Day: April 11, 2014

101 offenders complete Drug Court’s rehabilitation programme

Some 101 drug offenders have completed the Drug Court’s rehabilitation programme as of last week, the court has revealed.

These include 36 cases submitted by the National Drug Agency (NDA) of individuals serving jail sentences for criminal convictions prior to the enactment of the new Drugs Act, and 48 cases transferred from the Criminal Court, the Drugs Court explained in a statement on Thursday (April 10).

In addition, 17 cases were submitted by the Prosecutor General’s Office.

While 101 offenders successfully completed the court-mandated rehabilitation programme, the court noted that 37 individuals were ejected from the programme for various reasons and transferred to the custody of the Maldives Correctional Services to serve their jail sentences.

Drug offenders brought before the court are handed jail sentences that are then suspended subject to completion of the rehabilitation programme.

Since it began hearing cases in August 2012, the Drug Court has ordered 524 individuals to undergo rehabilitation.

Speaking at a ceremony held earlier this month to commemorate the second anniversary of the court, Acting Chief Judge Mahaz Ali expressed concern with the rehabilitation facilities available in the Maldives.

The NDA informed the Drug Court in April last year that all rehabilitation centres in the country were at full capacity, Mahaz revealed.

The main community centre in Malé was at full capacity at the start of this month, he noted, and could not accept more patients.

On April 1, a 24-year-old man was found dead in a residence in the capital Malé less than 24 hours after his release from the Himmafushi rehabilitation centre.

Police have since confirmed to Minivan News that the recovering addict – Mohamed Rashad from Haa Dhaal Kulhudhufushi – died of a heroin overdose.

A “high concentration of opium and benzodiazepine” was found in the urine of the deceased, police said.

According to Rashad’s family, he was released from the rehabilitation centre the day before his death.

“Mohamed was released yesterday, and he was staying with a friend at Annaarumaage until the community centre could make arrangements,” Rashad’s uncle was quoted as saying by Sun Online.

“His friend was there when I went to the house, who told me that Mohamed was still sleeping when he woke up. When we went and checked, he was dead.”

NDA CEO Ahmed Muneer explained to the online news outlet that patients undergoing community treatment upon release from rehab were required to attend several classes.

Recovering addicts were required to stay in Malé until the process could be completed, Muneer said.

Policy shift

The Drug Court was formed under the new Drugs Act passed by parliament in December 2011 as part of a policy shift away from taking a punitive approach against small-scale drug offences.

Cases of drug users or pedlars caught with less than three grams of illicit narcotics were to be handled by the specialised court.

In May 2012, former State Minister for Health Lubna Zahir Hussain explained to Minivan News that the new court would address concerns over a “lack of awareness” amongst some Criminal Court Judges over the use of forensic evidence.

“Under previous legislation, the role of forensics was not taken into account during a trial. Even in cases where a [suspect’s] urine test was shown to be positive for illegal drugs, if they continued to deny they were a drug user, courts in the past have taken the decision not to prosecute,” she said.

“Criminal court judges have not been fully aware of forensic evidence. The Drug Court however will have five judges well trained to deal with these types of cases.”

A report released in late 2011 by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) asserted that the Maldivian prison population could be reduced by up to two-thirds if the government would “de-criminalise the offence of drug usage and propose mandatory rehabilitation”.

According to author and UNDP Programme Specialist Naaz Aminath, small-time drug users in their early 20s “are not hard-core criminals, but they’re put away for almost their entire lives,” while drug traffickers serve an average sentence of 25 years.

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Chamber of commerce awaiting permit for night market

The Maldives National Chamber of Commerce and Industry (MNCCI) has expressed concern with the Malé City Council’s refusal to grant permission to host the annual night market in the capital.

MNCCI Vice Chair Ismail Asif told newspaper Haveeru yesterday that the city council had not responded to the chamber of commerce’s request for permission to host the market.

“We are concerned because the council would not even respond to this issue. At this state, another party is announcing hosting Night Market. The same thing happened last year, same thing this year. It seems as if they are trying to hand the project over to someone in particular,” he was quoted as saying.

The Anti-Corruption Commission last week informed the city council that its agreement with Go Media Pvt Ltd to organise the night market had been terminated last year.

Deputy Mayor Shifa Mohamed told the local daily that the council would make a decision in the near future to resolve the issue.

“MNCCI not partaking in the Go Media bid too is a problem. We had found out that they had not participated. We can’t grant the permission to another party without getting out of the agreement made with Go Media. This is the problem that we face now. That, too is a cemented agreement,” she said.

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Home Ministry publishes list of detention centres four days after deadline

The Ministry of Home Affairs has published a list of detention centres four days after a legally-mandated deadline elapsed.

The home minister was required by the the recently passed Anti-torture Act to make public a list of prisons and detention centres where individuals are held in state custody.

The anti-torture law that came into effect on March 22 stipulated that the list must be publicised within 15 days (before April 6).

The document (Dhivehi) released last night (April 10) listed 29 detention centres, including the main prison on Maafushi island, the low-security facility on Himmafushi, the Malé jail, custodial centres in the capital and Dhoonidhoo as well as 18 police stations across the country.

An official from the home ministry told Minivan News yesterday that the delay in publishing the list was due to difficulties obtaining information from other state institutions.

Human Rights Commission of Maldives (HRCM) member Jeehan Mahmoud said it was “disheartening to know that the first violation under this act has been by the state.”

A reminder was sent to the ministry in writing before and after the deadline passed, Jeehan noted.

The HRCM would decide on a course of action following a meeting of the commission’s five members, she added.

Overall responsibility for implementing the new law was entrusted to the HRCM, which was legally empowered to take direct action against offences specified in the legislation.

The Home Ministry was also required to compile a report on the detention centres to be submitted to the HRCM within seven days of publishing the list.

Article 23(g)(3) of the act states that the penalty for failing to submit the report would be imprisonment of between one to three years.

Criminal offences specified in the law are to be investigated by the commission and forwarded to the Prosecutor General’s Office for prosecution.

Jeehan said the commission was monitoring the deadlines and would take action against violations, declining to comment on the possibility of pressing criminal charges against Home Minister Umar Naseer, who is currently overseas.

Opposition Maldivian Democratic Party MP Eva Abdulla – who submitted the bill to parliament – said it was “not surprising that a government controlled by the Gayoom family would be hesitant, even reticent to implement anti-torture legislation.”

Eva stressed that the law should be implemented on schedule in order to address the resurgence of custodial abuse.

“We are very concerned about reports of ill-treatment and physical abuse in the prisons again. The legislation needs to be implemented on schedule to address this and to address the feelings of past victims. Implementation needs to be flawless,” she said.

The HRCM meanwhile noted last month that incidents of torture in detention were on the rise while the UN Human Rights Committee in July 2012 said incidents of torture in the Maldives “appear systematic and systemic” and expressed “grave concern” over the low number of cases that have been investigated.
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