June 28, 2012 – Minivan News

Supreme Court ruling on Nexbis “doesn’t make sense”: Immigration controller

The case concerning the Nexbis border control system has grown increasingly complex this week after the Supreme Court deemed that the High Court bench which had ordered work on the project to be stopped had been unlawfully reconstituted, thereby nullifying its decision.

Reports in the local media say that the recently appointed Immigration Controller Mohamed Ali intends to seek his own legal guidance on the Supreme Court’s decision, claiming that he can make no sense of the decision.

“We don’t have a lawyer. I’m not a lawyer either. I can’t make any sense of it. Hence I’m trying to make sense of the Supreme Court’s order,” Ali told Haveeru.

The nullified decision relates to the High Court’s order to halt any further work being completed on the project whilst the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) appealed a ruling from the Civil Court that it could not order the termination of the project.

Local media have referred to the Supreme Court’s order as a ‘Mandamus’. Often termed a ‘writ of mandate’, this kind of order instructs a governmental body to perform an act required by law when it has neglected or refused to do so.

Meanwhile, Haveeru has reported that the ACC intends to investigate the relationship between Cheif Judge Ahmed Shareef and officials from the Nexbis company, after receiving a letter alleging a meeting in Bangkok.

Shareef was dismissed from the bench during aforementioned reconstitution deemed illegal by the Supreme Court.

The Immigration Controller told Haveeru that the project cannot move forward until legal experts have reviewed the latest decision by the Supreme Court.

Likes

(0)Dislikes

(0)

Democracy suffers in Maldives in the face of rising fundamentalism: Asia Sentinel

The Indian Ocean paradise Maldives, until recently a moderate Muslim state, is the latest Asian country to witness a troubling rise in ultraconservative Wahhabi Islam imported from the Middle East, writes Annapoorna Karthika for the Asia Sentinel.

On June 2, Ismail Rasheed, popularly known as ‘Hilath,’ was attacked outside his home when his throat was slit through his trachea, missing a vital artery by millimetres. Rasheed, an outspoken blogger advocating freedom of religion and a fierce critic of the growing religious extremism in the archipelago country, is expected to survive the near-fatal attempt on his life, the second.

The gruesome assault on Rasheed cannot be treated as an isolated episode. It is an upshot of the rising religious radicalization in Maldives, whose constitution does not allow any national to practice a religion other than Islam.

Maldives, like many other countries in the world, fits a description of democracy in which popular attention to real democracy remains constrained, with the government paying only lip service to its forms but not its core values. According to the scholar Amitai Etzioni, the world today conflates its understanding of democracy with liberalism. The casting of votes by the people of a territory toward electing a government is indispensable for a flourishing democracy irrespective of the commitment of the elected government toward liberal principles such as individual’s freedom of speech and expression, indispensable civil liberties and rights of individuals.

In Maldives, the parliament’s decision to create a multiparty system in 2005 was upheld as significant progress in welcoming democracy to the country. In this regard, the emergence of the conservative Adhaalath party is criticized to have contributed toward the precarious swelling of religious intolerance, which threatens the realization of substantive democracy in Maldives. Although many scholars believe in the compatibility between Islam and liberal democracy, the Wahhabi movement in Maldives has been able to radicalize the religion by encouraging the use of violence to suppress voices of dissent.

Yet Maldives continues to be called a democracy. The forthcoming days are critical to see if they affirm the fundamentalist belief that democracy is a scourge to the freedom and individual rights of Maldivians.

Likes

(0)Dislikes

(0)

Pro-government parties propose parliament investigation of Nasheed

Proceedings in the Majlis were brought to a premature conclusion for the second time in 10 days after pro-government parties proposed and passed a resolution assembling a temporary committee to investigate the alleged illegal actions of former President Mohamed Nasheed.

The motion to form a seven man committee was passed before the session was halted after vehement protests from the Maldivian Democratic Party’s (MDP) parliamentary caucus.

MDP spokesman Hamed Abdul Ghafoor described the scene within the chamber: “The deputy speaker looked visibly shocked when the MDP started shouting ‘arrest the speaker, arrest the speaker’. Then they began to shout ‘arrest Gasim, arrest Gasim’”.

Ibrahim Gasim is the leader of the Jumhooree Party (JP), one of whose members, Abdulla Jabir, proposed yesterday’s resolution, according to Ghafoor.

Yesterday, MDP members were invited to sit on the proposed committee, with the local media reporting that they had refused the chance.

Ghafoor, however, claims that the PPM had intentionally selected MDP members who were absent from the Majlis.

The two cases against Nasheed, concerning the arrest of Chief Justice Abdullah Mohamed and the alleged discovery of alcohol containers at the former president’s residence are currently with the Prosecutor General’s (PG) office.

The Deputy Prosecutor General Hussein Shameem said that a decision on these two cases was expected by the end of next week.

When asked if he felt the Majlis resolution would encroach on the work of the PG’s office, Shaheem replied: “The procedure is within the Majlis’ regulations – it would not be a criminal investigation. The findings would not come to us but will be for the Majlis.”

Deputy Leader of the Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM) Umar Naseer told local media earlier this week that he was confident the PG would ensure Nasheed would be jailed before the next elections.

Later the same day, speaking before an audience in Washington DC, Nasheed commented that there was always somebody talking about putting him back behind bars.

Ghafoor stated his belief that Nasheed was keen to have his day in court to defend himself over the arrest of Abdulla Mohamed.

“Nasheed is intending to defend himself – he wants to. It will be a landmark case, “ said Ghafoor.

When asked about the utility of such an investigation alongside the work of the PG, Ghafoor suggested the proposition may have been for publicity purposes.

He suggested that pro-government parties may begin to target independent institutions such as the PG’s office, describing this as the “reverberations of the Commission of National Inquiry (CNI)”, which he is confident will find the February transfer of power to have been illegal.

The January 16 arrest of the judge, who had been accused by the Home Minister of “taking the entire criminal justice system in his fist”, raised the intensity of the protests against the Nasheed government

These protests culminated in a police mutiny on February 7 and the resignation of Nasheed.

The judicial crisis was sparked after Abdulla Mohamed filed a case in the Civil Court granting him an injunction halting further investigation by the Juducial Services Commission (JSC) into his alleged misdeeds.

This was followed by a High Court ruling against a police summons on January 16, which prompted police to request that the Maldives National Defence Force (MNDF) take the judge into custody.

The crisis prompted the Foreign Ministry to request international assistance in reforming the judiciary.

The judge was released from detention immediately after Nasheed’s resignation and no

Local media reported that the Deputy Speaker Ahmed Nazim said that the party leaders will have to meet to discuss the failure to assign members to the committee.

At the time of press, spokesmen from the government aligned PPM and Dhivehi Rayithunge Party (DRP) were not responding to calls.

Similarly, Minivan News unable to illicit a response from Dr Ibrahim Didi, President of the JP, whom a JP spokesman had assured would be willing to comment on yesterday’s resolution.

Likes

(0)Dislikes

(0)

State sues Male’ City Council for repossession of MDP protest camp at Usfasgandu

The state has filed a lawsuit in the Civil Court against Male City Council (MCC) for the repossession of Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP)’s protest camp at ‘Usfasgandu’ today.

During the first hearing, the state argued that the city council had been giving the land to parties against the agreement made between the state and the city council and also against the government’s policies.

The state also claimed that they had previously requested the city council hand over the land to the state in March, but had refused to do so.

State lawyers also said in court that the cabinet had made a similar decision on last May, but despite the cabinet’s decision, the city council had failed to hand back the land to the state.

During the hearing, the state asked the court to order MCC to hand over ‘Usfasgandu’ back to the state.

In response to the case presented, MCC lawyers asked the court for an opportunity to respond to the case in writing.

The judge ended the court session giving MCC lawyers to respond in the next hearing.

Speaking to Minivan News, MCC Councilor Ahmed Falah said that the court has given them the opportunity to respond in writing and the next hearing was scheduled on July 8.

Asked about on what basis the state was suing the MCC, Falah said that they were trying to limit the powers of the city council.

“They say that we were in breach of the agreement that was made between the MCC and the state. But the agreement does not state any specific procedure or rules on how the city council can give the lands to those that request it,” he said.

Falah claimed that the whole case was politically motivated as the council had the opposition majority.

“This is not anything about the agreement, it is all about politics. They know that [government] does not have a majority in City Council so they are trying take all our powers, the land was given in accordance with the decentralization act,” he said.

The case flared up after MCC extended the ‘Usfasgandu’ lease period for another three months after its initial period expired this July.

On March 22, MCC gave ‘Usfasgandu’ to MDP to conduct political activities, after the police dismantled ‘Justice Square’ (the Tsunami Monument area) last march.

Councilor Falah at the time said that they “gave the land because last Monday terrorists attacked the Justice Square at the end of Lonuziyaarai street.’’

However, the cabinet of President Mohamed Waheed Hassan decided to take over the land from MCC and hand it over to Ministry of Housing and Environment.

In a statement, the President’s Office at the time said that during discussions concerning “the breach of agreement by the MCC in utilizing the land plots and other properties handed over to the City Council by the Ministry of Housing and Environment,” the cabinet had decided “to entrust the Minister of Housing and Environment with the authority to reclaim the properties from the City Council when required.”

However, MCC refused to comply with the decision citing that the ministry had no authority over the land.

In a letter informing the ministry of its decision, the council insisted that the ‘Usfasgandu’ area was “temporarily leased” to the former ruling party in accordance with the Decentralisation Act, contending that the ministry did not have legal authority to reclaim council property.

Ministry of Home Affairs, asked police to take over ‘Usfasgandu’ following the non-compliance in handing the area over to the Ministry of Housing and Environment.

The Maldives Police Services (MPS) sought a court order from the Criminal Court but was initially refused after deciding that it was out of its jurisdiction.

The Criminal Court at the time said it had studied the documents presented by the police along with the court warrant request form, and decided that the warrant was not within its capacity to grant.

On May 29, police raided the MDP protest camp at Usfasgandu, after obtaining a search warrant from the Criminal Court and cordoning off the area from MDP demonstrators.

Reasons for the search as stated on the warrant included: “suspected criminal activity”, “damage to public property”, and “suspected black magic performed in the area”.

Under evidence, the warrant alleged that people in the Usfasgandu area verbally abused police officers and damaged a police vehicle on April 20, obstructed a Maldives National Defence Force (MNDF) exercise of May 9, and on May 25, “MDP protesters threw a cursed rooster at MNDF officers.”

The security forces began the dismantling the camp at Usfasgandu, shortly before being ordered to halt by the Civil Court after the MDP challenged the legality of the operation.

The government appealed the Civil Court decision in the High Court, which issued an injunction suspending the Civil Court’s injunction.

Police issued a statement right after the High Court injunction stating that there were no more legal obstructions to raiding the camp, but said the police were “thinking on the matter”.

Likes

(0)Dislikes

(0)

Police investigating Fahmy’s alleged sexual harassment of a female staff

Police have said they are investigating the Chair of Civil Service Commission (CSC) Fahmy Hassan on allegations that he had sexually harassed female senior research officers working at the CSC.

Police Spokesperson Sub-Inspector Hassan Haneef today said that the case was lodged at police and police were investigating.

He said the investigations were still ongoing and did not disclose further information.

Parliament’s Independent Institutions Committee has also launched an investigation into alleged harassment of a female staff member by Fahmy.

Local newspaper Haveeru reported that the incident occurred on May 29 and the victim was a female senior research officer.

According to the paper, both Fahmy and the victim were summoned to committee after the complaint was lodged in the first week of June.

Fahmy was alleged to have called the female staff member over to him, taken her hand and asked her to stand in front of him so that others in the office could not see, and caressed her stomach saying ”it won’t do for a beautiful single woman like you to get fat.”

According to local media, the woman told her family about the incident, who then called Fahmy. Fahmy then sent her a text message apologising for the incident, reportedly stating, ”I work very closely with everyone. But I have learned my lesson this time.”

In response to the allegations Fahmy told Minivan News that the female staff made up the allegation after she knew she did not win a scholarship to Singapore offered by the CSC.

He alleged the claim was politically motivated issue, as she would have otherwise filed the case with police and not parliament.

Likes

(0)Dislikes

(0)

Domestic Violence Act “incomplete” without Family Protection Authority

Members will be next week appointed to the primary body tasked with implementing the Domestic Violence (DV) Act, President Mohamed Waheed Hassan Manik said on Wednesday.

According to Dr Waheed names have been nominated by the Gender Ministry to the Family Protection Authority (FPA) board.

“I have been informed that the Gender Ministry has prepared the proposal. So the members will be appointed without further delay,” Waheed said:”Next week”.

Under the landmark piece of legislation passed and ratified last April, a seven member board has to be appointed to the FPA.

The authority is mandated under the law to conduct programs setting out measures for taking all necessary steps to prevent domestic violence including rehabilitating perpetrators of such crimes, arrange flexible reporting mechanisms, facilitate the investigations and provide all necessary support and shelter to victims of abuse.

According to the Gender Advocacy Working Group (GAWG) created by UNFPA Maldives, a letter was forwarded to the President’s Office with recommended people to be appointed for the FPA board.

“It is important to nominate people who have strong expertise on the issue from different sectors.” Michiyo Yamada, Gender Specialist at UN Women Maldives noted.

“We urge the government to establish the Family Protection Authority as soon as possible, since they are mandated to lead the implementation of the DV Act, such as creating public awareness, providing services to survivors, coordinating the work of relevant institutions including police and health.” she observed.

She also noted that GAWG will support and cooperate with all institutions to implement the legislation. The multi-sectoral group represents interested organisations and individuals, promoting gender equality and non-discrimination.

“Extensive ground work is needed to implement the act by training service providers and setting up the system to prevent and respond to domestic violence across the country,” Michiyo added.

Recommended names were not released by the group as it is being reviewed by the government.

A Gender Ministry official confirmed to Minivan News that GAWG’s nominations were taken under consideration while shortlisting the names for President’s office.

Stakeholder’s concerns

All stakeholders from government, civil society, judiciary and state institutions gathered at the Tuesday’s national consultation workshop on UN Secretary General’s Unite Campaign to end violence against women, and “agreed” on the urgency of forming a central authority to prevent domestic abuse and overcoming the existing challenges in providing protection and justice to those victims.

According to Human Rights Lawyer Mohamed Anil, who participated in the DV Act’s drafting process, the “legislation is incomplete without the authority”.

“It is already created from the date of ratification. On paper it exists now. But without the members authority is nonexistent, ” Anil observed.

He added that the when the legislation fully comes into operation it will bring “significant new changes”, one of which he pointed out is the additional power granted to the security forces to investigate abuse and violence within domestic spheres.

Should the police find reasonable evidence to believe a person is a victim of domestic abuse, the DV legislation stipulates the police can enter the place of crime without a court order and arrest perpetrators and even request for a protective order on behalf of the victim.

Due to these “extra-powers” Anil said, police are required to compile an internal regulation outlining the guidelines in dealing with domestic abuse cases.

Should the authorities fail to report or address a case of domestic abuse, they can be held accountable under the law.

The law also mandates the police to remove the victim from the abusive environment to a shelter, if necessary on the institution’s own expenses.

In the most recent case of alleged infanticide on Feydhoo island, the council and islanders have been claiming in the local media that the authorities had failed to relocate the 15 year-old mother of the dead baby despite several complaints of sexual abuse within her home.

Stakeholders at the meeting highlighted that the Family and Children Center (FCC) shelters on the islands are under-equipped and too short staffed to accommodate and help victims, while budget constraint are further hampering the process.

“Look at the condition of FCC on islands. We once had to keep a sexually abused girl at the atoll state house because the shelter did not have any facilities and there was no other safe place to keep her,” Shaviyani atoll Council President Moosa Fathy noted at the workshop.

“Everyone talks about these issues on stages. It is merely a political fashion show.” he added, noting that there has been several cases where police and state institutions have denied support to the councils.

Therefore, at the end of the workshop, participants promised to make a coordinated effort to end violence against women and girls and promote gender equality.

“We need more commitment and concrete action.” a participant noted.

Likes

(0)Dislikes

(0)

“We must stop spending beyond our means”: Dr Hassan Saeed

“As I said two years ago and repeat today, we must stop spending beyond our means,” explains Dr Hassan Saeed, Special Advisor to the President and leader of the Dhivehi Qaumee Party (DQP), writing for Haveeru.

“We need to redefine the role of government. Its core purpose should be to provide efficient services to the public not job creation for a privileged few. Instead we need the government to be supporting entrepreneurship amongst our people and the creation of small and medium sized businesses which are able to innovate and foster efficiencies in our economy.”

“Population consolidation needs to start so we can deliver public services fairly to all people as well realising economies of scale in delivery. This cannot be just an aspiration; action has to start now.”

“If nothing is done, there will, very soon, be an abrupt turn-off of the spending tap, with a vast deficit to deal with, leading to many unpredictable consequences.”

May arrivals drop 1.4 percent on 2011 figures

The Maldives recorded a 1.4 percent drop in arrivals in May, compared to the same period last year.

Overall arrivals for January to May 2012 were up 1.7 percent on the same period last year. However according to figures from the Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA), while South Asia was the second fastest growing market reporting 14 percent year-on-year growth in March in terms of visitor volume, the Maldives was the only destination to record a decline (five percent).

Figures released by the Maldives Marketing and Public Relations Corporation (MMPRC) for May showed sharp dips across many emerging and traditional markets, including Central and Eastern Europe (-12.7 percent), Northern Europe (-15.8 percent), Southern Europe (-32 percent) and North East Asia (-1.1 percent).

Russia, a key emerging market for the Maldives, showed a decline of 17.4 percent in arrivals for May, while the country’s largest and formerly fastest-growing market, China, recorded an 8.5 percent increase.

Core traditional markets showed double-digit decreases in arrivals for May, particularly Italy (-39.1 percent), the UK (-16.5 percent) and Korea (-42.5 percent).

“Traditionally, tour operators experience a drop in bookings and travel during big soccer events, and with the UK also taking part in Euro 2012, chances are more people might be distracted from thinking about a summer break during this period. Also, the upcoming Olympic Games during July will also impact long haul travel,” the MMPRC stated.

Western Europe meanwhile showed signs of rapid recovery, led by exceptional growth in German arrivals (30.5 percent) to 9736 for the month – comfortably putting it in second place behind China in terms of volume.

In an accompanying statement, the MMPRC speculated that the reasons for the increase in arrivals “are the strong economic conditions in Germany together with the increase in frequency of flights between the two countries.”

The average occupancy rate at the country’s resorts fell from 80.7 to 66.2 percent for May, but this pattern was in line with 2011 as the country’s low season sets in. However, average occupancy rates for resorts in 2012 were down 5-6 percent on 2011 for February to April.

“MMPRC is in line with the set target of attracting 1 million tourists during 2012,” the corporation said. “A strategic digital and social media campaign is in place. Road shows and other strategic marketing activities are being planned for the year ahead. Maldives Marketing & PR Corporation has a policy to carry out joint promotions and marketing campaigns with airlines, tour operators and other stakeholders.”

Likes

(0)Dislikes

(0)

Ameen-Aslam report published in English

The Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) have released an English version of their report detailing the behind-the-scenes actions of the police and security services during the controversial transfer of power of February 7.

The report, produced by former Environment Minister Mohamed Aslam and former National Security Advisor Ameen Faisal, was labelled an “act of terrorism” by the government due to its extensive use of intelligence sources and serving police and MNDF officials.

Chief Superintendent Mohamed Hameed was subsequently arrested, while other police officers who had cooperated with the report were rounded up and detained, and their houses searched.

Police initially denied the allegations of a “witch hunt” and issued a statement accusing the media of “circulating baseless and false reports”. However court warrants for the arrest of Hameed and Staff Sergeant Ahmed Naseer were subsequently leaked.

The report outlines what the MDP government knew of the then-opposition’s plan to topple the government by soliciting “about 500 police officers” to protest in the Republic Square, that led to former President Mohamed Nasheed’s resignation “under duress” on February 7.

The report alleged that in September 2011 council members of former President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom’s Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM) met with a retired Maldives National Defence Force (MNDF) warrant officer (grade one), a retired brigadier general and a retired deputy police commissioner at the apartment of PPM council member Ahmed ‘Mars’ Saleem to discuss ways to topple the government.

At the meeting, the report stated, the retired warrant officer proposed that “the only way to change President Nasheed’s government” was for “about 500 police officers to come out and protest at the Republic Square”.

“During these discussions, when the retired deputy police commissioner gave assurances that it could be done, PPM interim deputy leader Umar Naseer raised doubts [about the possibility],” the report claimed.

However, following extensive discussions, “it was decided that work would begin on creating an atmosphere for [a police-led protest at Republic square].”

The report further claimed that the “December 23 coalition” of eight political parties and affiliated NGOs – which staged a mega-protest to “Defend Islam” from the alleged “securalisation agenda” of President Nasheed – was formed as a result of “a lengthy discussion” at the Adhaalath Party office between a prominent religious scholar and the aforementioned warrant officer.

The ‘mega-protest’ was meanwhile primarily funded by Jumhoree Party (JP) Leader and tycoon MP Gasim Ibrahim, the report claimed.

The party also released an English version of former MDP Chairperson Mariya Ahmed Didi’s list of criminal charges against President Mohamed Waheed.

Download the Ameen-Aslam Report (English)

Likes

(0)Dislikes

(0)