Day: September 6, 2012

PIC report calls for action against rogue police, holds former Commissioner Faseeh accountable

The Police Integrity Commission (PIC) has published a summary of one of its three reports concerning the February 2012 events on their website.

Of the three separate reports the PIC has said it will release, the one published today (in Dhivehi) covers the events the investigation carried out to see if the police had committed any unlawful acts during the events of February 6 and 7, which led to the controversial transfer of power in the Maldives.

The report highlights nine different incidents. In five of these, the report states that the commission will further investigate the role of the police and take necessary legal action.

It explains that the investigation was carried out with reference to videos downloaded from the internet, CCTV footage, interviews and phone logs. It emphasises that all conclusions were reached in the light of information uncovered from the above-mentioned means and the existing legislative framework.

According to the report, all conclusions were reached with the unanimous agreement of all five members of the commission.

Regarding the matter of police withdrawing from and returning to the Artificial Beach on February 6, the report states that the order to retreat was given by then President Mohamed Nasheed. It goes on to say that in refusing to obey this command, the police in the area had been acting in accordance with provisions in the constitution and the police act, while concluding that then Commissioner of Police Ahmed Faseeh, Deputy Commissioner of Police Ismail Atheef, Chief Superintendent of Police Farhad Fikry, Chief Superintendent Mohamed Hameed, Superintendent Ibrahim Adnan Anees and Superintendent Ahmed AbduRahman had acted against these laws, namely Article 244(a) of the constitution, Article 6 (8) of the Police Act and the official police oath.

The report states that the commission believes that police occupying Republican Square had made valid and justifiable demands. It details these demands to have been for the Commissioner of Police to meet them, agree to not give them any more unlawful commands, and to provide a guarantee that no action would be taken against the officers for the events of that night.

While highlighting that police themselves have a constitutional right to go on strike, the report notes that it was wrong for them to have remained in the Republican Square after civilians joined the area and the gathering turned into a politically-motivated one. The report notes that it was some among these citizens who called for the resignation of then President Mohamed Nasheed.

With reference to the damage caused by officers to the police headquarters, the report says: “With reference to the videos and accounts reviewed by the commission, we have found that some among the police officers gathered in the Republican Square on February 7  entered the [police HQ] Shaheed Hussain Adam Building, damaged property, broken the panes of a window, took down the police flag, threatened senior officers and committed violent acts against them. These are disciplinary and criminal offences which should not have been seen from police officers.”

It furthermore states that these will be treated as separate offenses and legal action would be taken against those involved.

In contrast to the general account of events, the PIC in its report states that supporters of MDP and other civilians had marched into the area where the police were chanting their mission statement. The report claims that this led to clashes in which persons from both sides sustained injuries. It notes that the MDP were allowed to approach the police because MNDF officials who were tasked with cordoning off the area had retreated.

The PIC further claimed that its investigations had uncovered that police had entered the MDP ‘Haruge’ only with the intention to catch some individuals who had attacked the police at the Artificial Beach, and then run to the Haruge to hide. It also noted that people and property in the Haruge were attacked by both police and “some other persons”, stating that the commission would further investigate the role of the police in the incident, and take any required legal action.

On the issue of the takeover of the state TV channel, MNBC One, by police, military and opposition demonstrators, the report observed that the police went to the channel’s offices under the orders of an unnamed senior level commander. It states that they went to “provide protection to the channel” since it had received information that some civilians had entered and were vandalising state property within its premises.

The report states that police had been able to enter the MNBC premises after two attempts because a group of civilians were attacking them with sticks and stones outside the building. It describes the police entry into MNBC:

“Tear gas was used as police were unable to enter the MNBC premises due to attacks from civilians outside. The gate was locked, so police fired teargas with a riot gun into the premises through an opening in the gate. The police are authorised to use this weapon. Tear gas was fired inside in case there were people inside who might again attack the police. The gate was opened merely by thoroughly shaking and pushing it.”

The report notes that although the police used a “strict attitude” which “checking” the station, they did not commit violent acts against the people there. It also says that the police did not in any way attempt to influence the channel’s broadcasting. It states that the police checked the premises to see if any outsiders were there, and then retreated from the building. The PIC defends police’s actions in this matter by stating they were in accordance with Article 2 and 4 of the Police Act.

As a final point of investigation, the report notes that some police officers were injured in clashes between the officers of MPS and the MNDF. It holds then Commissioner of Police Ahmed Faseeh accountable, quoting negligence, and states that the commission will take legal action against him.

The only recommendations in the report are directed for action from the Minister of Home Affairs. The recommendations are that the police institute remain free from political influences, and for the establishment of a working environment where the police could work without bias and with equability and fairness.

“A noble request can be made in an unlawful environment”

President of the Police Integrity Commission, Shahindha Ismail, speaking to Minivan News today expressed concern that some local media were misinterpreting the PIC report.

“The PIC does not collectively call the actions of the police on the 6th and 7th of February constitutional.”

“A very noble request or demand can still be made in an unlawful environment. This is what we are saying. The demand by the police to not give them unlawful commands was within the boundaries of law. But that they had remained there, with civilians, as part of what had escalated into a politically motivated gathering is wrong.”

Shahindha further said that the fact that many of the incidents highlighted in the report called for more investigation and action against police, confirming that the PIC did not endorse police action of the days in question as lawful.

PIC has previously said that it meant to release the reports before the CNI report. Shahindha said that the delay had been due to complications during the in-depth investigation.

President Nasheed’s nominee to CNI, Ahmed ‘Gahaa’ Saeed, when sharing his reservations with the press, had expressed disappointment that the CNI had not received the PIC report during the inquiry phase.

Likes(0)Dislikes(0)

Reporters Without Borders condemns arbitrary arrest of journalists for taking photos

Reporters Without Borders (RSF) has condemned the growing number of arbitrary arrests of journalists by the Maldives Police Service.

In a statement, the press freedom NGO said it “deplores the repeated obstruction of media personnel in the course of their work and urges the government to put a stop to arrests designed to intimidate journalists and encourage self-censorship.”

The statement follows the arrest and detention of Minivan News journalist Ahmed Naish on August 30 while reporting on the arrest of a demonstrator. The area was not barricaded or otherwise designated off-limits by police.

Police Sub-Inspector Hassan Haneef informed Minivan News at the time of the arrest that Naish had been arrested for “obstructing police duty.”

“Riot police known as Special Operations (SO) stopped Naish at 5:30pm in the Malé district of Sosun Magu as he was photographing them arresting a young demonstrator,” RSF reported.”They asked him for his press pass, which he did not have on him at the time, and, after refusing to accept his business card as identification, handcuffed him and led him away.”

“My hands were tied behind my back with a clip and the SO officer who did so kept tightening it,” Naish said, in his account to RSF. “Another officer kept pinching my arms and hitting my ankles with his boot, telling me to walk faster.”

More people were arrested, including two who had been taking photographs or videos of the police, RSF reported.

“They were bundled into a vehicle and taken to police headquarters and then transferred to a detention centre on Dhoonidhoo, an island just to the north of the capital,” the statement read.

“They took my personal belongings (…) I was then photographed and taken before an investigating officer who informed me that I was arrested for obstructing police duty and causing public disorder. I refused to sign the arrest form because, in addition to stating a false reason for the arrest, the place of arrest noted in the form was incorrect,” Naish informed RSF.

“After being placed in a large cell with other people arrested during the demonstration, Naish asked to see a doctor because his wrists were swollen,” read the RSF statement. “The doctor sprayed his wrists and gave him a painkiller. He was then allowed to speak to two lawyers and described to them the circumstances of his arrest.”

“I talked to seven people who were arrested similarly for taking photographs. However all were accused of obstructing police duty, disobeying orders and causing loss of public order,” Naish stated.

At around 2:00am he was moved to a large cell where 25 other people were already being held. He was finally released without charge the next afternoon, after being held for about 24 hours, RSF stated.

“I found out later than government-aligned private broadcaster Villa Television showed footage of my arrest, which would have confirmed that the police lied about the place of arrest. It would also show that I was not jeopardising public order,” Naish told the NGO.

Naish added that journalist Ali Nahyk with Minivan Radio 97FM – a station unaffiliated with the Minivan New online website – was arrested on 31 August for similar reasons.

“Maldives is ranked 73rd out of 179 countries in the 2011-2012 Reporters Without Borders press freedom index, which was compiled before February’s turmoil, when President Mohamed Nasheed was forced to resign and Vice-President Mohammed Waheed took over. The media situation has worsened dramatically since then,” RSF observed.

“RSF reminds the authorities that arbitrary arrest violates article 46 of the Maldivian constitution, which says: ‘Everyone has the right not to be arbitrarily detained, arrested or imprisoned except as provided by law by the People’s Majlis [parliament] in accordance with the article 16 of this constitution’.”

The organisation noted that media and netizens had “played an important role during the Nasheed administration’s ouster in February, photographing and filming aspects of the accompanying crackdown that embarrassed authorities.”

Bystander arrested for recording an arrest:

Likes(0)Dislikes(0)

Police form new cyber policing department

The Maldives Police Service has announced they have formed a special Cyber Policing Department to look into cyber crime.

Police stated that three units will be operating under the new department, including the  cyber crime investigation unit, cyber forensics unit and cyber security unit.

Police media official Sub-inspector Hassan Haneef stated that the formation of new department would help ease the current difficulties in investigating cyber crimes and will allow police to file more cases at the Prosecutor General’s office.

Cyber crimes were previously investigated by a small unit operating under fraud and financial department.

Likes(0)Dislikes(0)

HRCM meets two member Commonwealth team

The Human Rights Commission of the Maldives (HRCM) has said that the commission met with a two member team from the Commonwealth on September 4.

The statement said that the President of HRCM Mariyam Azra, deputy President of HRCM Ahmed Tholal and commission member Dr Ali Shameem attended the meeting on behalf of HRCM while the two members from Commonwealth were Commonwealth Advisor and Head of Political Affairs and Goods Office Rita Yavan Raj and Political Affairs Advisor Alison Pierman.

The HRCM said it had highlighted and thanked the Commonwealth for their close monitoring of the situation in Maldives and the Commonwealth’s efforts to “provide immediate assistance when needed to ensure just and peaceful solutions.”

The Commonwealth team meanwhile noted that “HRCM had been playing a very important role in helping the country ease the ongoing political tensions and encouraged the commission to continue to do so.”

Likes(0)Dislikes(0)

Only two MMC members returned illegal allowances, after ACC investigation

The Maldives Media Council’s (MCC) annual audit report has revealed that only two of its members, Ahmed Abdulla and Ahmed Fazeel, have returned the MVR7,500 (US$478) living allowance adjudged to have been given illegally, reports local media.

The council’s other 13 member, despite being asked to do so, had not returned the allowance the report is said to have detailed.

In April 2011, council members decided not to receive the allowance any longer, after they were asked by Anti Corruption Commission (ACC) to discontinue a second time.

The MMC then sent letters to council members asking them to return the amounts they had received as living allowances – by now a total of almost a million rufiya, in addition to their salaries.

Following the ACC’s decision to sue the MCC over these allowance, the Maldives Journalist Association (MJA) urged the council’s members to resign.

“This raise questions about the integrity of MMC which was established by the Parliament to regulate media,” read an MJA statement at the time.

“The MMC Act which was passed by the parliament clearly stipulates that no additional money other than wages shall be given to the council members for their work, unless it is approved by the Parliament,” it continued.

Likes(0)Dislikes(0)

PPM opens opportunity to register delegates for party’s congress

Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM) this Thursday announced its decision to open the opportunity to register delegates for first congress in the coming month of November.

PPM Secretary General Yumna Maumoon, who is also the daughter of the party’s interim leader former President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom told the press that the party intends to allow two types of delegates.

The two types Yumna Maumoon said were elected delegates from all the party branches and invited delegates. Invited delegates would include its members who are currently filling top government positions and party’s parliamentarians.

The party also stated that it will hold its presidential primaries after the party congress.

Likes(0)Dislikes(0)

Home Minister condemns “one-sided” Amnesty report

Home Minister Mohamed Jameel Ahmed has criticised Amnesty International for failing to seek comment from the government when compiling its recent report, “The Other side of Paradise: A Human Rights Crisis in the Maldives”, local media has reported.

“They had not sought any comments from the Maldives government. I’m extremely disappointed that a group advocating for fairness and equal treatment had released a report based on just one side of the story,” Jameel told Haveeru.

“An international group of the caliber of Amnesty should have heard the other side as well. But they had failed to obtain our comments,” Jameel is quoted as saying.

Minivan News was awaiting a response from Amnesty at the time of press.

When talking with Haveeru, Jameel did not appear to dispute the content of the statements that were included in the report.

Jameel was also not responding to calls from Minivan News at time of press.

The Amnesty report recounts sustained and pre-meditated beatings of protesters with a variety of weapons.

Some of those interviewed reported people being attacked in their hospital beds, whilst others recalled torture and further degradation whilst in detention.

Amnesty also detailed a number of incidents of police brutality on February 8, including attacks on Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) MPs Eva Abdulla and Mariya Didi.

“The overall objective of these violent attacks has been to silence peaceful government critics and stifle public debate about the current political situation,” said the report, compiled by Amnesty researcher Abbas Faiz.

“Based on Amnesty International’s interviews with survivors of these violent attacks, it appears that many were targeted by security forces because they were MDP ministers, parliamentarians or supporters,” it read.

Whilst Amnesty stated that several of its human rights recommendations were reflected in the Commission of National Inquiry’s (CNI) report, which was released on August 30, Jameel argued that the CNI had highlighted misdemeanors of protesters which did not make it into the Amnesty report.

“CNI (Commission of National Inquiry) report had clearly highlighted the actions of demonstrators during protests in the Maldives. The foreign observers had labelled the actions of demonstrators as cowboy tactics,” Jameel told Haveeru.

In their closing observations, Professor John Packer and Sir Bruce Robertson had appeared critical of the anti-government protesters.

“Some would want to call an example of the rights of freedom of expression and assembly. In reality it is rather more bully boy tactics involving actual and threatened intimidation by a violent mob,” reported Packer and Robertson.

Jameel continued: “The demonstrators undermine the peace and stability, carry out attacks while being inebriated, carry out attacks with sharp objects and damage private property. Even internationally such actions are regarded as violence. However, the Amnesty report has ignored all such things. It is extremely one sided and unjust,” said Jameel.

The CNI report’s major findings were that February’s transfer of power was constitutional and that, rather than amounting to a coup, the events preceding former President Mohamed Nasheed’s resignation were of his own making.

The report did conclude that acts of police brutality had been committed in February and urged further investigation by relevant authorities.

Following the release of the report, Jameel explained that the government would leave these investigations to the Police Integrity Commission (PIC).

Widespread doubts persist, however, as to the strength of independent institutions in the country with the Chair of the PIC publicly expressing her doubts over the ability of the PIC to handle the pressure of these investigations.

This issue was reflected in Amnesty’s findings: “Government officials have frequently shrugged off their own responsibility to address human rights violations, saying it is the purview of the Human Rights Commission (HRCM) and the PIC.”

“However, both bodies have yet to conclude their investigations into all of the most serious human rights violations does not absolve the government of its responsibility to exercise due diligence in guaranteeing the rule of law and protecting human rights,” it continued.

Amnesty’s recommendations also included de-politicisation of the police, reform of the judiciary and enhanced training of security forces to meet with international standards of conduct.

Nasheed’s MDP have been fiercely critical of the CNI’s methods following the resignation of their commission member, Ahmed ‘Gahaa’ Saeed, on the eve of the report’s publication.

Jameel’s comments echo those of Police Commissioner Abdulla Riyaz who, in April, told Minivan News of his own scepticism of Amnesty’s methods

“I don’t see that there has been any investigations done, none of our officers was questioned, interviewed – neither by them nor by the Police Integrity Commission (PIC), nor by the Human Rights Commission (HRCM). I don’t think that’s fair,” said Riyaz.

Likes(0)Dislikes(0)

MCC decides to cooperate with government

Male’ City Council (MCC) yesterday announced its decision to cooperate with the government in light of the findings of the Commission of National Inquiry (CNI), reports Haveeru.

“The CNI report signifies that the transfer of power was legal, hence the city council has decided to extend it cooperation to the government in fulfilling the constitutionally obligated duties stipulated under the Decentralization Act,” an MCC statement was said to have read.

The Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) dominated council had opted not to cooperate with the government after February’s contested transfer of power.

Friction between the MCC and the government has resulted in a series of jurisdictional feuds over the past seven months, most notably over the alleged violations relating to the leasing of land to the MDP for political activities.

Likes(0)Dislikes(0)

Half-sister of slain ‘Bobby’ calls for death sentence

The half-sister of 21 year-old Abdul Muheeth ‘Bobby’, who was stabbed to death outside the Finance Ministry on February 19, has asked told the court to implement the death penalty, local media has reported.

The state is currently pursuing charges against six individuals for the murder, including three minors.

Bobby’s murder provoked an outpouring of public grief. The ‘Justice for Bobby’ Facebook page has since been ‘liked’ by nearly 15,000 people while hundreds turned out to hold a ten 10 minute silence in June.

Under Islamic Sharia, if none of  a murder victim’s heirs agree to accept blood money, the court will hand down the death sentence.

Traditionally in Maldives death penalties are commuted to life imprisonment.

More than 10 people have been sentenced to death in the past decade, of which none have been executed by the authorities tasked with the role.

For the past 60 years, the state has been commuting these death sentences to life imprisonment (25 years).

Due to increasing criminal related deaths in the country, public sentiment for implementing capital punishment appears to have grown stronger this year.

Likes(0)Dislikes(0)