Day: September 23, 2014

Individuals named in MDN commissioned investigation file complaints

Individuals named as possible suspects in a Maldives Democracy Network (MDN) commissioned report into the disappearance of Minivan News journalist Ahmed Rilwan have filed complaints with the Maldives Police Services.

“[I]ndividuals whose personal information was mentioned in a report by MDN have raised their concerns and some have filed cases with the police alleging that their personal safety & security is at risk and they are receiving threats,” police media officials told Minivan News today.

Ismail Abdul Raheem, accused in the report of having followed Rilwan in February this year and alleged to have attacked blogger Hilath Rasheed in December 2011, filed a complaint with the police yesterday, reported local media.

The investigation was conducted on behalf of MDN by UK-based private security firm Athena Intelligence and Security. The report concluded that the disappearance is likely to have been an abduction, involving local gangs.

Members of the MDN as well as friends and colleagues of Rilwan working with the #Findmoyameehaa campaign have also received threats in the 24 hours since the release of the report.

Gang members identified in the report circulated photos of MDN’s Shahindha Ismail and Rilwan’s family’s lawyer Mushfiq Mohamed on Facebook and asked for more details stating “These two need to be disappeared.” Meanwhile, Twitter accounts of Rilwan’s family members and friends are being circulated online.

The report confirmed evidence of possible “hostile surveillance” at the terminal conducted by two known affiliates of the Malé based Kuda Henveiru gang, naming one as Ahmed Shiran Saeed.

Rilwan was last seen on the 1am ferry travelling to Hulhumalé on August 8. Neighbours reported seeing a man being forced into a car outside Rilwan’s apartment at around 2am.

Citing a series of gang attacks against perceived secularists in June, the report said gang activity in Rilwan’s abduction to be a “strong possibility”.

The report noted increased radical activity among members of three main gangs in Malé – Bosnia, Kuda Henveiru, and Buru – and claimed gang members have participated in attacks against individuals they deem “un-Islamic”.

The report called on the police to further investigate the activities of extremist groups, gangs, and politicians in Rilwan’s disappearance.

The Maldives Police Service has yet to suggest any possible theories or lines of inquiry being followed, last week noting that no “concrete evidence” could be found between Rilwan and the  reported abduction outside his apartment shortly after his last sighting.

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MP Nasheed to draft regulations for SEZ investment board

The investment board created under the Special Economic Zone (SEZ) Act has tasked ruling Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM) MP Mohamed ‘Kutti’ Nasheed with providing legal advice and drafting regulations.

Local media reported last week that the Kulhudhufushi South MP was appointed for the task with unanimous consent of the investment board members at its first meeting on Thursday (September 18).

Nasheed – who was also involved in drafting the legislation – reportedly agreed to draft the regulations free of charge.

Earlier this month, President Abdulla Yameen appointed Tourism Minister Ahmed Adeeb chairman of the board of investment.

The five-member board is authorised to grant approval for applications by developers to establish a zone, issue permits and investment licenses, and formulate rules and policies for the operation of SEZs.

Additionally, the board would monitor and review progress of investments, assess risk damage and liability, determine rates of fees and charges, and sign investment agreements between the government and developers.

The board would be assisted by a 17-member technical committee comprised of government officials as well as representatives from the private sector.

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Nasheed accuses Adhaalath leaders of radicalising youth

Former President Mohamed Nasheed has accused leaders of the religious conservative Adhaalath Party of radicalising and indoctrinating youth to carry out vigilante action in the name of Islam.

“Don’t do this to our youth. Don’t make them do all these vile deeds after picking them out individually and leading them astray,” the opposition leader appealed at a Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) rally in Malé last night.

Minivan News journalist Ahmed Rilwan Abdulla is believed to have been abducted by a radicalised youth, Nasheed claimed.

“What he did was a crime, a very serious crime. But the person who convinced him to abduct Rilwan committed an even more serious crime,” he added.

A young person would not have been motivated to abduct Rilwan without indoctrination, the MDP president suggested.

“What I have to say to Sheikh Imran [Abdulla] and Sheikh [Mohamed] Shaheem is don’t play the role of satan in the guise of sheikhs,” Nasheed said, referring to the Adhaalath party president and Islamic minister, respectively.

The Islamic minister was not responding to calls at the time of press.

A private investigation commissioned by human rights NGO Maldivian Democracy Network has implicated radicalised gangs in Rilwan’s disappearance.

The findings of the investigation – conducted by Glasgow-based Athena Intelligence and Security – made public yesterday suggested that Rilwan was most likely to have been abducted.

Citing the abduction of several young men in June by a vigilante group in a push to identify online activists advocating secularism or professing atheism, the investigation report found gang activity in Rilwan’s abduction to be a “strong possibility.”

The abductions in June followed local media reports of a meeting between Islamic Minister Shaheem and youth groups who expressed concern over the harassment of Islam and the promotion of homosexuality.

Minivan News learned that individuals photographed in the meeting – and in a separate meeting with Home Minister Umar Naseer – formed part of the vigilante group that carried out the abductions.

Extremism

Nasheed meanwhile warned of the rise of Islamic extremism in the Maldives.

“It’s difficult to say ‘extreme’ Islamic principles. They are not Islamic principles. Islamic principles are not hard or soft. They are moderate. Islam is always moderate,” he said.

Islam was being misused for “undue advantage and political gain,” he continued, and youth were being made to commit “many vile deeds.”

“Harming people in the name of Islam, abducting people in the name of Islam, and killing people, I know for certain that – and you don’t have to be a religious scholar –  that is not how it is in Islam, that we all know Islam is not a violent religion,” he said.

Earlier this month, Nasheed told the Independent newspaper in the UK that the vast majority of Maldivians fighting in Syria and Iraq were ex-military.

“Radical Islam is getting very, very strong in the Maldives. Their strength in the military and in the police is very significant. They have people in strategic positions within both,” he alleged.

Following the MDP’s claim in May that extremist ideologies were prevalent in the security services, the defence ministry dismissed the allegations at the time as both “baseless and untrue” and intended to “discredit and disparage” the military.

The Maldives Police Service (MPS) meanwhile issued a press release on Thursday (September 18) condemning Nasheed’s allegations.

While police estimated that about 24 persons with links to militant jihadist organisations might be active in the Maldives, MPS insisted that none of them were police officers.

“And the police leadership has always been working to ensure that such people are not formed within the police,” the statement read.

Meanwhile, the MDP asked yesterday for police to investigate death threats made against its MPs and senior members, who the party said were also being followed.

MDP MP Eva Abdulla received a text message last night threatening a suicide attack during the next MDP gathering. The message threatened to “kill off” MDP members and to fight “to the last drop of blood.”

MDP MP Imthiyaz Fahmy told Minivan News earlier this week that death threats have become too commonplace to publicise each incident.

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Participation in Silk Road initiative would threaten Indian Ocean security, contends Nasheed

The Maldives’ participation in the Chinese ’21st Century Maritime Silk Road’ initiative would threaten regional security in the Indian Ocean, contends former President Mohamed Nasheed.

Speaking at a Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) rally last night, the opposition leader said President Abdulla Yameen was heading towards disrupting regional security with his willingness to participate in the silk route initiative, which passes through the Maldives.

“There’s no need for a route of a particular people here. This country belongs to Maldivians,” he said, noting that traders from many countries have visited the Maldives for thousands of years.

The Maldives throughout its long history has served the Indian Ocean and people from various countries, including China, Nasheed continued, who were welcome to visit and dock their vessels in the country.

The Maldives should not participate in an initiative to facilitate trade and growth of a specific nation, he said.

According to China’s Xinhua News Agency, the Maritime Silk Road – linking China to the east coast of Africa and the Mediterranean – and a separate overland Silk Road will bring “new opportunities and a new future to China and every country along the road that is seeking to develop.”

“The Maldives welcomes and supports the proposal put forward by China to build the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road, and is prepared to actively participate in relevant cooperation,” read a joint communique issued during Chinese President Xi Jinping’s recent state visit.

President Yameen also told the press that the Maldives was “honoured to now feature among China’s partners in building the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road – a unique vision of President Xi, which will bring Asian neighbours closer together.”

China’s rising economic presence in the Indian Ocean region has stoked concerns in New Delhi that China is creating a “string of pearls” that surrounds India and threatens its security, including Chinese investments in ports and other key projects in Sri Lanka and Pakistan.

Asked if closer ties with China would adversely impact relations with India or Japan, President Yameen told reporters upon returning from a visit to China in August that Sino-Maldives economic cooperation would not affect “the very friendly, close relations with India”.

“All these projects are also open to India and we are doing a lot of diplomatic work with India,” he said, referring to his administration’s decision not to sign a Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) with the United States as an example of cooperation.

Nasheed went on to say that the Maldives should ensure its independence as well as the regional security of the Indian Ocean, which was a longstanding duty of Maldivian leaders.

“For hundreds of years, leader after leader has upheld the interest of the Maldives along with the security of the Indian Ocean,” he said.

President Yameen’s willingness to participate in the initiative would mark a shift in non-aligned foreign policy, he added, calling on the president to reconsider the decision.

A “responsible Maldivian leader” would not jeopardise the country’s security by risking being caught in the middle of war or disputes between great powers, Nasheed said.

Maldivian foreign policy should not seek to benefit from strife and discord, he added.

“In my view, we should not under any circumstances base our foreign policy on playing or turning one nation against another,” he said.

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Supreme Court case against HRCM undermining commission’s mandate, says MDP

The Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) has voiced concern over the Supreme Court suo moto case against members of the Human Rights Commission of the Maldives (HRCM) regarding a report submitted to the UN Human Rights Council last week.

In a press statement released today, the opposition party said that the members of the commission were summoned to the Supreme Court because of their criticism of the judiciary the submission to the Universal Periodic Review (UPR).

“The party believes that by initiating a suo moto, the Supreme Court is undermining the responsibilities vested by the Maldivian Constitution and international conventions on the independent commission,” read the MDP’s press statement.

Speaking to Minivan News today, parliamentary leader of the ruling Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM), Ahmed Nihan, said that it is not the place of any member of the government or an independent body to criticise the Supreme Court.

Nihan noted that the commission was fulfilling its mandate by publishing the report but also said  the Supreme Court was carrying out its own duties by upholding the constitution.

Members of the commission were summoned one by one to the Supreme Court yesterday (September 22) and informed of the suo moto initiated by the Supreme Court.

The HRCM report criticised the growing power of the court, suggesting that control of the judiciary by the Supreme Court was damaging the lower courts.

HRCM members said yesterday that they were faced with numerous charges although they had been advised by their lawyer not to give further details. The members are scheduled to be present at a hearing tomorrow morning (September 24).

Article 27 of the HRCM act grants immunity from prosecution in relation to acts carried out as part of the commission’s duty unless a formal inquiry proves that some components in the report are proven to be false.

Earlier this year, Supreme Court used the unprecedented suo moto proceeding, in which the court acts as its own plaintiff and judge, in the removal of Elections Commission (EC) President Fuwad Thowfeek and Vice President Ahmed Fayaz.

Both were charged with contempt of court and disobedience to order as a result of testimony given to the People’s Majlis’ independent commission’s oversight committee

Through a raft of regulations enacted in recent months, the Maldives Supreme Court has sought to consolidate control over administrative affairs of the judiciary.

Changes to contempt of court regulations made in June authorised courts to initiate legal proceedings and punish individuals for any expression, action, gesture, or piece of writing “inside or outside a courtroom” that could be considered contempt of court.

The court has come under criticism both home and abroad in recent months, with a sex-tape scandal and perceived interference in the 2013 presidential elections among the issues causing controversy.

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Marine festival held in Mathiveri

A marine festival titled ‘Moodhu Maa-Kan’du Fest 2014’ took place on the island of Mathiveri in Alif Alif atoll on Saturday (September 20).

According to a press release from the US embassy, the one-day festival was organised by IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature) in collaboration with the Ministry of Environment and Energy and the Ministry of Fisheries and Agriculture as well as the North Ari Atoll Council and “provided local residents with an opportunity to voice their concerns regarding environmental issues in their communities.”

US Ambassador to Maldives Michele J. Sison, State Minister for Environment and Energy Mohammed Ibrahim and State Minister for Fisheries and Agriculture Zaha Waheed, State Minister for Fisheries and Agriculture attended the festival, which was held to raise awareness about climate change challenges and provide hands-on training to learn about protecting marine life.

“You are all aware of the overwhelming urgency to address climate change adaptation in Maldives,” Ambassador Sison was quoted as saying in the press release.

“That is why it is crucial for all the people of Maldives to participate when deciding how to protect your natural resources.”

The press statement explained that the festival was part of REGENERATE (Reefs Generate Environmental and Economic Resiliency for Atoll Ecosystems), a programme funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) to “better protect and manage marine systems, especially the coral reef life affected by climate change and human activities.”

“Maldives attaches great importance to the protection and preservation of coral reefs. We continue to collaborate with partners, both local and international,” said Mohamed Ibrahim.

“However, we hold to creed that community participation and ownership is the key to the success of these efforts.”

The festival included activities such as “snorkeling and swimming lessons, a beach clean-up competition, an invention competition using recyclables, and even instructor-guided scuba diving lessons.”

“The Maldives territory is over 99 percent water and the archipelago’s well-being depends directly on healthy marine and coastal environments,” said Dr Ameer Abdulla, REGENERATE Program Manager and Senior Advisor to the IUCN Global Marine Program.

“This festival is a first step in motivating and forming the next generation of Maldivian marine scientists and managers.”

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Project to build multi-speciality hospital awarded to Treetop Investments

A project to build a multi-speciality hospital in Hulhumalé has been awarded to Treetop Investments Pvt Ltd by the Ministry of Health, reports CNM.

According to the online news outlet, local companies Champa Brothers, Kasa Holdings, Crown Company, and Kurehdhoo Holdings all have a stake in Treetop Investments.

The project was awarded to Treetop after initial expressions of interest (EOIs) submitted to the ministry were cancelled.

Health Ministry Director General Dr Sheeza Ali said efforts to formulate the contract and design were currently ongoing, adding that the project would be divided into two phases.

While 10 companies – including a Malaysian company, German company, two Indian companies, and five Maldivian companies – had submitted EOIs, the economic council decided not to allow the companies to submit detailed proposals.

The purpose of the 337-bed hospital is to ease the burden on the government-operated Indira Gandhi Memorial Hospital (IGMH) in the capital, the health ministry has previously said, and would function as an extension of IGMH.

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