Day: June 11, 2014

President’s Office opens calls for an Information Commissioner and a PIC member

The President’s Office has re-opened a call for applicants for the position of Information Commission and opened a call for applicants for membership of the Police Integrity Commission (PIC).

The President’s Office said it had re-opened the call for Information Commissioner because only one applicant had answered the first call for applications in May.

The Information Commissioner position is a newly created independent office established by the landmark Right to Information Act.

The Act mandates President Abdulla Yameen to submit nominations for the post within 15 days of the Act coming into force on July 12. The People’s Majlis has to approve a nominee within 30 days of submission.

The call for applications will expire on June 22.

The PIC vacancy was caused by PIC member Dr Hala Hameed’s resignation earlier this year. Hala was appointed as State Minister for Health and Gender.

The call for applicants or PIC membership will expire on June 30.

Both applications are available on the President’s Office website.

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How serious are cyber death threats?

In July 2009, blogger Hilath Rasheed broke news of an underage girl being kept as a concubine on his blog. Soon afterwards, he started receiving death threats online.

He was accused of being an infidel and anonymous commenters sent him messages warning him against walking in dark alleyways. They threatened to slash his throat and behead him.

Two years later, in June 2012, three men ambushed Hilath in a dark alleyway leading up to his apartment block, slashed his throat and left him for dead.

Recalling the events today, Hilath told Minivan News he had not taken cyber death threats seriously before the fatal attack. He had also suffered an assault in December 2011.

“I was naïve and uninformed that some Maldivian youngsters in gangs could be brainwashed to the extent of decapitating a fellow human in the name of Islam,” he said.

Doctors called Hilath’s recovery a miracle.

Death threats have become a norm in Maldivian cyberspace. Politicians, journalists, bloggers and social media users have reported receiving cyber death threats for a range of reasons, from their support of a particular political party to their advocacy of freedom of religion.

Minivan News has also learned death threats were issued in at least one of this week’s abductions by vigilante mobs prior to the act.

Eyewitnesses alleged gangsters and religious extremists carried out the abductions as part of an effort to identify cyber activists supporting atheism and secularism in the Maldives. The abductees were also accused of homosexuality and atheism and were asked to prove their faith in Islam, sources said.

“With the recent kidnappings of some Maldivians by an Islamist vigilant mob of about 40, on the pretext their victims are ‘laadheenee’ or ‘impious’, I will advise everyone to really be careful about any kinds of threats because now I believe they can turn real all too easily,” Hilath said.

The Human Rights Commission of the Maldives (HRCM) has also expressed concern over the prevalence of cyber threats of violence and urged victims to report threats made via Facebook, Twitter, or comments on blog posts to the Maldives Police Services.

“In light of recent events, at a time of high levels of intolerance, and increase in gang related violence, do not treat any form of cyber threat as an idle threat,” HRCM Vice President Ahmed Tholal said.

However, prominent blogger Yameen Rasheed said he does not trust the police to protect bloggers, especially those who advocate for freedom of religion. He noted the police had failed to take action against individuals who had attacked Hilath in the December 2011 assault, despite photographic evidence.

“There is nothing you can do. I do not believe police will take action. There are some among the police who sympathise with the attackers,” he said.

The opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) has also alleged that extremist ideologies are prevalent among the security forces.

Yameen, who has also received cyber threats, said his fellow bloggers in the Maldives blogosphere “don’t feel secure at all” in light of the recent abductions.

In a blog post on Tuesday, Yameen has suggested the government backs the individuals behind the abductions. He said he expects more threats for his blog posts, but feels the only precaution he can take is documenting and publicising the incidents.

Whistleblower Aishath Velezinee and Raajje TV journalist Asward Ibrahim Waheed, who both suffered physical violence after receiving death threats online, have also urged victims of cyber harassment to take precautions when threatened online.

Velezinee was stabbed in 2010 for her revelations of judicial corruption while Asward was nearly beaten to death in 2012 after writing reports critical of the government.

Both Velezinee and Asward also expressed low levels of confidence in the security forces’ ability to take action.

“I made public the private messages that had been sent to me. There was no other way but to make the public as aware as possible,” Velezinee said.

Speaking of harassment online, Velezinee said she was the victim of a smear campaign which labeled her as a drug addict and an infidel prior to the attack. “This is systematically done to justify the physical violence,” she said.

“Social media serves as a means of communication with the world. If they can silence social media users, it is a big win for them,” she said.

Asward said he believed the prevalence of death threats to be linked to a culture of accepting violence in the Maldives. In protests across the political spectrum, demonstrators call for people “to be hung, slaughtered, or killed,” he said. “Maldivians do not seem to call for discussion to solve issues.”

A media official at the Maldives Police Services told Minivan News today that cyber crimes are difficult to investigate due to challenges in tracing those who issue threats. A law on cyber crimes is needed to facilitate investigations, the police said.

A former law enforcement official who wished to remain anonymous also raised concerns over lack of legislation on cyber crimes, but said police must make use of their limited capacity to track down perpetrators in order to deter and limit the prevalence of online threats.

Former Deputy Prosecutor General Hussein Shameem has said threats issued on social media can be prosecuted under the Act on Prohibition of Threats and Use of Dangerous Weapons passed in 2010.

The Prosecutor General’s Office has pressed charges against individuals for threats made via phone calls and text messages, but have not yet received cases relating to social media and cyber threats, he said.

Other prominent figures who have eported receiving death threats via text messages and social media include former President Mohamed Nasheed, MDP MP Mariya Ahmed Didi, former Speaker Abdulla Shahid, ruling Progressive Party of the Maldives MP Ahmed Mahloof, and former Election Commission President Fuwad Thowfeek.

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Traffic policing starts in Addu

The Maldives Police Services have started traffic policing in southern Addu City in the wake of frequent and dangerous accidents on the city’s link road.

The service was inaugurated on Monday (June 9).

Chief Inspector of Police Ahmed Shifan said the Addu Traffic Police Cell has employed experienced police officers who have already received training in the Malé Traffic Police Department.

In May, members of Afghanistan’s national football team were injured in an accident on the link road.

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MIRA announces 10 work-study scholarships

The Maldives Inland Revenue Authority (MIRA) has announced ten work-study openings on Tuesday.

MIRA will award employees selected under “learn while you earn” scholarships to study accounting at Maldivian colleges.

Employees are expected to work full time while studying, and will be paid for their work. The basic salary for the jobs are MVR 4000, but will receive an additional MVR 2000 in benefits. A further MVR 150 will be given per day as a service allowance and an MVR 75 per day for non practicing allowance.

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Human Rights Commission VP calls for state response to abductions

Human Rights Commission (HRCM) Vice President Ahmed Tholal has called for an immediate state response to reports of a series of vigilante attacks in the capital over recent days.

“The concern to me is that there needs to be a state response to state very clearly that we cannot just start labelling people un-Islamic as it’s a very dangerous thing,” said Tholal.

After multiple accounts of the abductions and assault of individuals perceived to be supportive of atheism or homosexuality, the HRCM plans to meet with state representatives in order to determine the cause for these events.

“I think the issue of safety of paramount. We’re not very clear why this is happening,” said Tholal. “But I think the key role is what the state response is going to be and putting an end to the speculation – to let the people know what is happening.”

After reports that senior government members met with citizens concerned about the harassment of Islam in the days before the attacks – some of whom have subsequently been linked with the abductions – Minivan News has been unable to obtain a response from the relevant authorities on this issue.

The vigilante group was believed to have been attempting to identify members of online secularist groups – some of which had repeatedly featured content defaming and mocking the prophet.

Freedom and responsibility

Tholal noted that the incidents had raised issues regarding freedom of expression but also the responsibility inherent in the enjoyment of that freedom – noting that the state should take action against criminal activity.

“It’s not just about people who are expressing these opinion,” said Tholal. “For one thing, the freedom of expression is highly sacred, and at the same time so is responsibility.”

Article 27 of the Maldives constitution grants the right to freedom of expression in a manner that is not contrary to any tenet of Islam.

Police began investigations into anti-Islamic comment posted on the ‘Maldives Atheists’ Facebook page in March this year, although no arrests have as yet been made.

Expressing his fear that Maldivian society was becoming less tolerant of diverse opinion, Tholal noted that people’s freedom of expression must be based on understanding rather than intimidation.

“Reinterpretations should be based, not on fear, but on an understanding that there are things you cannot say as they might hurt people or be hateful or incite violence,” he said.

Self-censorship

Ismail Hilath Rasheed, a self-exiled blogger who was subjected to multiple attacks as a result of his outspoken calls for freedom of expression has also suggested greater tolerance is needed across Maldivian society.

“Freedom of expression should not be abused as to lead to anarchy and chaos. Such a balanced equilibrium can be obtained only through granting minority rights, which means the sorely missing secularism in the context of Maldives.”

“This is where we need to build bridges – a bridge to gap the gulf between moderates and extremists on all sides,” said the former journalist.

Hilath has suggested that many Maldivians – including himself – were now refraining from expressing themselves due to the current climate of fear.

“With the liberal community now opting to refrain from exercising their right to free expression, the Maldives as a culture and society will plunge into an abyss unless the powers that be give them the courage to come out and contribute to society’s collective creativity, and express free expression without fear,” he said.

A landmark ‘Threat Analysis Report’ by the Maldives Broadcasting Commission earlier this year found 84 percent of journalists surveyed had been threatened at least once, with 27 percent noting a reluctance to cover certain topics.

Journalists identified political parties to be the top source of threat, while gangs and religious extremists – both alleged to have been involved in recent attacks – were next on the list.

Other than coverage of a Maldivian Democratic Party press release expressing concern over the incidents, local media has not reported on the succession of attacks.

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MATATO expresses concern over airport outsourcing deal

The Maldives Association of Travel and Tourism Operators (MATATO) has expressed concern regarding rumours that a private Jet terminal and aeronautical services facilities at Malé International Airport will be outsourced exclusively to a foreign company.

“MATATO is very concerned that this will create an unhealthy market structure and put many local companies at risk,” read the statement.

Minivan News has learned that the cabinet’s economic council is currently discussing a deal with billionaire Thai businessman William Heinecke.

American-born Heinecke’s Minor International hospitality chain is reported by Forbes to consist of 1,500 restaurants, 100 hotels, and 250 retail outlets spanning 18 countries – including the Maldives’ Anantara resorts.

MATATO, which represents more than 50 local businesses, revealed that it had been approached by a number of concerned members whom it believed would suffer as a result of such a deal.

“Presently there are many local businesses that act as supervision agents, and ground handlers for the considerable corporate and private jets that visit Maldives year round. Many of these local companies depend solely on the income generated from this business,” read the statement.

The association requested that all stakeholders begin a dialogue that might consider alternative arrangements to an exclusivity deal which it suggests lacks market competition, leading to poor services and “consumer exploitation”.

“The absence of competitive pricing that benefits the consumer, allows companies with exclusivity rights to charge higher prices for services, and inconvenience buyers.”

Following the purchase of both the Maldives’ seaplane operators by US private equity group Blackstone last year, hospitality groups revealed a subsequent raising of prices and reduction of services, reporting a potentially negative impact on industry profitability.

MATATO today argued that the airport deal would “only lead to unnecessary outflow of foreign exchange, loss of job opportunities for locals, a significant amount of control of the local market to foreign bodies, among many other negative factors.”

Alternatives suggested by MATATO was for the current management of the airport – the state-owned Maldives Airports Company Ltd (MACL)  – to retain control and upgrade the facilities itself.

MACL took over management of Ibrahim Nasir International Airport (INIA) following the premature termination of the Indian company GMR’s 25-year concession agreement by the previous government.

Shortly after winning the presidency last year, President Abdulla Yameen pledged to redevelop the airport with new foreign investment, while the government would retain the overall management of the airport.

The expansion of INIA – to accommodate five million passengers per year – subsequently featured among the ‘mega-projects’ presented to international investors during a landmark investment forum held in Singapore in April.

Shortly after the Singapore forum, the Maldivian Democratic Party – in power when the original GMR deal was signed – called for GMR’s reinstatement, vowing to annul any new airport contracts should it return to the power.

GMR’s US$1.4 billion arbitration claim was also concluded in Singapore in April, though the court has yet to announce a verdict.

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SEZ bill designed to incentivise investment, says Economic Development Minister

The special economic zone (SEZ) bill submitted to parliament last week is designed to incentivise foreign investment with special privileges and tax exemptions, Economic Development Minister Mohamed Saeed has said.

Speaking at a press conference this morning, Saeed said the current administration’s objective was introducing new industries in order to overcome the dependence on the tourism industry, which was vulnerable to external shocks and global events.

The Maldives had to “outperform competitors” by offering incentives so that investors would choose the country over business hubs such as Dubai, Oman, Qatar, Singapore or Hong Kong, Saeed said.

According to the draft SEZ legislation (Dhivehi), investors would be exempted from paying either import duties for capital goods brought in for the development, supervision, and operation of the zone or business profit and withholding taxes.

Moreover, investors in the SEZ will be exempted from paying goods and services tax for a 10-year period.

Additionally, a board of investment – chaired by a minister – established by the law would have the authority to lease land to foreign companies for 66 years while local companies would be able to purchase land.

Saeed said he expects the SEZ bill to become the first piece of legislation to be passed by the 18th People’s Majlis, which began its five-year term last month.

Mega-projects

The Maldives became the number one destination worldwide for “lifestyle holidays” because resorts were developed in the early 1970s as “a kind of special economic zone,” Saeed contended.

While the tourism industry was the main source of foreign currency at the moment, Saeed said the government did not believe that other industries were “alien” or unsuited to the Maldives.

Saeed suggested that the turnover from new industries set up in the SEZs could be two or three times higher than tourism.

“That is because all the large developing economies of the world are near the Maldives. For example, China and India,” he said.

Referring to the government’s ‘iHavan’ transshipment port mega-project, Saeed noted that the Maldives is strategically located astride major sea lanes in the Indian Ocean, through which cargo ships carry US$79 trillion worth of goods from East to West and vice versa annually.

Nine ships an hour travel through these channels, he added.

“Lagoons with the natural depth needed to service those ships is found in this region only in the Maldives,” he said.

While other countries would have to dredge to build ports, Saeed said the Maldives has “wave-free natural ports” that could provide services such as offshore docking facilities throughout the year.

“If turnover from tourism is US$2.5 or US$3 billion [annually], when a shipping industry with offshore docking, bunkering and bulk-breaking facilities is set up in the Maldives – one of the world’s most spacious ports – then consider the benefits. For example, consider the turnover, the GST [goods and services tax] of the turnover, [and other] taxes,” he explained.

The iHavan or Ihavandhippolhu Integrated Development Project involves a transshipment port facility, airport development, a cruise hub, yacht marina, bunkering services, a dock yard, real estate, and conventional tourism developments.

“Freeholds”

The SEZ legislation envisions nine economic zones across the country, including an industrial estate zone, export processing zone, free trade zone, enterprise zone, free port zone, single factory export processing zone, offshore banking unit zone, offshore financial services centre zone, and a high technology park zone.

President Yameen had declared in April that the SEZ bill would become “a landmark law” that would strengthen the country’s foreign investment regime.

“What we would like to confirm for the foreign investors who come to the Maldives is that foreign investors should feel that Maldives is your second home here,” Yameen said at a function in Hulhumalé.

The SEZs would be “likened to cities in Dubai or the Emirates” and “the [business] environment we have in Singapore.”

The new law would enable investors to have “freeholds” in the country and allow investors “to engage in really, really long gestative projects,” Yameen said.

“We are embarking on an era of growth,” he said.

Moreover, addressing participants of the Maldives Investor Forum in April, Yameen had said his administration was “cognisant of the needs of our investors and the requirements to strengthen and redefine the legal and regulatory environment governing foreign investments.”

“To address investment climate and to facilitate mega investments with attractive incentive packages, a Special Economic Zone Bill will be tabled in the parliament soon. Additionally, the Foreign Investment Act and Companies Act are being revised to cater the ever increasing needs of the modern foreign investors,” he said.

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Maldives discusses intolerance, Syria, Palestine, and women’s rights at the UN Human Rights Council

Maldives’ Ambassador to the United Nations Offices in Geneva Iruthisham Adam has told the Human Rights Council of the Maldives concern over rising incidences of racial and religious intolerance around the world.

Speaking at the 26th regular session of the Human Rights Council (HRC) being held in Geneva  from June 10 – 27, Iruthisham said that the Maldives believes human rights are for everyone and are indivisible and interdependent.

Her comments came response to the opening statement by the departing High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navi Pillay, whose term ends on 31 August.

In her statement, Pillay noted that effective human rights advocacy must necessarily open a Pandora’s box of hidden abuses to allow the work of ensuring better governance and justice.

“Dalit or Brahmin, Peul or Pole, gay or heterosexual, tycoon or pauper, woman, child or man – regardless of our ethnicity, our age, our form of disability, our beliefs, or our economic might, all human beings are equal in dignity,” said Pillay.

During her term, Pillay has been particularly outspoken about both flogging and the judiciary in the Maldives, with the former comments – made during a trip to the Maldives in 2011 – prompting protests on the streets of Malé.

Following the Supreme Court’s controversial intervention in the 2013 presidential elections, Pillay accused it of “subverting the democratic process”, this time drawing an angry response from the chief justice.

Continuing her response to Pillay’s statement, Iruthisham noted that it was important to highlight unique challenges and vulnerabilities faced by Small Island Developing States such as the Maldives.

Palestine and Syria

Irurhisham also called on the international community to take stronger measures to prevent conflicts from spreading into other territories, causing greater violations of human rights.

The Maldives was described as being concerned by the human rights situations in countries such as the South Sudan, Ukraine, the Central African Republic and, in particular, Palestine and Syria.

Irurhisham criticised the weak response of the international community to war crimes in Syria, calling for the case to be referred to the International Criminal Court.

Commenting on the situation in Syria she said the widespread and systematic violence in Syria today is a tragedy for the Syrian people and a failure for the cause of human rights.

Noting that the Palestinians have been struggling for a just cause for decades without any solution, Irurhisham reiterated the importance of retaining agenda item seven – ‘the human rights situation in Palestine and other occupied Arab territories’ – on the council’s agenda.

“The Maldives expresses its grave concern and condemns the continuation of systematic violation and abuse of human rights of the Palestinian people and the illegal settlements by Israel, the occupying power,” she said.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has revealed that the Maldives will also address the human rights situation in North Korea as well as focusing on womens rights, independence of the judiciary, and climate change.

Women’s rights

The Maldives is also part of the HRC core-group leading a high level panel ‘Power of Empowered Women 2014′ on equality and women’s economic empowerment.

When commenting on the special rapporteur on violence against women’s report, delegation member Amin Javed Faizal said that “eliminating all forms of violence against women is a cornerstone of the Maldives’ human rights policy, and our work at the human rights council.”

“We have already undertaken measures to address comprehensively all the shortcomings present in the system including the issue of accountability,” said Javed, pointing out that reservations to the Convention to Eliminate Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) have been withdrawn and a domestic violence bill enacted.

A recent EU election observation report noted that women remained “acutely under-represented” in Maldivian public life, pointing out that provisions to eliminate intentional and unintentional discrimination – as included in CEDAW – were till lacking

Among many issues on the agenda of the HRC session are Central African Republic, Syria, North Korea, South Sudan, Sri Lanka, Sustainable Development, Racism, Corruption, Human Trafficking, Universal Periodic Review,

In addition to this specific panel discussions will be held on subjects such as safety of journalists, combating female genital mutilation, eliminating child, early and forced marirages and advancing rights of right of persons with disabilities.

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