attorney General Dr Ahmed Ali Sawad confirmed work on bill and said it was an attempt by the government “to bring in a legislative framework due to our concerns.”

“We are not sure whether the laws and regulations currently in effect provide a complete solution to the issues that we face at present. Other nations of the world also deal with such issues through special legislations. So our security forces will also be able to deal with such issues through the necessary legislation,” Dr Sawad told Haveeru.

In response to reports of the bill, the Islamic Foundation said it “will not be intimidated by any threats from the Maldives government, the Zionist Israel and United States (the self proclaimed super-power) to abandon its work to propagate Islam in this country.”

The Islamic Foundation has also been highly critical of the Maldives’ government’s foreign policy following its decision to allow Israeli eye doctors to perform free surgery in the country during a visit in early December 2010.

The Foundation called on the government to “shun all medical aid from the Zionist regime” prior to the arrival of the seven eye surgeons, claiming that Isreali doctors “have become notorious for illegally harvesting organs from non-Jews around the world.”

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Supreme Court enters legal wrangle over High Court appointments

The Supreme Court of the Maldives has ordered the Civil Court to halt its case regarding the Judicial Services Commission (JSC)’s appointment of five High Court judges last week, and hand the matter to the Supreme Court.

The Judicial Service Commission appointed five judges, Shuaib Hussein Zakariyya, Dr Azmiraldha Zahir, Abdul Rauf Ibrahim, Abbas Shareef and Ali Sameer to the High Court bench last week. Zahir is the first woman to be appointed to the High Court bench in the Maldives.

However once the appointments were concluded, Criminal Court judge Abdul Baary filed a case in the Civil Court against the appointment of the new judges, claiming that there were policy and legal issues in the JSC’s appointment procedure.

Judge Baary told Haveeru that there were issues with the High Court Judges Appointment Policy as established by the JSC itself.

He claimed that the JSC’s policy stated that if a female and a male scored even marks, higher priority should be given to the female when appointing judges for the High Court bench. This, he said, was against the Constitution and the Labor Act.

The Civil Court issued an injunction halting the appointment of the High Court judges prior to taking their oath.

However the Supreme Court today stated that it had issued a Writ of Prohibition to the Civil Court, ordering it to hand over the case file to the Supreme Court before 4:00pm tomorrow.

Six JSC members have been accused of criminal charges by the President’s Member on the Commission, Aishath Velezinee, while the Commission as a whole is under investigation by the Anti-Corruption Commission for allegedly embezzling money by paying itself a ‘committee allowance’.

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Escaped prisoner arrested with illegal drugs

Police have arrested an escaped prisoner with illegal drugs in Male’.

Police reported that they arrested the man while he was sitting near Dharubaaruge, in possession of 24 packets of suspected narcotics.

The first time police attempted to arrest the man at his home, he escaped through a ventilation duct, police said.

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‘Telemedicine’ tackles geographic challenges of medicine in the Maldives

The government will introduce ‘telemedicine’ services to three islands this week, according to Health Minister Dr Aiminath Jameel, while the Ministry is also training healthcare staff in the use of the technology in conjunction with the Maldives College of Higher Education (MCHE).

Telemedicine is a combination of medical and telecommunication equipment that allows doctors to examine patients hundreds of kilometres away, usually with the assistance of a trained nurse at the patient’s end.

The Maldives’ first telemedicine facility was donated by Dhiraagu in late December 2010, and installed on Thinadhoo in Gaaf Dhaal at a cost of Rf 2 million (US$155,000). Further services are to be rolled out to Kudahuvadhoo (Dhaal Atoll), Eydhafushi (Baa Atoll), Naifaru (Lhaviyani Atoll) and eventually the southern atoll of Fuvahmulah, in a Rf 5.8 million (US$450,000) joint project between the government and the UAE-based Khalifa Al Nahyan Foundation, and will ultimately service 35 islands across the country.

Technologically ‘telemedicine’ ranges from two laptops and a webcam with a consulting doctor at one end and nurse at the other, to set-ups involving remote diagnostic equipment capable of compressing and sending complex medical imaging data across low-bandwidth connections – a challenge in many isolated areas with poor connectivity. Such deployments are seen as a practical application for unified communications technology developed by networking giants such as Cisco and Polycom, and is used all over world to supply medical expertise in remote and isolated communities in places such as Africa and Australia.

The particular system donated by Dhiraagu includes a cart consisting of a general exam camera, digital electronic stethoscope, dermascope, ENT otoscope, telephonic stethoscope, digital spirometer, 12 lead interpretive ECG, and digital vital signs monitor.

A statement from the company noted that the equipment would allow doctors to remotely check blood pressure, pulse rate, diagnose and follow-up respiratory illnesses as well as see the patient over the webcam.
The donation allows the telecom firm to show of its connectivity as well as fulfill its corporate social responsibility objectives, said Dhiraagu spokesperson Mohamed Mirshan Hassan, while the technology itself was a natural fit for an island nation such as the Maldives.

“Many patients currently need to travel to their regional hospital or Indira Gandhi Memorial Hospital (IGMH) in Male’. With telemedicine, a health assistant and a consulting hospital can mean the patient avoids having to travel long distances and gains increased access to medical care. And the doctor at the other end can be anywhere in the world.”

Image: An example of a common telemedicine cart.
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US$1.5 million for student loans, but drugs remain an obstacle for youth

Youth Minister Dr Hassan Latheef has said the ministry has budgeted Rf 19 million (US$1.5 million) to be given out as loans for young people to pursue higher education.

Latheef said the money would be distributed to provinces equally, with a view to increasing the number of educated professionals in the islands.

While Latheef claimed that during the MDP’s campaign across the islands he had witnessed a great amount of support for the ruling party among youth, the ongoing lack of education and employment opportunities for young people in the Maldives has led many to become involved in crimes, drugs and gang violence.

President Mohamed Nasheed has previously said that there is “not even a single family in the Maldives that has not been affected by drugs.”

In an effort to understand the country’s drug trade and its impact, Minivan News interviewed several self-described drug dealers in May last year, and was told that more treatment facilities and job opportunities would curb addiction.

One claimed to earn “at least Rf15,000 every day” (US$1167) selling drugs, approximately Rf465,000 per month (US$36,186).

”Everyday one person will buy at least three to five packets, sometimes people from the islands come and buy 40 packets also,” he said, claiming that each 0.03 gram ‘packet’ (of brown sugar) cost Rf 100 (US$7.70).

“All gangs are operated by people and money. Gangs earn money by selling drugs. If someone gets stabbed also the gangs would provide them with medication and financial assistance,” he told Minivan News, adding that drugs were imported into the country 1-2 kilograms at a time “with the assistance of high-profile people in the country.”

“Real drug dealers” did not use drugs themselves, he added.

Police statistics for 2010 showed that most arrests made across the Maldives in 2010 were for drug offences (1153), assault (941) and theft (773), and that most of these were first time offenders.

While the bulk of those arrested were young men aged between 17-23, key crimes committed by minors (aged under 18) were assault, theft and drug offences – albeit with an overall decline in 2010 on 2009.

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MPs deny involvement following rumours of DRP-PA plan to oust Speaker

Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) parliamentary group leader and MP Moosa ‘Reeko’ Manik has denied rumours the MDP is planning forward a no-confidence motion against Speaker of the Parliament, DRP MP Abdulla Shahid.

Late last week, opposition leader of the Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP) Ahmed Thasmeen Ali alleged that some DRP and coalition partner People’s Alliance (PA) MPs were plotting with MDP MPs to forward a no-confidence motion against the Speaker.

‘’MDP MPs will always, always vote according to the party line,” claimed Moosa, dismissing rumours of a planned no-confidence motion against Shahid.

“MDP is not a party divided into factions and groups,’’ he added, in reference to the recent factional turmoil within the opposition.

He claimed the intention of the rumours was to divide the MDP parliamentary group, “because DRP has already been split,’’ he claimed. “MDP will never fall into factions, no matter how much the opposition tries.’’

Thasmeen last week told the media he would not support such a vote, and assurances that “most” of the DRP MPs would not vote against Shahid.

The PA Secretary General Ahmed Shareef told Minivan News that no information on the accusations raised last week by Thasmeen.

“Nothing has been done to forward a no-confidence motion [against the Speaker],” said Shareef.

DRP MP Ahmed Nihan also dismissed rumours of the joint no-confidence motion against the Speaker as false.

”There are a few who are trying to split our party and they are taking advantage of this,” said Nihan. ”They are circulating this rumor through the media, and as far as I am concerned, it has never been discussed.”

He said that no DRP MPs had informed him of a potential no-confidence motion.

Meanwhile, DRP MP Dr Abdulla Mausoom emphasised that DRP MPs “will not join the no-confidence motion against Shahid and have not even discussed anything like that.”

Dr Mausoom said he could confirm that DRP MPs had not planned to put the motion forward.

”There maybe someone bitter about Shahid who wishes to do so, but he is the best Speaker of parliament I have ever seen,” Dr Mausoom said. ”He has worked in a very volatile environment, but he has handled the situation well as a smooth operator.”

Dr Mausoom said he was ready to breach the party’s three-line whip in the event the DRP did decided to put forward a motion to dismiss the Speaker.

However, daily newspaper Haveeru has quoted a DRP MP anonymously that discussions about forwarding a motion to dismiss Shahid have been going on for two months, along with potential candidates for the speaker position.

Leader of the DRP Ahmed Thasmeen Ali originally raised the matter when he told the media that he had information that a no-confidence motion against Shahid was to be filed in parliament in what would be rare cooperation between DRP, MDP and PA MPs.

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Record US$2.8 million in alms to be distributed to poor, says Islamic Ministry

The Islamic Ministry received a record amount of money as alms last year, reports Haveeru.

The Ministry received Rf 36 million (US$2.8 million) last year, an increase of Rf 9 million (US$700,000) on 2009.

Assistant Director General Ahmed-ulla Jameel told Haveeru that the number of people giving alms had also increased, as a result of “an increased public awareness about religious matters.”

The Ministry’s Alms Committee would distribute the money to the poor, Jameel told Haveeru.

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Maavaidhoo population resettled in Nolhivaranfaru

The government will resettle 500 people from Maavaidhoo to Nolhivaranfaru in Haa Dhaal atoll over the next few days, reports Haveeru, along with islanders from Kunburudhoo and Faridhoo.

Haveeru reported that 134 houses have been built in Nolhivaranfaru to accommodate the influx of residents, with an additional 47 constructed with Chinese assistance.

The President’s Office has also stated that the regional utilities company is upgrading electricity and water on Nolhivaranfaru at a cost of US$1.6 million.

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