Month: April 2012

President Waheed inaugurates National Awards Committee

President Mohamed Waheed Hassan today held the inaugural meeting of the newly reconstituted National Awards Committee.

The committee, which decides on public figures to honour for their work in societal development through fields such as health, agriculture and the arts, was reformed on Monday (April 9), after the previous body completed their allotted three year term.

According to the President’s Office website, the awards committee is to function independently from the government, which will respect any decision made.

The national awards were last held in November 2011 and conferred by former President Mohamed Nasheed.

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Tsunami watch alert cancelled after 8.6 earthquake and aftershock off Indonesia

An Indian Ocean-wide Tsunami Watch Bulletin was issued on Wednesday afternoon by the Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre after an earthquake measuring 8.6 on the Richter scale occurred off the coast of Indonesia, followed by an aftershock measuring 8.2 almost two hours later.

The Centre revised its initial update after sea level readings confirmed a “significant” tsunami was generated, and subsequently cancelled the warning five hours after. Any tsunami was predicted to hit the Maldives at 11:49(GMT) – 16:49 Male time, and 11:44(GMT) – 16:44, the Centre reported, but advised that waves could follow for up to two hours after this period. The first wave may not be the largest and further waves could follow in intervals of five minutes to one hour.

The Centre said that the initial shock generated a tsunami measuring 17 cm (6.7 inches), and advised authorities to “take appropriate action”

Such an earthquake had the potential to “generate a widespread destructive tsunami that can affect coastlines across the entire Indian Ocean basin”, according to the centre’s initial report.

Alerts were issued by the Maldivian meteorology department, which extended its alert period by two hours to 7:30pm, following the aftershock.

Residents in the capital Male’ reported feeling tremors with bottles and glass shaking when the first earthquake struck. Several tall buildings, including the government building Velanaage, and schools, were evacuated earlier this afternoon.

Tremors were also reported in the Indian cities of Kolkata, Chennai, Bangalore, Kochi and Thiruvananthapuram.

Bruce Presgrave of the US Geological Survey (USGS) told the BBC that the nature of this quake made it less likely a tsunami would be generated, as the earth had moved horizontally, rather than vertically, therefore had not displaced large volumes of water: “We can’t rule out the possibility, but horizontal motion is less likely to produce a destructive tsunami,” he said.

The 2004 tsunami inundated entire islands in the Maldives, but only caused minor damage in capital city Malé. The northern sea wall and buildings on city’s seafront were damaged. The waves caused minor flooding as well.

Minivan News will provide updates as the situation develops.

UPDATES:

14:30 – According to the BBC, the US Geological Survey has reported that the quake at Aceh quake was centred 33km (20 miles) under the sea about 495km from Banda Aceh.

14:35 – Offices, school and governent buildings in Male’ and Hulhumale’ were evacuated as the people felt the tremors.

14:40 – MET Director Hussain Waheed told state broadcaster: “There is a potential tsunami risk to the Maldives in next two or three hours. But there has been no sign of a tsunami yet. However, he advised the people to be on alert.

14:52 – Deputy Tourism Minister Mohamed Maleeh Jamal told Minivan News that government bodies were now following the instructions of the coast guard and Maldives National Defense Force (MNDF). Resort management had been formed and the government was set to form its crisis management committee established following the 2004 Asian tsunami that struck many islands across the Maldives.

Jamal said he himself had been in the Velaanage Building, where he said that tremors as a result of the quake could be felt.

“All government employees in the building were evacuated to ground level,” Maleeh said of the situation at the time. “We are still waiting for exact details on the situation, but we are working with the military and coast guard.”

Report from the Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre:

“EARTHQUAKES OF THIS SIZE HAVE THE POTENTIAL TO GENERATE A WIDESPREAD DESTRUCTIVE TSUNAMI THAT CAN AFFECT COASTLINES ACROSS THE ENTIRE INDIAN OCEAN BASIN.

HOWEVER – IT IS NOT KNOWN THAT A TSUNAMI WAS GENERATED. THIS WATCH IS BASED ONLY ON THE EARTHQUAKE EVALUATION. AUTHORITIES IN THE REGION SHOULD TAKE APPROPRIATE ACTION IN RESPONSE TO THE POSSIBILITY OF A WIDESPREAD DESTRUCTIVE TSUNAMI.

ESTIMATED INITIAL TSUNAMI WAVE ARRIVAL TIMES AT FORECAST POINTS WITHIN THE WARNING AND WATCH AREAS ARE GIVEN BELOW. ACTUAL ARRIVAL TIMES MAY DIFFER AND THE INITIAL WAVE MAY NOT BE THE LARGEST. A TSUNAMI IS A SERIES OF WAVES AND THE TIME BETWEEN SUCCESSIVE WAVES CAN BE FIVE MINUTES TO ONE HOUR.”

15:07 – Mobile networks are suffering from congestion due to a sudden spike in usage, report major providers.

15:11 – Government spokesman Abbas Adil Riza said the Maldives was evacuating beaches. The National Disaster Management Centre is continuing to issue updated warnings and assess any potential threat: “Right now, we are seeing if there is a threat [from today’s Indonesian earthquake] to this side of the Indian Ocean.

15.18 – David Cameron tells Indonesian President that he is ‘hugely concerned’ about the earthquake, reports the BBC.

15:25 – Bruce Presgrave of the US Geological Survey (USGS), has told the BBC that the nature of this quake made it less likely a tsunami would be generated, as the earth had moved horizontally, rather than vertically, therefore had not displaced large volumes of water: “We can’t rule out the possibility, but horizontal motion is less likely to produce a destructive tsunami,” he said.

15:42 – Maldives National Defence Force (MNDF) spokesperson Colonel Abdul Raheem has said that no signs of a tsunami wave within the Indian Ocean have as yet been identified.

“At the moment we are monitoring areas around the country, but have not observed any tsunami,” he said. “We have been in contact with other countries like Sri Lanka and India and they have said the same thing.” Raheem concluded that at present, the Indian Ocean remained calm.

15:44 – Indonesia’s disaster management agency said power was down in Aceh province and people were gathering on high ground as sirens warned of the danger. “The electricity is down, there are traffic jams to access higher ground. Sirens and Koran recitals from mosques are everywhere,” said Sutopo, spokesman for the agency.

The quake was felt as far away as the Thai capital, Bangkok, and in southern India, residents said.

15:49 – Reuters news agency, quoting tsunami warning centre official, has reported the total vertical measurement of the tsunami wave, according to monitoring gauges, was 35 cm (13.8 inches), making the height 17 cm (6.7 inches).

“It doesn’t look like a major tsunami,” Victor Sardina, a geophysicist on duty at the Hawaii-based Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre said. “But we are still monitoring as tsunamis come in waves.”

16:14 – The Centre revised its initial update and said that if generated, the tsunami was likely to hit the Maldives at 11:49(GMT) – 16:49 Male time, and 11:44(GMT) in Gan local time 16:44

16:16 – Sea level reading confirm a tsunami was generated, reports the Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre.

16:21 – Met Office Director Hussain Waheed has said that the country has not decided to updated the severity of its warning since the tsunami warning was first raised earlier this afternoon, but will be extending the period of the tsunami watch for at least an hour and a half.

The Met Office said it continues to issue a yellow bulletin, which requires authorities to keep a watch on potential tsunami development.

“Any earthquake of a  magnitude of over 8.0 results in a yellow bulletin being issued,” he said.

With the yellow bulletin in place, Waheed said that the Met Office would be continuing to run a tsunami watch regarding the situation in the Maldives for at least the next hour and a half due to aftershocks that have occurred in Indonesia.

16:25 – The latest (4th) bulletin from the Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre advises that when no major waves have occurred for two hours after the estimated arrival time (16:49 for Male, 16:44 for Gan, local time), authorities can assume the threat is passed.

“Danger to boats and coastal structures can continue for several hours due to rapid currents. As local conditions can cause a wide variation in tsunami wave action the all clear determination must be made by local authorities.”

16:29 – UNICEF worker Edward Carwardine in Jakarta, Indonesia, told Al Jazeera: “People are quite rightly moving to higher ground, moving away from the coastal areas as fast as they can. I think it’s an indication of how much people have learned from the terrible experiences of a few years ago. We haven’t yet heard of things like structural damage … right now people are looking after themselves and that’s the best thing they can do.”

16:30 – The 2004 tsunami inundated entire islands in the Maldives, but only caused minor damage in capital city Malé. The northern sea wall and buildings on city’s seafront were damaged. The waves caused minor flooding as well.

Following the Indonesia geophysics agency’s extension of a tsunami warning in Aceh province, the Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre has issued a new warning for the Indian Ocean following aftershocks off the Indonesian coast.

16:35 – The Maldives MET Office has extended the alert for Maldives until 5:30pm local time, following the latest after-shock which measured 8.2 on Richter scale.

16:46 – The Tourism Ministry activated its disaster management policy at 14:15 today, Minister Ahmed Adheeb has said on Twitter. All resorts were informed, tourist recalled to the island and head counts taken.

16:25 – Trans Maldivian Airlines (TMA) Managing Director Edward Alsford said the company is not making any changes to its scheduled activites at the moment. He said that the company did have back up systems in place when necessary. At the moment the sea plane operator was taking a precautionary stance while awaiting further information, he said.

16:45 – Ibrahim Nasir International Airport (INIA) CEO Andrew Harrison has said that management were currently monitoring the situation as it developed at the airport, and enacting countermeasures to protect vehicles in the event of a tsunami.

Harrison added that airport management was currently talking to sea plane operators and other airline operators to potentially move some aircraft to protect against any adverse impacts from a tsunami or irregular tidal pattern.

16:54 – People from coastal areas in Indonesia have been evacuated, police have told an Al-Jazeera correspondent. There are no reports of damages or casualties.

16:57 – India’s National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) has played down tsunami reports in the region. The organisation had initially issued a warning for Andaman and Nicobar Island, and an alert to coastal areas of Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu.

“There is no specific threat. It was a watch and alert. There is no likelihood of any tsunami in the Indian Ocean region,” NDMA Vice President Sashidhar Reddy told the Press Trust of India.

“It is the kind of strike and slip earth quake which does not trigger tsunami. There was no vertical displacement of water under the sea,” he said. “Tsunami possibility is virtually ruled out.”

17: 10 – The tsunami alert period has been extended in the Maldives to 19:30 local time, reports Haveeru.

17:13 – Safari boat operator Danielle Clayton, currently on her vessel in Dhaalu Atoll, said that she and her crew had not experienced any adverse conditions since the country issued a tsunami warning this afternoon.

“We first found out about the situation from Facebook, but since then we have come into the atoll with a number of other [live-aboard] boats,” she said.

Clayton added that they had been visited by the coastguard and remained in touch with other vessels for updates on the situation.

“Our crew are local guys and they have been getting in touch with people too.”

17.15 – Director General of the Department of Meteorology, Hassan Waheed, has confirmed that due to the aftershock the tsunami warning has been extended until 7.30pm local time.

17:16 – The airport has issued a statement noting that a tsunami watch “means there is the potential for a tsunami, not that one is imminent”. The airport continues to be on amber alert and “all seafarer vessels are advised to keep distance from the jetties and moor in the mooring areas located in the outer harbour area.

17:23 – The Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre has issued a fifth notification following the earthquake, scaling back the tsunami watch area to Indonesia, India, Sri Lanka, the Maldives and Diego Garcia. Estimate arrival times for a tsunami in the Maldives have now passed, but the watch period continues for two hours past the estimate (11:49GMT/16:49 local for Male’, and 11:44GMT/16:44 local for Gan).

17:29 – Indonesia’s Jakarta Post reports “small tsunamis” reaching upto 80 centimeters high have hit Meulaboh and Sabang cities in Aceh.

17:59 – The Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre has cancelled the tsunami watch alert for both the 8.6 earthquake at 1339 Male time, and the 8.2 aftershock at 1543. “Sea level readings now indicate that the threat has diminished or is over for most areas”, the centre reported.

19:45 – Director General of the Meterological Department confimed the cancellation of the tsunami watch saying: “The danger has passed. The wave was recorded mostly affecting Indonesia. There was only a small rise in our tsunami gauge.”

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Domestic violence bill “good example” of cross-party cooperation: UN

The United Nations has congratulated the passing of the bill to address domestic violence in the country, describing it a “good example” of how dialogue among different groups and cross-party cooperation can yield beneficial results to the country.

According to a statement released by the UN office based in capital Male’, “The successful vote on the Domestic Violence Bill is a testament to the passion, optimism and dedication of the political parties, ministries, non-government organisations and grassroots activists who actively worked to reach this goal.”

UN Resident Coordinator Andrew Cox meanwhile said in the statement: “The enactment of the Domestic Violence Bill into law is urgently needed in the Maldives which has a high rate of gender-related violence, particularly affecting women and girls.”

“The passage of the bill is a good example of how dialogue among different groups and cross-party cooperation can yield beneficial results to the country,” Cox noted.

A national survey on “Women’s Health and Life Experiences” conducted with the support of UNFPA, UNICEF, and WHO showed that one in every three Maldivian women aged 15-49 reported experiencing some form of physical or sexual violence at least once during their lifetime.

Meanwhile, information from Family Protection Units indicates a high prevalence of gender based violence including child abuse, and that 87% of the perpetrators are known to the survivors.

“The passage of the DV bill is in line with Maldives’ international obligations under the Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW). The last CEDAW Report on the Maldives underscored the urgent need to address gender-based violence in the country, to put in place the appropriate legislative frameworks for prevention and protection, and the building of stronger protective services for women and children. ” the statement reads.

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Hopes of victims renewed as parliament passes domestic violence bill

The Maldives parliament yesterday passed a much awaited Domestic Violence Bill which for the first time will provide legal provisions to protect victims from domestic abuse through protective orders and improved monitoring mechanisms.

The bill received broad cross party support when it was submitted by then opposition Dhivehi Rayithunge Party (DRP) in October 2011.  It was submitted in an attempt to enact  key changes to existing legislation and address societal attitudes to violence committed against women and girls within domestic circles.

Out of the 54 MPs present at Monday’s parliamentary session, 50 voted in favour of the bill, while two members, including Jumhoory Party MP Ibrahim Muththalib and MDP MP Mohamed Gasam voted against it. Two MPs abstained from the vote.

The passage to endorsement took over an year longer than anticipated, mostly due to the resistance from several MPs who had argued the bill was “un-Islamic” and criticised it for “unduly favouring” women while at the same time making life “extremely difficult” for men, who they said, were wronged by women.

Independent MP Mohamed Nasheed, who re-drafted the bill during the committee stage, noted in an interview with Minivan News today that several MPs had proposed amendments during the committee stage to revise clauses they deemed were in contravention to Islam.  However, these proposed amendments failed due to the lack of support, he added.

Nasheed insisted that the bill is actually “gender neutral” and provided equal protection to “everyone in a domestic relationship” including husband and wife, family and non-family members such as house-helps.

He added, “The argument for women is generated as a larger segment of the vulnerable victims include women and girls”.

A Ministry of Gender and Family study – the first comprehensive nationwide survey of domestic violence in the Maldives – showed that one in every three women between the ages of 15-49 has been a victim of domestic violence.

The study suggested there was general acceptance of domestic violence across the country and among both sexes, who perceived it as being ‘normal’ or ‘justified’.

Seventy percent of Maldivian women believe, for example, that there are circumstances under which a man is justified in beating his wife. Infidelity and disobedience, most women accept, are valid reasons for taking a good beating from the husband.

A majority of women also accept that they have a subordinate role to men, the report stated among it’s conclusions.

The survey added that one in every three Maldivian men who commit acts of domestic violence against women do so for ‘no reason’. One in four does it to punish the woman for disobedience, and one in five does it because he is “jealous”.

One in every ten men beats up his partner because she refuses him sex, and the rest of them do it for any number of reasons  – lack of food at home, family problems, because they are broke or unemployed, because they are having problems at work, or because the woman is pregnant

The new legislation passed this week is designed to offers a holistic and effective legal framework for addressing domestic violence in Maldives. It aims to do this by providing sweeping powers to regulatory authorities to expedite investigations of abuse within private spheres, makes provision for protection orders and legal remedies for victims; punishments to perpetrators who violates the court orders; psychological and rehabilitative services for victims or perpetrators, and processes for promotion of reconciliation.

Offences and Protective Remedies

According to the legislation, sexual, physical and emotional abuse of victims, economic and psychological abuse, intimidation, stalking and harassment, deliberate damage to property of the victims are all considered offences and perpetrators are subjected to the punishments and court orders under this legislation.

A husband who deliberately impregnates a wife seeking a divorce from an abusive marriage, or impregnates her despite the known health risks will also be committing an offence under the legislation.

However, MP Nasheed observed the stated offences in the Domestic Violence Law are considered “civil offences”, but it does not prevent the criminal prosecution of the perpetrator under penal code and other relevant legislations.

The legislation also offers several civil remedies for alleged victims to protect themselves and families from further abuse from assailants through protective orders, restraining orders and custody/maintenance orders.

The protective orders include “certain things that cannot be done or acts from which the victims are protected,” Nasheed explained.

The restraining order meanwhile prohibits an alleged perpetrator from committing specific acts pertaining to the complaints. For instance, where the perpetrator and the victim share the same household, the court can restrict the victim from “entering and exiting their private dwelling, place of work, employment, teaching, learning or any other commonly visited place.”

Meanwhile, in the event a wife applies for a protection order, the bill gives courts the authority to evict the husband from the residence, if the need arises.

The court can grant a three-month provisional order without a trail or to the knowledge of the alleged perpetrator while he or she is given the right to challenge the order during the trial to make the order permanent.

Violations of these orders are constituted as a criminal offence and the perpetrator is subjected to a maximum fine of Rf50, 000 and maximum three years of imprisonment.

Police and Family Protection Authority

Under the legislation, in cases where the police has reasonable evidence to believe a person is a victim of domestic abuse, the police can enter the place of crime without a court order and arrest perpetrators.

It also mandates the police to transfer the victim from the abusive environment to a secure location, if necessary with their own expenses.

“Once the legislation is ratified, the police must decide and announce protocols to address domestic violence cases, assess the level of damage to the victims and if necessary remove the victim from abusive environment and give shelter,” Nasheed noted. “Once these protocols are activated, [police] don’t wait to decide who takes care of the expenses.”

Police media official Hassan Haneef said today that the police will comment on the legislation after a thorough study.

Health professionals and care workers are subjected to statutory obligations to report and act on suspected domestic violence cases.

Meanwhile, an institution named “Family Protection Authority” (FPA) must be established under the legislation with the primary mandate to implement the legislation and create awareness.  The authority must establish easy mechanisms among other responsibilities, to allow victims to report abuse, provide psychological and rehabilitative services for victims and perpetrators, and processes for promotion of reconciliation.

According to Nasheed, the existing Department of Family and Child Protection Unit under the Health Ministry is likely to “ripen into the full fledged institution [FPA]”.

The Gender Department had earlier echoed concerns over the lack of a budget required to implement the legislation and asked the parliament to pass it with the necessary budget.

However, Nasheed responded although a budget has not been allocated under the legislation it does not” prevent the legislation coming from into being” and added that once the law is passed, it “gives the authority the right to charge the consolidated fund.”

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Judge declares previous defence statement a “confession” in Kuredu quad-bike case

The Criminal Court has held the third hearing into the trial of 23 year-old Swedish national Filip Eugen Petre, who stands accused of crashing a quad bike on Kuredu Island Resort that resulted in the death of a young newlywed British couple during their honeymoon vacation.

Petre faces charges of disobedience to order for his alleged role in driving the quad bike at the resort on August 6, after it crashed into a tree whilst carrying British nationals Emma and Jonathan Gray.

As the trial resumed today, the prosecution argued that Petre’s lawyer had confessed during the last hearing that his client had been driving the quad bike as it crashed – a view backed by presiding judge Judge Abdul Baary Yousuf.

According to Article 88 of the Penal Code, disobedience to order is a crime and according to Article 88(c), if the result of violating the article is linked to a death, the case shall be dealt accordingly to Islamic Sharia.  The prosecution has previously contended that under Islamic Sharia, if an offender’s action is found to caused the death of a person, the offender shall be punished.

Judge Abdul Baary Yousuf declared in court today that Petre’s lawyer had himself confessed during the trial’s first hearing that his client had driven the quad bike carrying Emma and Jonathan Gray as it crashed on the tourist property.  As a result of this confession, the judge said the state did not have to produce any evidence to prove Petre was the driver of the vehicle during the collision.

Representing the prosecution, State Attorney Aishath Fazna also contended that because Petre had “confessed” to driving the Quad Bike, she did not believe the state had to produce evidence to support this assumption.

However, Petre’s lawyer Areef Ahmed responded that his client had not directly confessed to driving the quad bike and argued that his client continued to deny the charges against him.  Areef additionally claimed that the judge could not declare a verdict regarding the alleged confession during the previous hearing.

Areef contended that his confession could be withdrawn before the case reached to a conclusion, but the state attorney argued that after confessing in the trial there was no way it can be withdrawn.

Previous hearing

In the previous hearing of the trial, Petre’s lawyer told the court that the couple requested Petre drop them at their room, and that the court had to determine the responsibility of Petre in the incident.

However, the state attorney said at the time that witnesses saw Petre asking the couple whether they wanted a ride.

Petre suffered injuries in the accident and was brought to Male’ for medical treatment.

The first hearing of the case was held last Thursday.  During the intial hearing, Petre’s lawyer Areef Ahmed contended that his client could not be charged under Islamic Sharia because his client is non-Muslim.

He told the judge that the crime Petre was accused of committing was carrying people on a vehicle which was not intended to carry passengers, and that his criminal actions started from that moment.

Judge Abdul Baary Yousuf asked Areef to explain this action of his client, to which Areef replied that this was the normal procedure at the resort.

Under the Maldivian constitution, Sharia is turned to by the courts in areas established law does not cover.

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Government and courts block MDP gatherings, as freedom of assembly bill enters the house

Hours after the dismissal of  the MDP’s civil court case challenging last month’s dismantling of its protest camp at the tsunami monument by the police and military, the Housing Ministry had informed Male’ City Council (MCC) of its intention to remove the party from its new base at Usfangandu.

After more than two weeks of hearings, the Civil Court dismissed the case of the Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) against the state.

The case was dismissed after court said that the party’s interim chairperson Moosa ‘Reeko’ Manik did not have the authority to file the case on behalf of the MDP.

Judge Aisha Shujon argued that the court could not verify whether an interim chairperson had been elected and so did not see sufficient grounds to continue with the case.

The initial legal arguments supporting the closure of the camp ranged from charges of illegal activities to claims that the land actually belonged to the Maldives National Defence Force (MNDF). The claim that the MCC did not have the right to lease the land for political purposes has resurfaced in the new challenge against the MDPs latest camp.

After a short media blackout following the security forces entering the camp at Lonuziaaraiy Kolhu, illicit items including alcohol and condoms were displayed to the media as evidence of nefarious activities.

A member of the MDP’s legal team Hissan Hussian said that the court had gone “beyond its jurisdiction” in questioning the internal processes used within the MDP to elect an interim chairperson.

“We argued that the MDP had passed a decree that allowed a person to act as interim chairman and submitted the minutes of the meeting to show that Moosa was nominated,” said Hissan.

“The [court’s] ruling said that these minutes needed certain formalities and so would not recognise them although the court did recognise that the voting took place,” she continued.

Hissan also pointed out the a previous higher court ruling stated that a case, once started, cannot be dismissed on a procedural issue that has no substantive bearing on the case.

The next hearing, scheduled for April 10, was expected to see both sides present their concluding statement.

The case has been re-submitted to the court with the signature of the MDP’s President, Dr Ibrahim Didi.

Haruge

Shortly after the dismantling of the original camp, the MDP began assembling only a few metres away at Usfasgandu. Crowds attempting to gather in the area behind Dharubaaruge were initially dispersed by police but a permanent stage has now been erected.

Protest marches and demonstrations have once again begun to emerged from the area. Two such marches last weekend, targeting the home of the President and a business belonging to the Vice President, started and finished at Usfangandu.

The MCC has today acknowledged the receipt of a letter from the Housing Ministry informing them that they have until Thursday to remove this new demonstration area.  The letter informs the MCC that if this does not happen, the land will be confiscated by the government.

The Council intends to challenge the government’s assertions that it has breached its regulations in leasing the land to the MDP for political activities. The current lease for the area was due to expire at the end of June.

Former advisor to President Mohamed Nasheed Ibrahim ‘Ibra’ Ismail described the dismissal of the court case “highly questionable”, and the threat to remove the MDP from another demonstration site as part of a wider move to stifle all political activity within the country.

“We are concerned about government institutions not working within the law… the courts don’t seem overly concerned,” said Ibra.

Freedom of Assembly

Independent MP Mohamed Nasheed last week submitted a Freedom of Assembly bill to the Parliament in an attempt to provide greater clarifications of the rights and responsibilities of both protesters and those policing them.

The most prominent instances of recent confrontations with the security forces have occurred when anti-government groups have attempted to breach the cordoned off area radiating from Republican square.

Breaches and attempted breaches of this zone have resulted in clashes with security forces, ranging from sit-down protests to the deployment of tear-gas, rubber bullets and high powered hoses.

Nasheed says the bill he is introducing is needed to replace the current regulations concerning freedom of assembly which pre-date the current constitution. These regulations are, he understands, currently the subject of a challenge via public petition in the High Court.

“Several parts [of the current regulations] can be challenged for their constitutionality. I am confident that the larger part of these rules will be null and void. They are obsolete.”

The proposed bill is based largely on the guidelines published in 2010 by the European advisory group on constitutional law, the Venice Commission (officially called the European Commission for Democracy Through Law). The guidelines argue that any restrictions to freedom of assembly must consider legality, necessity and proportionality.

The unusual nature of the country, he argued, requires that “absolute” restrictions on static protests remain around the state’s vital institutions, in particular those areas on Republican Square which affect the security forces’ ability to operationalise.  These require an area of 200ft to the front and 50ft to the side of police and military headquarters to be prohibited from static protests, such as sit-downs. Other military barracks require a protective zone of 50ft; other police facilities, 25ft.

The police protest on February 7 that led to the downfall of Nasheed’s government took place outside the MNDF’s headquarters.

Additionally, the bill suggests that a minimum distance of 25ft be kept from mosques, schools, hospitals, court buildings, the President’s Office, the President’s house, and from the Parliament. The proposed bill places no restrictions on moving protests.

The only time-based restritions are those that proscribing protests outside of an individual’s home after 10pm, and those that use loudspeakers after 8pm.

Nasheed was also keen to point out that this bill, and the timing of its submission, was unrelated to the current political situation. He stated that he had been working on the bill since 2010 and had completed a first draft last year.

He was realistic, however, about the difficulties the bill would face.

“People who are protesting will be unhappy with any restrictions… but they should respect the rights of others,” said Nasheed.

Due to the current pace of legislative activity, he said that the bill could take up to a year to be passed.

When asked about the likely success of the bill, he said: “I don’t anticipate anything. All I have done is taken the first step.”

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PPM submits amendment to make enforcement of death penalty mandatory

Former President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom’s Progressive Party of the Maldives (PPM) has proposed an amendment to the Clemency Act (Act no 2/2010) which would make performing the death penalty mandatory in the event it was upheld by the Supreme Court.

The amendment was submitted by PPM MP Ahmed Mahloof, the third MP to submit an amendment to put the death penalty into practice.

Mahloof’s amendment would require the President to enforce any death penalty if the Supreme Court issues the verdict of death, or if the Supreme Court supports the ruling of the death penalty made by either the Criminal court or the High Court. The move would halt the current practice of the President commuting such sentences to life imprisonment.

Mahloof, in a press conference held in his party head quarters on Monday, stated that he had proposed the amendment in an effort to stop crimes of murder and violence.

He claimed people were of the view that if death penalty or capital punishment is enforced it would bring down crime, and that he had decided to propose the amendment in consultation with several people including fellow parliamentarians.

“I believe nobody would want to die. So if the death penalty is enforced, a person who is to commit a murder would clearly know that if he carries out the act, his punishment would be his life. I believe this will deter him from committing such acts,” Mahloof said.

However, Mahloof admitted that enforcement of capital punishment would not be the sole solution to the problem. He reiterated that in order to achieve a solution, the new penal code and the criminal evidence bill had to be passed.

He also stated that he has been working on drafting a separate bill which is intended to prevent ongoing violence, murder and other criminal activities.

Mahloof has proposed to amend the article 21 of the Clemency Act.

The article 21 of the existing Clemency Act states: “Even if stated otherwise in this act, if the Supreme Court issues a death sentence, or a lower court or High Court issues a death sentence and if the Supreme Court upholds that sentence, the President has the authority to relieve the sentence into a life imprisonment, after consideration of either the state of the guilty, the legal principles behind the issue, consensus of the state or the values of humanity. But once such a sentence is being relieved to a life imprisonment, the guilty shall not be eligible for pardon, under any clause of this act.”

Mahloof’s amendment to the same article reads: “Even if stated otherwise in this act, if the Supreme Court issues a death sentence, or a lower court or High Court issues a death sentence and if the Supreme Court upholds that sentence, the President shall enforce the sentence.”

In Islamic Sharia, death penalty is the punishment of a murderer (one who kills deliberately) and that he is to be killed in retaliation (Qisaas) unless the victim’s next of kin let him off or agree to accept the ‘Diyah’ (blood money).

Previously, Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) MP Ahmed Rasheed and later MP Ibrahim Muthalib submitted similar amendments to the clemency act but both subsequently withdrew these.

MP Rasheed at the time said that he felt he had to present the amendment because of the increase in assaults and murder cases, which had “forced the living to live amid fear and threats.”

After the preliminary debate was concluded and he was given the opportunity to say the last word on the amendment, MP Rasheed withdrew the changes he had originally submitted to parliament citing that he withdrew the amendment because other necessary bills related to curbing criminal activities, such as the Penal Code and Criminal Justice Procedure Bill, had yet to be passed.

In April 2011, MP Ibrahim Muthalib became the second MP who had proposed amendments to Clemency act requiring the state to enforce death sentence.

MP Muthalib at the time told Minivan News that the purpose of the amendment was to uphold Islamic Shariah in the Maldives.

“[The amendment aims] to avoid human beings from changing the verdict determined by Islamic Shariah,” said Muthalib. “It’s the same bill as presented last time. [Referring to MP Rasheed’s amendment]”

On November 2010, Criminal court sentenced Mohamed Nabeel to death for the murder of Abdulla Faruhad, after reviewing the statements of witnesses and finding him guilty of the crime, making it first such sentence to be issued in a case related to gang murder.

The Judge issuing the sentence stated that article 88 clause (d) of the Penal Code of the Maldives stated that murders should be dealt accordingly to the Islamic Shariah and that persons found guilty of murder “shall be executed” if no inheritor of the victim denies the murderer to be executed, according to Islamic Shari’ah.

Previous death sentences issued in the Maldives have included (in 2005) those found to be involved in the death in custody of Evan Naseem, and the perpetrators of 1988 coup.

However none of these sentences were implemented and the guilty were given sentences of life imprisonment.

“An attempt to conceal the real truth”

Aishath Velezinee, formerly the President’s appointee to the Judicial Services Commission (JSC), said the amendment was another attempt by the MPs to avoid “the real issue” and to “deceive the public”.

“The real issue for thriving crime is corruption. The constitution has recognised this and required the judiciary be checked and cleansed.  The JSC breached the constitution, and those MPs are proposing this to cover up the JSC,” Velezinee said.

“Islam upholds justice, and not only has death penalty; it has very clear qualifications for judges too. Neither MP Mahloof, nor any of the Sheikhs, has expressed alarm that the judges are far below standard and some of them are convicted criminals themselves. This is pure politics and abuse of Islam,” she added.

Velezinee also stated that she had earlier sent a letter to the Parliament highlighting the incapacities of the judiciary and the question of public trust upon the the courts and the JSC, when the amendment had earlier been proposed by MDP MP Ahmed Rasheed.

Velezinee claimed that Mahloof’s amendment was an attempt to hide what her letter had highlighted about the Criminal Court and the Judiciary as a whole.

Speaking to Minivan News, MDP MP and spokesperson, Imtiyaz Fahmy stated that the amendment was a “childish act” from MP Mahloof and that it could be a popularity stunt, especially at a time when a very “complete” and “relevant” Penal Code is about to be passed by the Parliament.

The last person to be executed in the Maldives after receiving a death sentence was in 1953 during the first republican President Mohamed Ameen. Hakim Didi was charged with attempting to assassinate President Ameen using black magic.

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Government to annul provincial health and utility corporations, centralise services

President Dr Mohamed Waheed Hassan’s Spokesperson Abbas Adil Riza said the government intends to annul 30 government companies, including the provincial health and utility companies, in order to streamline government policy and improve service delivery.

The seven provincial utility companies—charged with providing electricity, gas, water and sanitation services—will be annulled and brought under one central umbrella corporation.

Furthermore, the seven provincial health corporations will be dissolved and health services will now be provided through the Health Ministry and the Centre for Community Health.

Riza said the provincial companies had failed to deliver services and that ousted President Mohamed Nasheed’s administration had set up separate utility and health corporations in each of the seven provinces only to award salaries to Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) activists.

Nasheed’s former Policy Undersecretary Aminath Shauna said the act represented a “move back to Gayoom’s policies”, and defeated the purpose of decentralisation. Maumoon Abdul Gayoom ruled the Maldives from 1978- 2008.

“Malldives’ geographical fragmentation means one central board or company will find it impossible to effectively monitor and deliver services in an equitable manner,” Shauna said.

“They want to re-establish a relationship of dependency between the islands and Malé. Their intent in this is to consolidate power. Islanders will once again have to come to Malé and beg for services,” she added.

Effective Service Delivery

Speaking to Minivan News, Shauna said Nasheed’s administration had pursued a policy of corporatisation at provincial level in order to decentralise and improve service delivery.

“We have already experienced the disadvantages of centralising services; it made service delivery slow and led to corruption. Corporations were instituted because utility companies were not run on a business model. Island electricity providers often came to the finance ministry asking for debt relief. We wanted to eliminate this dependency. Corporatisation also creates reliable services and creates economies of scale,” Shauna said.

In response Abbas said the provincial companies had failed to deliver services.

“These companies could not manage their capital. In 2010 alone, Rf 800 million (US$52 million) was spent on supporting the salaries of so-called corporations,” Abbas said. The companies did not share common polices and operated on very different models, he claimed.

Although the provincial companies will be terminated, the operational units at province and island levels would continue to exist.

“This is centralised coordination to streamline policy. The operational units at provincial and island levels will continue to exist and the staff will retain their jobs,” he said.

“What we are doing is eliminating political boards. There were 30 separate boards before. Some boards had as many as 15 board members, and they were all political appointees. The former government did this in order to grant party activists salaries,” he alleged.

“When you eliminate political boards, service delivery will in fact be faster. If you look at the health records, we are slipping back and we believe this happened because service delivery was not efficient or effective,” he claimed.

However, Shauna said Nasheed’s “ultimate aim was to make these companies public companies and fully independent. They were state sponsored until they could find their own feet.”

Some companies had been more successful than others, Shauna admitted. For instance, the Southern Utilities Ltd – serving Addu and Fuamulah Atolls – had contracted Biwater International Ltd in 2010 to build six seawater reverse osmosis desalination plants to provide potable water. The contract is valued at US$42 million. The Southern Utilties Ltd had also handled all roadwork and landscaping for the 2011 SAARC Summit held in Addu atoll.

“All of the companies were improving gradually. They were finding their own feet, and contracting partners through public private partnerships. Our vision was for the government to step out of service delivery and play a monitoring role,” Shauna said.

Decentralisation

A second benefit of the centralisation of utility and health services is that the policy would empower local councils, Riza told Minivan News.

“Decentralisation means administrative decentralisation through elected councils. It does not mean making corporations. Now the ministry will be working very closely with the councils, where tasks will be delegated to councils, whereas corporations can and did override councils before,” Riza said.

In response Shauna said the spirit of decentralisation was to decentralise service delivery and to promote greater accountability.

“When you have regional companies, you have service providers working closely with the public. These companies will have to face the public everyday and this improves accountability,” Shauna said.

“How can a central authority with a limited number of people provide equitable services to the entire country? A few people deciding for the entire country does not help the people,” Shauna said.

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Palestinian President to visit Maldives

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas will visit the Maldives on April 17, the foreign Ministry has said.

Abbas’ one day visit will be the first visit to the Maldives by a Palestinian president.

The Maldives had previously co-sponsored a resolution to grant Palestine full membership to UNESCO, but the delegation returned before voting.

The resolution was adopted with 107 countries voting in favour, 14 voting against and 52 abstaining, signaling a significant symbolic victory for Palestine’s bid for statehood ahead of a similar vote at the UN General Assembly in New York.

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