May 2012 – Minivan News

“Thuggery will not push us back”, Nasheed tells thousands of supporters in ruins of Usfasgandu

Twenty four hours after police began dismantling the Maldivian Democratic Party’s (MDP) protest area – for the second time since February 7 – the party’s supporters returned to the area to hear former President Mohamed Nasheed speak.

Nasheed arrived at Usfasgandu straight from the airport, after attending a an executive meeting of the International Democratic Union (IDU) in New Zealand. Thousands of MDP supporters gathered in the remains of the camp at around 11:30pm to hear the ousted President speak.

Nasheed told his throngs of supporters that the government was now witnessing the determination of the people to regain their constitutional freedoms.

“What we are witnessing today is that the Maldivian people are not ready to give up the freedoms gained through the hard work of a lot of people,” he said.

“Maldivian people will not let go of freedom of expression, freedom of assembly and the freedom to hold peaceful political activities,” he added.

Police Sub Inspector Hassan Haneef said that the police had vacated the area at around 2:00pm yesterday. The warrant issued by the Criminal Court at 3:00pm on Monday gave the police 48 hours to complete their search of the site.

Haneef said that there had been no reported incidents following Nasheed’s speech, although he did day that two officers patrolling the area at around 3:30pm had their walkie-talkies taken from them and smashed.

The search warrant granted to police did not grant any permission to dismantle the camp, an issue that was brought to the attention of the Civil Court by the MDP. At 10:15pm, the Civil Court ordered that the dismantling be halted until it made a decision on the issue.

A police statement acknowledged receipt of the Civil Court order but added that most of the dismantling work had been carried out. An MDP statement alleged that by this time “the out-of-control police had already finished its work, leaving only a few chairs and a flagpole.”

The MDP have alleged that the police and Maldives National Defence Force (MNDF) continued their work after the court order to cease was given.

Speaking atop a pile of debris left after the police and MNDF had partially excavated the site as part of their search, Nasheed told the crowd: “The reality that the police and military officers who perpetrated the coup should know is that whether you smash us or stomp on us, we will not back down.”

“Trained in thuggery, in iron armor, carrying pepper spray and batons on the streets – this will not stop our resistance. Thuggery will not push us back.”

“Maldivian people had long been voicing against the torture they suffered, that’s why the new constitution [ratified in 2008] was the people’s constitution, and the fundamental rights that the citizens of this country found in that constitution are not something they are willing to let go of,” he exorted.

Nasheed then went on to express his confidence that 2012 would see fresh presidential elections and that the Committee of National Inquiry (CNI)’s investigations would result “in the arrest of the perpetrators of the coup”.

MDP MP Mariya Didi, party Interim Chairman Moosa ‘Reeko’ Manik, and former Spokesman for Nasheed’s Presidential Commission, Abdulla Haseen, also addressed the crowd.

Nasheed arrived at Ibrahim Nasir International Airport (INIA ) at around 10:00pm, walking to the Usfasgandu area from the harbour after briefly speaking to reporters at the airport.

Haveeru reported Nasheed as telling the press that all parties present in the Wellington talks were supportive of early elections in the Maldives.

Asked about the Usfasgandu issue, Nasheed reportedly responded: “desperate times call for desperate measures.”

“Humans tend to resort to heavy handed tactics when times are desperate. It is a flaw which is quite disappointing,” he lamented.

“I hope that civilised measures would be restored where issues would be resolved by peaceful means,” he said.

Nasheed spoke to the IDU’s executive committee about the current political situation in the Maldives. He also met with the IDU member group the Asian Pacific Democratic Union (APDU).

The Commonwealth’s Special envoy to the Maldives, Sir Donald McKinnon, was also present at the IDU meeting.

During the visit, Nasheed also discussed the Maldives’ political situation with officials from New Zealand’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

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Maldives marks World No Tobacco Day

The Health Ministry has revealed that 44 percent of the Maldivian population use tobacco – an increase from 24 percent in 2004 and the highest percentage in the region.

According to figures published by the Ministry to mark International No Tobacco day, tobacco is responsible for 27 percent of all deaths in the country.

Approximately around 347 million cigarettes are imported into the country annually, the equivalent of 53 tonnes.

Statistics show that overall tobacco use prevalence is high compared to international standards with 57 percent of men and 29 percent of women having used some form of tobacco, with the number of female smokers on the rise.

Based on the import figures, the average Maldivian smoker consumes 2312 cigarettes a year – approximately six a day.

Unlike many countries which already impose strict supply controls and high prices on tobacco products, the Maldives has long enjoyed cheap rates with a pack easily available from shops between Rf18-25 (US$1.16-1.62), subject to brand, while a single cigarette costs one rufiya.

Following rise in import duty in the Maldives, the cheapest brand is available at almost Rf35 (US$2.27) and a single cigarette costs almost two or three rufiya.

By comparison, a pack of cheap cigarettes costs the equivalent of Rf66 in the USA, Rf112 in the UK and Rf158 in Australia.

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PIC forwards police brutality case to Prosecutor General

The Police Integrity Commission (PIC) has forwarded a case involving the assault by a police officer against an Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) protester on February 8 to the Prosecutor General’s office, reports Haveeru.

The PIC has alleged that Staff Sergeant Ali Ahmed assaulted Mohamed Niyaz of Fares-Mathoda in Gaaf Dhaal Atoll on February 8 is a display of excessive force. Video footage revealed Ahmed kicking the victim while he was on the ground, reported Haveeru.

Criminal charges had been filed against Ahmed following statements and other evidence, Haveeru reported.

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Nasheed to attend final session of all-party talks at Bandos

Former President Mohamed Nasheed will represent the Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) at the final session of the all-party roadmap talks being held at Bandos Island Resort this weekend, says Haveeru.

The three day talks, scheduled to start today, represent a break-through in the dialogue between the MDP and the government coalition parties. The group will discuss a newly defined agenda comprising six issues which will include, in order of precedence, how to resolve public disturbances, the budget situation, reform of independent institutions, new laws, constitutional amendments and, finally, early presidential elections.

The talks began in February but have faltered, with disagreements over the talk’s aims, methods, and make-up, all hampering genuine progress over the past months.

Convener of the roadmap talks Ahmed Mujuthaba, initiated with the assistance of Indian diplomats, has been assisted by United Nations mediation expert Pierre Yves Monett.

Former Minister for Tourism Mariyam Zulfa, who served under Nasheed’s presidency and who has represented the party at recent all-party talks, told Minivan News this week that the MDP hoped all leaders could assemble on the final day of the talks to sign a draft agreement.

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Islam and Democracy: Dr Hassan Saeed

“The myth that Islam and democracy are incompatible should be discarded for good. Now we should talk less about the ‘transition to democracy’ and start talking more about the daily trials and tribulations of democracy. The international community should avoid the mistakes they committed in the Maldives,” writes the President’s Special Advisor and head of the Dhivehi Qaumee Party (DQP) Dr Hassan Saeed.

The article is the latest in a series of pieces Dr Hassan has written for local newspaper Haveeru.

“If we take just five countries Egypt (population 81 million), Indonesia (239 million) Pakistan (174 million), Bangladesh (148 million), Turkey (73 million), we see nearly three-quarters of a billion people on the Earth living in countries that would call themselves democracies and the vast majority of whose population celebrate the Muslim faith. The Maldives along with an increasing number of other smaller countries are also now in this position too.

As a result, the myth that Islam and democracy are incompatible should be discarded for good. Now we should talk less about the ‘transition to democracy’ and start talking more about the daily trials and tribulations of democracy. In other words we should see our Islamic faith and our democracy as a mainstream part of our lives. In doing this we demonstrate to the whole world that the extremists and terrorists who claim to act on their faith, without any popular mandate from the population they claim to represent, to be a tiny minority mainly hiding out in small failed states.

Stalwarts of democracies around the world have an obligation to ensure that the emerging Muslim democracies succeed. They should use every possible means to build and strengthen institutions, invest heavily in voter education and development of civil society. These are key to any successful transformation to a democracy. Only then the East and West can start speaking a common language – ie. the language of democracy.”

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HRCM “blind and deaf” over police brutality, claims MDP

Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) Spokesperson and MP Imthiyaz Fahmy ‘Inthi’ has condemned the Human Rights Commission of the Maldives (HRCM) for being “deaf and blind” to police brutality against MDP supporters.

Speaking to the press today at the MDP Secretariat, Inthi said that the MDP was deeply concerned that while there was a human rights commission to investigate rights violations, it had failed to notice these and instead accepted the police’s actions with their silence.

Inthi alleged that police had attacked MDP protesters as well as journalist during the recent protests over the dismantling of the Usfasgandu protest sight, and provided pictures.

He alleged that many MDP activists had been injured during police crackdowns and that some activists were beaten after being taken into police custody.

‘’They also forced the 56 arrested MDP supporters to give their urine samples to test for drugs, but they were all arrested for a political unrest on not on a drug related offence,’’ he said. Inthi himself was arrested the previous day during the crackdown.

“’I was arrested at the MDP protest campsite and the court released me, after the police told the judge that I had assaulted a female officer at the Usfasgandu,’’ he told the journalist. “Human rights organisations far away from the Maldives have expressed concern over rights violations here, but the Human Rights Commission in the Maldives has not seen or noticed anything.’’

HRCM had also failed to notice that the police had dismantled MDP protest campsite as Usgandu without a court warrant, he added.

‘’Today the police are operating as a gang, they are not police but are a group thugs,” he claimed. “The former commissioner of police has said they are now operating like a gang,’’ Inthi added.

HRCM Presdient Maryam Azra did not respond to Minivan News at time of press.

Police and army officers dismantled the MDP protest camp after the Criminal Court issued a search warrant following the police allegations of sorcery and other criminal offences being carried out at the campsite.

The Civil Court later ordered a halt to the dismantling of the camp, however police had by then destroyed most of the area.

The Civil Court order came following a case filed in court by the MDP which is still ongoing.

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65 year-old man murdered inside his house on Manafaru Island

A 65 year-old man identified as Hassan Abubakur was found murdered inside his own house yesterday at around 6:00pm on the island of Manafaru in Noonu Atoll.

‘’Neighbors living near his house noticed that he had not been coming out at all, and went in to see what was going on and found his dead body,’’ said Ahmed Shareef, President of the Island Council of Manafaru.

“Our estimation shows that the incident might have occurred on Sunday night, because that was the last time anyone saw him,’’ Shareef said. “The Island Council records show that he came to the council office to receive something on Sunday and islanders have said they haven’t seen him since.”

Shareef said there were different rumours spreading on the island about Abubakur’s death, although there have been no confirmed reports.

“I got to see inside the house after the incident, it seems that some people have tried to steal something in the house, because the things inside his house were not arranged as they usually were,’’ he said. “Some cupboards doors were opened and some things supposed to be kept on the table were dropped on the floor.”

The body was handed to the council last night at 10:30pm after police finished examining it, he said. The body was laid to rest at 3:15am.

Head of the Island Health Centre Ali Shareef told Minivan News that the body was not brought to the Health Centre but rather a doctor from the Health Centre was sent to see the body.

The doctor estimated that Abubakur might have been dead for more than 48 hours,’’ Ali Shareef said.

The elderly man’s legs were tied and a pillow was on his face when his body was found, Shareef said, according to islanders who witnessed the body.

“People said there was blood spilled from his nose and mouth when people saw the body,’’ he said.

Ali Shareef said according to rumours, the man has received a large amount of cash on Sunday through the elderly person’s pension scheme, because he had not been received it for a long time.

“It is said that the assailants went to his house in search of the money,’’ he said.

He said that it took a long time to realise Abubakur was missing because he was lived alone in his house and ate in different places.

“Neighbors living nearby noticed that his house door had been left open for days and that he had not been coming out,’’ he said. ‘’So they went to check on him.’’

Police Sub-Inspector Hassan Haneef did not answer calls at time of press.

Meanwhile, on Wednesday morning a 16 year-old school boy was found killed inside a park in Henveiru, Male’.

According to reports, the boy was stabbed to death while he was asleep in the park on Tuesday night.

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Civil Court to order police to bring historian Shafeeg to Court

Civil Court Judge Abdullah Adheeb has said today that he would order police to summon 82 year-old historian Ahmed Shafeeg.

Shafeeg is being sued by former President Maumoon Abdul Gayyoom after Shafeeg publicly alleged that 111 custodial deaths occurred during Gayoom’s 30 year regime.

Shafeeg made the allegations in his book, “A Day in the Life of Ahmed Shafeeg”, and had failed to be present to the court due to poor health.

Judge Adheeb today said that after Shafeeg had failed to attend the hearings, the civil court staff had to ‘stick’ the summoning order at the front door of his residence. The judge added that when the summoning order was sent to Shafeeg, his son had said that he had been unable to attend to the court due to his old age and poor health.

The judge also said that he had asked Shafeeg to appoint someone to represent him at the court, but Shafeeg responded saying that he would attend to the court after he had recovered from his illness.

During today’s hearings, the judge handed over some medical documents highlighting Shafeeg’s medical conditions to Gayoom’s lawyer, Mohamed ‘Wadde’ Waheed Ibrahim.

Gayoom’s lawyer then requested the judge send the police to summon Shafeeg to court.

A similar request was made by Gayoom’s lawyer during president Nasheed’s presidency, which the judge acknowledged but today replied “We all know how things were at that time.”

Adjourning today’s hearings, Judge Adheeb stated that he would once again order police to summon Shafeeg to the court.

Earlier during President Nasheed’s presidency, he promised that the Maldives Police Service would investigate claims made by local historian Ahmed Shafeeg in his book, that 111 Maldivian citizens were held in custody and tortured by the former administration.

The claims led Gayoom to declare that he would file a court case against Shafeeg for politically-motivated slander.

The former president’s lawyer, Mohamed Waheed Ibrahim, at the time was cited in newspaper Miadhu as saying that lawsuits would be filed “against anyone who writes anything untrue and unfounded against Gayoom”, and noted that all such cases so far had been won.

During a ceremony at the Nasandhura Palace Hotel to launch Shafeeg’s book, titled “A Day in the Life of Ahmed Shafeeg”, Nasheed observed that the former President was not solely to blame for human rights violations.

“The [human rights] violations were not committed by Gayoom alone. A whole system committed them. The whole culture of the Maldives committed them,” Nasheed said at the time.

Shafeeg, now 82, was held in solitary confinement for 83 days in 1995 together with three other writers, including Hassan Ahmed Maniku, Ali Moosa Didi and Mohamed Latheef.

Shafeeg contends that 50 of his diaries containing evidence relating to the deaths of the 111 Maldivians were confiscated during a raid by 15 armed men. He was ultimately released by Gayoom with without charge, and was told by the investigating officer to write a letter of appreciation to the then-President for the pardon.

Last September, Civil Court Judge ordered that the passport of 82 year-old historian Ahmed Shafeeg be held.

The judge said the court would seize Shafeeg’s passport after Gayoom’s lawyer at the time alleged that he had information that Shafeeg was about to leave the country.

A medical certificate was produced to the court at the time by Shafeeg, which Gayoom’s lawyer said was against procedure and that Shafeeg would have to fill in a form stating that he could not appear at court due to his medical condition.

Gayoom’s lawyer told the judge that Shafeeg was intentionally dismissing the summons, “while he has been attending other functions.”

Given the current state of the Maldives judiciary, sensitivity of the issue and extreme political polarisation of the country, it is likely that any verdict with even a remote chance of being accepted by both sides would need to come from an international court. Shafeeg’s family had indicated that they are prepared for this course of action should legal proceedings falter in the Maldives.

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Transparency Maldives to open advocacy centre for local and foreign victims of corruption

Transparency Maldives is pursuing collaborations with various government and independent institutions in attempts to legally assist both local and foreign victims of corruption in the country.

Transparency Maldives Project Director Aiman Rasheed said a memorandum of understanding (MOU) signed this week with the country’s Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) to provide technical advice through the establishment of an Advocacy and Legal Advice Centre (ALAC) was also being sought with a number of other local institutions and bodies.

According to the NGO, the centre will seek to offer assistance and legal advice for both local people and expatriates – especially in the case of workers from countries like Bangladesh – to help them address incidences of corrupt practices in the country.

With consultations taking place with various national bodies and organisations like the Police Integrity Commission (PIC), the Human Rights Commission of the Maldives (HRCM) and the Prosecutor General’s (PG) Office, Transparency Maldives claims it expects to announce additional partners for the project over the next month.

Rasheed told Minivan News that by June 10 he hoped to have additional support from a number of these bodies alongside the commitments of the ACC.

“We have so far received very positive responses from the PG’s Office and the HRCM,” he claimed. “In all honesty, we’ve been quite surprised at how open many of the institutions have been. We hope to have more big stakeholders on board.”

Under the terms of the MOU signed this week with the ACC, Rasheed claimed Transparency Maldives aimed to provide technical advice to the commission to try and help it make its systems for dealing with corruption “better”.

“The ALAC is designed to try and make things easier for victims of corruption. There is no protection right now for most people and it can be hard to get access to existing protective mechanisms,” he said. “We will provide complainants with proper legal advice on where they stand. Also, we currently have very little data in regards to current complaints. The MOU will let us better understand what gaps there are in the system and what exactly people are complaining about.”

International scope

Rasheed claimed that the ALAC project, which has been adopted by other national bodies aligned with Transparency International, had so far provided legal and technical assistance to some 48,000 corruption cases worldwide.

He added negotiations were presently taking place with customs and judicial authorities in an attempt to come to an agreement for similar collaborations.

However, Rasheed stressed that each institution had its own distinct set of rules and regulations in relation to its work.

“Our plan is that we would like to have a toll free number that would allow a person who has been a victim of corruption to call or message us anonymously with a complaint,” he said.

When questioned on what sort of remit and powers the ALAC would have to address allegations of corruption concerning public and independent institutions, Rasheed claimed that Transparency had already been addressing certain “concerns” levelled at the project.

He said that some of these concerns were related to fears that the work of the ALAC would simply just be duplicating existing state-mechanisms currently in place. Rasheed denied this was the case.

“Our intentions are to give people an easier way to complain and get legal advice over corruption concerns,” he said. “However, this does not mean that we will be interfering with the international mechanisms of these groups.”

Rasheed claimed that the MOU would instead be designed to go directly to a body such as the Maldives Customs Service and share the numbers of potential complaints raised against it, whilst also providing advice on how to address such concerns.

In working to address more specific local concerns, Rasheed claimed that Transparency Maldives aimed to make use of the ALAC programme to address issues related to labour authorities and human trafficking – one of the NGOs “biggest concerns” at present.

“Right now we found the whole system just so corrupt. So we have an agreement to bring a member of staff from Transparency Bangladesh here over the next year to help us deal with complaints from Bangladeshi workers,” he said.

Expatriate concerns

Earlier this month, the High Commissioner of Bangladesh in the Maldives, Rear Admiral Abu Saeed Mohamed Abdul Awal, said he believed workers from the country were regularly being brought to the Maldives to perform unskilled work, usually in the construction industry.

Awal alleged that upon arriving, expatriates from Bangladesh were suffering from the practices of “bad employers”.

“This is a real problem that is happening here, there have been many raids over the last year on unskilled [expatriate] workers who are suffering because of the companies employing them. They are not being given proper salaries and are paying the price for some of these employers,” he said.

The comments were echoed earlier this week by the First Secretary of the Indian High Commission in the Maldives S. C. Agarwal.

Agarwal told Minivan News that both skilled and unskilled Indian workers employed currently in the Maldives continued to be “penalised” due to certain government and private sector employers failing to fulfil their legal obligations.

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