Day: January 28, 2013

Commonwealth-backed report a “whitewash”: former president

Former President Mohamed Nasheed has branded the Commonwealth-backed Commission of National Inquiry (CNI) report a “whitewash”, claiming it purposefully excluded testimonies from key police and military figures concerning last year’s transfer of power.

The CNI report, which was published back in August last year, concluded there had been no coup, no duress and no mutiny during the controversial transfer of power that saw President Dr Mohamed Waheed Hassan Manik sworn into office. The findings were also welcomed at the time by the US State Department and the United Nations.

Nasheed alleged that despite the CNI report’s conclusions, a recent parliamentary inquiry had heard evidence from senior police and military figures that was omitted from the commission’s findings and supported allegations of a coup.

The comments were made following a recent visit by the Commonwealth Secretary General’s Special Envoy to the Maldives, Sir Don McKinnon. McKinnon, whose visit concluded yesterday (January 27), was in the country to discuss progress to “strengthen democratic institutions” in line with recommendations in the CNI report.

The Commonwealth Secretariat today said it would not be issuing a statement or making any comments on McKinnon’s visit at the present time.

Nasheed, who declined to meet with McKinnon during his visit, has expressed strong criticism of the investigation conducted by the CNI.

“The CNI report was a whitewash. It wilfully excluded testimony of police and army leaders – the very people best placed to ascertain whether the transfer of power was legal or not,” he stated.

The former president also slammed the government of President Dr Mohamed Waheed Hassan Manik, claiming it had taken no action against police and military officers for alleged human rights abuses during the transfer of power, or towards correcting issues with the country’s judiciary raised in the CNI’s conclusions.

In the same statement, Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) MP Mariya Didi condemned the Commonwealth-backed report for empowering and legitimising President Waheed’s government, which she accused of lacking a democratic mandate.

“The CNI report was to empower and embolden an illegitimate regime, which is now pressing charges against President Nasheed in the hope of disqualifying his candidature in the upcoming presidential elections. Uncertainties created by these politically motivated charges have skewed the election landscape and allowed campaign momentum for marginal political groups led by former international civil servants, feudal entrepreneurs and religious extremists that clearly do not have electoral support,” she claimed.

“Having stolen one presidency, the regime intends to rig the vote for another. This situation has grave consequences for the future of our democracy,” Mariya added.

“Cover-up” allegations

On Saturday (January 26), the MDP accused the Commonwealth Secretariat of being complicit in a “systematic government cover-up designed to subdue testimonies from key witnesses to the coup d’etat”.

MDP Spokesperson MP Hamid Abdul Ghafoor said at the time that respective accounts from the CNI and the UN concerning the transfer of power on February 7 were “not reflective of the experiences of Maldivians who witnessed and lived through the event both out on the streets and through their TV screens”.

“The letters sent to the government [concerning the transfer of power] represented a real shoddy job by these organisations. It is clear they did not do their homework. It is embarrassing,” Ghafoor said.

President’s Office Spokesperson Ahmed ‘Topy’ Thaufeeq meanwhile told Minivan News last week that the CNI report was a “transparent” process undertaken by “qualified Maldivian people”.

“Because of this, the CNI report is accepted by the government. We have a judiciary, if anyone has a problem with this affair they can go to the courts themselves,” he claimed.

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Comment: In defence of Scottish Police training the Maldives’ police service

Dear Sir/Madam,

I have just become aware of the Guardian article ‘Maldives police accused of civil rights abuses being trained by Scottish police’ and feel obliged to make comment since I am mentioned in it but wasn’t consulted for a view on the matter.

I spent some time in the Maldives as an independent Police Consultant having been invited by the then Commissioner Adam Zahir to conduct a root and branch review of the Maldives Police Service practices and procedures in the capital Male’. My 2006 report made a total of 76 recommendations for improvement, 95 percent of which were later approved by the Force Executive.

I also spent some time assisting with the implementation of many of these recommendations and was quite confident that real progress was made in developing the service being provided to the public by what was, in effect, a fledgling police force in a developing country.

I was not alone in providing this type of assistance and worked alongside officers from the Australian Police and members of the Scottish Police College and was in fact personally instrumental in introducing the College Training input to them.

My presence in the Maldives was generated by a desire by both the police hierarchy and the government of the day who, to their credit, recognised the need for developmental training for their police staff to devise, implement and improve the delivery of a sound community-based policing model. I was very impressed by the enthusiasm and cooperation I received at all levels to achieve this end.

Quite clearly, radical change in any organisation takes time to establish itself and I was under no naive illusions when I left the country at the end of my contract that it wouldn’t take a while for the changes to become thoroughly embedded in the policing culture. I was content however that they were on track to become a much more efficient and effective law enforcement agency.

The somewhat unforeseen political developments which have taken place in the Maldives since I left are not my concern nor of my making. I spent my professional life in a policing environment which was completely divorced from political interference in operational matters, which is exactly the way it should be everywhere.

That said, any breaches of human rights which have taken place in the country and attributed to law enforcement officers are a real concern to everyone and can only serve to hinder the progress the Maldives makes into becoming a modern democratic state. Misconduct by police officers in any of the ways alleged is highly troubling and needs to be vigorously dealt with and stamped out by the organisation.

Notwithstanding, it is of considerable concern to me that Severin Carrell’s article in the Guardian seeks to establish a connection between my training input and that of the Scottish Police College and others to the alleged “thuggish” and “brutal” conduct of a minority of police officers in Male’, the inference being that the Scottish Police connection has been wholly inadequate or that I/we actually trained them or somehow influenced them to behave in that way, a thought process that is almost too ludicrous to contemplate.

The Scottish Police College can speak for themselves but it is quite obvious to me that elements of the opposition parties and others with axes to grind in the Maldives are mischief making in taking advantage of the current situation and have manipulated the platform of the Guardian newspaper to attack the integrity of the police, whom they see as an arm of the current government, and that the Guardian took the bait hook, line and sinker, producing an article which is so one-sided and biased that it barely merits the column inches it inhabits. The tack it takes however also by implication taints me personally and it is not in my nature to let that pass unchallenged.

The quotes cherry-picked from my 2006 report about the force’s Special Operations Command and used in the Guardian article – an “openly paramilitary organisation” and a “macho elite … most of whom lack basic police training” – were some of many comments intended as constructive criticism of different facets of the force and which formed the basis for structured improvements. Notably the Guardian fails to mention that as a result of these comments the SOC subsequently underwent considerable developmental training in an effort to correct the issues I highlighted.

It is well known in the Maldives and worth commenting on that opposition political parties pay gangs of youths to infiltrate so-called ‘peaceful demonstrations’ and thereby generate violent confrontations with the police to discredit them, but I also note no mention is made by Severin Carrell about that either.

Recent events in the streets of the UK involving some of the worst rioting in living memory serve to highlight that even in so-called developed democracies situations arise where policing is tested to the utmost and mistakes are made in dealing with them. While I abhor the abuse of power by any law enforcement agency it is easy with the benefit of hindsight for people who weren’t there to sit in a cosy armchair and criticise actions taken or not taken by officers at such highly charged scenarios where in reality the use of pepper sprays and batons can often be both justified and legal.

Quite a long period of my police career involved working in a complaints and discipline role and I am the first to advocate harsh treatment of serving police officers who break the rules of their office, especially when it involves blatant criminal behaviour, but it is a different matter altogether when fingers are randomly pointed and uncorroborated accusations are made in the thinly disguised name of a political cause and spread across a UK national newspaper in furtherance of that.

Since working in the Maldives I have an affiliation with the country and its people and the work I did there was genuinely focused on helping to make it a better place to live and work. The fact that things now seem to be unraveling to an extent saddens me a great deal but it is disingenuous in the extreme for anyone to pursue their personal objectives by inferring wholly innocent individuals are somehow to blame for it all.

I would suggest that, as well as apologising to me, if the Guardian wants to get involved in such matters as the Maldives crisis it takes a less naive and more balanced approach and looks much more searchingly at everything going on there, as well as giving more credit for the positive things that have been achieved by dedicated people. Impugning the professional integrity of those striving to do good things may be the Guardian’s idea of a good story but I doubt if many right thinking people would agree.

A final word – the present Commissioner of the Maldives Police Service, Abdulla Riyaz, is a well respected, dedicated and fair minded individual of the highest integrity who has devoted his professional career to the improvement of policing services in his country. I have worked closely with him in the past before he was appointed to his current position and I hold him in high regard. He is well able to defend his own position and actions but I feel it is grossly unfair for his considerable achievements to be undermined in the way this Guardian article has done.

Scottish Police Superintendent (retired), John Robertson, was an independent police consultant to the Maldives Police Service in 2006 and 2008.

All comment pieces are the sole view of the author and do not reflect the editorial policy of Minivan News. If you would like to write an opinion piece, please send proposals to [email protected]

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Adhaalath Party denies supporters physically attacked by MDP

Adhaalath Party representative Hussain Wafeer has denied allegations that Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) supporters “physically attacked” its members on the island of Thulhaadhoo in Baa Atoll last week.

The comments were made after local media reported that a crowd of “violent thugs” – led by an unnamed MDP councillor – attempted to attack Adhaalath Party President Sheikh Imran Abdulla during a visit to the island.

An unnamed source from Thulhaadhoo previously told the Sun Online news service that the attackers threw stones at the visitors, injuring several people during the incident.

Despite the claims, Wafeer told Minivan News today that while the gathered crowd did not physically attack anyone during the visit, sand was thrown at Adhaalath party representatives.

Wafeer refused to speculate on whether the crowd were true MDP members, or whether an MDP Councillor had been involved in the alleged attack.

“They were waving MDP flags, so we can assume they were MDP, but we didn’t recognise any of the members so we can’t say they were MDP,” Wafeer added.

An official from within Thulhaadhoo Island Council – speaking on condition of anonymity – said that the crowd who greeted the Adhaalath Party officials was both a mix of MDP and anti-MDP supporters. The council source said it was not certain who had thrown sand at Sheikh Imran.

“Some of local women on the island witnessed a Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP) councillor throwing sand and causing the trouble, while some people said it was the MDP supporters,” the council official claimed.

“After an hour the riot police showed up and arrested the island President, a councillor and some MDP supporters.”

Adhaalath Party Leader Sheikh Imran Abdulla was not responding to calls from Minivan News at time of press.

Following the incident, a senior MDP MP told Minivan News that he had received death threats via telephone from unknown callers whom he believed to be members of the Adhaalath Party.

According to Sun Online, the police have arrested a number of individuals allegedly involved in the incident, including an MDP councillor.

Verbal abuse

Following an MDP protest held in Male’ on Friday (January 25),the Adhaalath Party alleged that demonstrators had verbally abused its supporters and vandalised promotional materials at a membership drive held at a school.

The party also claimed MDP protesters ripped up the party’s banners at the school, which were temporarily put up as part of the membership drive.

Responding to the allegations at the time, MDP MP Hamid Abdul Ghafoor claimed that while the party did not encourage such behaviour towards government-aligned parties, he said he would not be surprised if some supporters had ripped up banners during the protest.

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Foreign Minister admits Maldives’ ties with India weakened after GMR Dispute

Foreign Minister Abdul Samad Abdulla has admitted relations between India and Maldives have deteriorated following the premature cancellation of the GMR airport development contract.

Samad’s comments came after Maldivians were left struggling to obtain Indian visas following a clamp down by Indian authorities, shortly after GMR was ousted from the Ibrahim Nasir International Airport.

Speaking at the parliament’s Government Accountability Committee, Samad was reported by local media as saying that despite official assurances that ties between Maldives and India remained unaffected, “the ground reality is to the contrary”.

“Maldives and India has long existing close ties. But the recent tensions especially the GMR spat has affected the relations even though both sides have not said so officially.

“After these things surfaced we have been anticipating the backlash. I don’t want anything unexpected to come to pass that causes difficulties for Maldivians. We are working in two ways. One is to repair the damage done to the relations and come to a mutual agreement on certain things,” Samad was quoted as saying in local newspaper Haveeru.

State Foreign Minister Hassan Saeed said that during the weekly sit-downs with the Indian High Commission in the Maldives, unilateral actions on the part of Maldives were constantly highlighted.

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Home Minister Dr Jameel appointed acting Minister of Economic Development

Minister of Home Affairs Dr Mohamed Jameel Ahmed has been appointed as acting Minister of Economic Development, the President’s Office has announced.

President Mohamed Waheed Hassan Manik appointed Jameel to the position pending the return of Minister Ahmed Mohamed, who is on an official visit abroad.

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Queues return to Indian High Commission as Maldivians seek Indian visas

Queues have started to form outside the Indian High Commission in Male’ as people seek to obtain Indian visas.

Earlier this month the Foreign Ministry decided to hand back all Indian visa application operations to the Indian High Commission following a “decline” in visa requests.

However, local media reported that Maldivians began to queue outside the High Commission building at 11:00pm on January 26 after having their visa applications rejected for various reasons.

Despite media reports, an official in the Indian High Commission denied there had been overnight queuing outside the commission building.

“Some people had come in the morning a little early so there may have been a slight queue then, but was no overnight queuing. If a problem does arise we will find a solution,” the high commission official told Minivan News.

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

In his address during Indian Republic Day celebrations in Male’ on Friday, Indian High Commissioner D M Mulay said India offered its assurances “that no Maldivian would ever be denied visa to India and we will work very closely with the Maldivian authorities to resolve all the outstanding issues in a spirit of cooperation and good will. ”

Last month, Maldivians were forced to queue outside the Indian High Commission – in some cases overnight – to obtain medical visas in order to travel to India.

To alleviate the issue, the Foreign Ministry launched an SMS system that alerted individuals when it was their turn to have their visas processed.

However, following a decline in visa requests this month, Maldivians wishing to obtain tokens for their Indian visas to be processed will now have to use the Indian High Commission building as before, as the Foreign Ministry is no longer providing the service.

A spokesman from the Foreign Ministry told Minivan News earlier this month that should the demand for visas increase, the ministry will take measures to ensure all visas are processed.

“If there is a requirement we will consult the Indian High Commission. It is currently issuing 53 tokens per day and we think that is working fine for now,” he said. “We will ensure that Maldivians get their visas.”

The Indian High Commission has claimed the tightened restrictions were in line with a bilateral agreement signed back in 1979 and its appropriation by Maldivian authorities in the intervening years.

A source within the Indian High Commission, speaking to Minivan News in December last year, contended that all visas given to Maldivians for travel to India were provided free of charge – a courtesy he claimed was not extended to Indian citizens coming to the Maldives for work.

The commission spokesperson added that the introduction of the tighter regulations was imposed as a clear “signal” from Indian authorities that the concerns it had over practices in the Maldives such as the confiscation of passports of migrant workers, needed to be brought to an end.

Last week, the High Commission presented journalists with a list of 11 consular grievances, including discrimination and mistreatment of its expatriates and the routine withholding of passports by government departments.

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Cases against MDP MPs Jabir and Ghafoor to be forwarded to PG’s Office this week

Cases against MDP MPs Abdulla Jabir and Hamid Abdul Ghafoor are to be forwarded the Prosecutor General’s (PG) Office this week, Police Commissioner Abdulla Riyaz has said.

The commissioner told local media the cases to be forwarded to the PG’s Office are in regard to both Jabir and Ghafoor’s refusal to provide a urine sample after they were arrested under suspicion of drinking alcohol in November 2012.

Police Commissioner Riyaz was quoted as saying that the case against Ghafoor is also in relation to a previous occasion whereby he refused to provide urine sample after being arrested for obstructing police duty at a protest.

The Drug Act states that the punishment for a person who refuses to provide urine sample when requested by the police is imprisonment for one year, local media reported.

Jabir and Ghafoor were arrested on suspicion of alcohol consumption during a special operation carried out on the island of Hodaidhoo in Haa Dhaal Atoll. Both MPs were subsequently released by Kulhudhuffushi Magistrate Court.

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Indian High Commission hosts Republic Day ceremony

The Indian High Commission hosted a function on Friday (January 25) at the Dharubaruge conference hall to celebrate India’s 64th Republic Day.

The ceremony, which included a dinner and different cultural dances from across India, was attended by an assortment of Maldivian dignitaries including Foreign Minister Dr Abdulla Samad and members of the cabinet.  Representatives of Male’s Indian expatriate community were also in attendance.

Speaking during the ceremony, Indian High Commissioner to the Maldives Dnyaneshwar M Mulay conveyed greetings “to those Indian expatriates who are in Maldivian jails”.

“After the Independence of Maldives in 1965, India was among the first countries to establish diplomatic relations and a full-fledged mission started working in the 70s. In the early days the State bank of India and Air India performed pioneering roles in project finance, banking and connectivity,” Mulay observed. “Old timers would remember the first telecommunication line between Mumbai and Malé known as Bombay line which was at that time Maldives’ only connection with the outside world,” he said.

“India believes in maintaining cordial relations with all its neighbours. We are proud of our special relationship with Maldives nurtured carefully for decades both by political leadership and the people of both countries. We are connected through several threads like economic, cultural, historical and above all geographic. Our destinies are tied and we share aspirations as well as concerns regarding the collective future of mankind.

The first contacts between India and Maldives go beyond two millennia. The messengers of peace and prosperity were sent to Maldives by Emperor Ashoka in 3rd century BC. The Buddhist culture of Maldives continued till the arrival of Islam in 12th century. Throughout history, our maritime contacts have been very strong, as testified by many Arabian as well as Chinese travellers,” Mulay said.

Mulay outlined India’s contemporary contributions to the Maldives, and announced that the new eight storey Faculty of Hospitality and Tourism in Male’ would be handed over by the Indian government in several months.

“Our cooperation in the health sector and education sectors is well known. Indian teachers, doctors and nurses are serving the Maldivian people in many remote islands. A large number of Maldivians visit India for health services, education as well as tourism and recreation. I would like to appeal to both Indians and Maldivians to strengthen this partnership in the future,” Mulay added.

“Currently the Maldives is facing certain challenges, but we are confident that the wise people of Maldives will be able to choose a stable government that works further to strengthen these relations. India has always wished for a peaceful, prosperous and progressive Maldives since the security and peace in Maldives would have direct implications for our own security and peace,” he said.

“We are optimistic that the people of the Maldives will vote for the political and economic stability of the country. The hard earned democracy needs further support from all quarters.”

Mulay also noted that India has offered its assistance to the country’s Election Commission.

“Maldivians are dear to our heart. I would like to convey our assurances that no Maldivian would ever be denied visa to India and we will work very closely with the Maldivian authorities to resolve all the outstanding issues in a spirit of cooperation and goodwill,” he concluded.

Maldives Foreign Minister Abdulla Samad kept his address short, stating that Mulay had covered his topic thoroughly.

“The contributions of India to the Maldives, particularly towards security, and our socio-economic and human resources development, are too numerous to enumerate,” Samad said. “Many of our doctors and nurses are educated in India, as well as our civil servants, and likewise our military and police force have received significant support and training in India.”

“None of us can forget the support india promptly provided when we have had security problems in our country, or natural disasters during the past few decades,” Samad said.

Samad also thanked the Indian government for its support “during the past 10 months, following certain changes that have taken place in this country on the political front.”

“I should mention that the government of India was almost the very first country to recognise the changes that took place, and extended their support very quickly. In this regard, our gratitude to the government of India and his excellency [High Commissioner] Mulay is too significant to address,” he concluded.

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Criminal Court extends detention of second suspect in Afrasheem murder case

The Criminal Court yesterday extended the detention period of Ahmed Shan, the second main suspect arrested in connection with the death of late MP and well-known religious scholar Dr Afrasheem Ali.

The Criminal Court told local media that Shan, of Henveiru Hikost House, was summoned to the Criminal Court yesterday and his pretrial detention period was extended another 15 days.

Meanwhile, the Criminal Court recently started the trial of Hussain Human, the main suspect arrested in connection with the case.

During the first hearing the state attorney read out the charges against Humam, who pleaded not guilty and requested the court grant him the opportunity to appoint a lawyer.

Attorneys representing the state told the Criminal Court that on 1 October 2012, Humam and a group of people attacked and murdered Dr Afrasheem Ali.

The mobile phone of Criminal Court Spokesperson Mohamed Manik was switched off and he was unavailable for comment at time of press.

MP Afrasheem was brutally stabbed to death on the night of October 1, on the staircase of his home.

Commissioner of Police Abdulla Riyaz has previously alleged the murder of the MP was well planned and worth MVR 4 million (US$260,000).

In a presentation shown to a press conference last year, Riyaz claimed that 11 suspects were initially arrested, of which three had since been released. He added that about 200 items had been analysed as evidence, including forensic and digital evidence, which he claimed were enough to prosecute the prime suspects.

“Over 500 hours of CCTV footage have been analysed, more than a hundred people have been interviewed and about 13,000 phone call recordings have been analysed out of which 12,000 were from one single tower,” Riyaz said.

The commissioner claimed Afrasheem was last seen alive inside the premises of the state broadcaster, Television Maldives (TVM). The presentation suggested that Afrasheem was seen leaving the premises in his car around 11:04pm, according to nearby CCTV camera footage.

Afrasheem left the station after participating in a religious TV program called “Islamee Dhiriulhun” (Islamic Life), with Deputy Minister of Islamic Affairs Mohamed Qubad Aboobakuru.

In his last words, aired on the show, Afrasheem said he was deeply saddened and asked for forgiveness from citizens if he had created a misconception in their minds due to his inability to express himself in the right manner.

Minister of Islamic Affairs Sheikh Shaheem Ali Saeed was quoted in local media as saying that the Islamic Ministry had not forced Afrasheem to offer a public apology for anything during his last television appearance and disputed that there was any religious motivation in the death of the moderate scholar.

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