Day: September 28, 2014

Three arrested in connection with Rilwan’s disappearance

The Maldives Police Services today confirmed three men have been arrested in relation to the disappearance of Minivan News journalist Ahmed Rilwan.

Today marks the 51st day since Rilwan went missing. He is believed to have been abducted at knife point from outside his apartment building in Hulhumalé at 2am on August 8.

The Maldivian Democracy Network (MDN) has welcomed “progress in police investigation”, offering its support and calling upon the public to lend any assistance required to police.

The Criminal Court today extended the detention of two 22-year-old men for five days and a 24-year-old man for seven days, reported police who declined to reveal further details.

“The Criminal Court’s extension of their detention signifies a progress in the investigation,” said MDN.

The Maldives Police Service has yet to suggest any possible theories or lines of inquiry being followed, noting on September 16 that no “concrete evidence” could be found between Rilwan and a reported abduction outside his apartment shortly after his last sighting.

MDN last week released a report implicating radicalised gangs in Rilwan’s disappearance.

The investigative report by Glasgow based Athena Security confirmed evidence of possible “hostile surveillance” at the terminal conducted by two known affiliates of Malé based Kuda Henveiru gang. One of the suspects is identified as Ahmed Shiran Saeed.

Minivan News understands Shiran is currently in police custody for unrelated charges.

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

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

Rilwan had “regularly received clear threats to his life” for his advocacy against religious extremists, the report said.

One man named in the report, vandalised Minivan News’ security cameras on Thursday and two others buried a machete in the building’s main door.

Minivan News journalists received death threats shortly afterwards warning them, “You will be killed or disappeared next. Watch out.”

The man seen tearing down the camera was arrested that same night, before being released by the Criminal Court on Friday on conditions that he cooperate with the police investigation, that he not leave Malé without informing police, and that he not cause any further disturbances.

The opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) office was set on fire in the early hours of the morning following the attack on Minivan News, and the door of former MDP MP Hamid Abdul Ghafoor’s residence was set ablaze.

The arson attack followed vandalism of the main opposition party’s office for two consecutive nights and numerous death threats sent from unlisted numbers to MDP MPs, senior members, and dozens of journalists.

“This is a war between the laadheenee [secular or irreligious] MDP mob and religious people. We advise the media not to come in the middle of this. We won’t hesitate to kill you,” read the threat to journalists.

The text message was sent to journalists from opposition-aligned private broadcaster Raajje TV, Vaguthu.mv and state broadcaster Television Maldives as well as other news outlets.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the US embassy in Colombo, and international press freedom organisations have subsequently issued statements condemning the attack on the Minivan News office.

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Interschool theatre festival demonstrates youth awareness of human rights issues

No additional reporting by missing journalist Ahmed Rilwan

The Interschool Human Rights Theatre Festival exhibits the high level of awareness amongst primary and secondary school pupils on different human rights issues.

The three day festival organised by the Human Rights Commission of the Maldives (HRCM) ran from September 25-27 and saw creative and extensive theatre pieces from seven schools alongside six short but thought-provoking skits by a group of volunteers from the HRCM.

Of the seven schools participating, four schools were from the capital Malé and the remaining three schools from the atolls.

All seven theatre pieces by the schools – two of which were recordings from two schools from the atolls – showed creativity in presenting different human rights issues, with different schools opting for different forms of theatre.

The winning entry featured children from Jalaaluhdheen School – in Haa Dhaalu Kulhudhuhfushi – using a traditional and effective form of theatre in which all of the scenes were presented at the same time to show human rights violations towards migrant workers.

Well laid out scenes brought to life the many situations in which migrant worker rights are violated. Unsafe working conditions, disrespectful customers at a restaurant, and a classroom scenario where the students verbally abused the foreign teacher convinced the judges to select the Jalaaluhdheen piece as the outstanding entry.

Pieces from the other schools focused on disabled people’s rights, with the runner-up entry from the Galolhu Madharsaa exhibiting a well-coordinated piece with excellent visuals, audio, before concluding with a beautiful message.

Skits by the volunteers were based on elderly people’s rights, women’s rights, and children’s rights.

While speaking to Minivan News, HRCM Vice President Ahmed Tholal said that the aim of the festival was for the students to gain a deeper understanding of human rights by actively taking part in the theatre pieces.

“We want to encourage a more creative approach to human rights compared to learning about human rights only through reading or listening material”.

The winning piece suggested the festival had been a success, with excellent awareness shown by the students of the rights of migrant workers, who are believed to amount to more than a hundred and fifty thousand individuals. It also illustrated that violations do not only occur at labor level jobs but also in blue collar posts.

The festival is also noteworthy in its high level of participation of students with special education needs such as participation from Jamaaluhdheen’ class for hearing impaired children (CHIC) and Thulhaadhoo’s Special Educational Needs class, from Baa Atoll.

The children performed on the same platform, and were judged against the same criteria, as the other schools.

The festival which was the first of its kind organised by HRCM was funded by UNICEF with collaboration with Ministry of Education. Additional sponsorship was received from Bandos Island Resort and Muni home care.

Tholal also highlighted other awareness projects which are aimed at school children such as the creation of human rights clubs within the schools and the the recent human rights defender training held at Girifushi to enable youth to facilitate sessions in collaboration with these clubs.

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Tourism key for community development, says government on World Tourism Day

No additional reporting by missing journalist Ahmed Rilwan

The tourism industry holds the key for youth employment and community development said senior government figures as the Maldives celebrated World Tourism Day.

“I call upon Maldivian youth to enter the tourism sector with renewed courage,” said President Abdulla Yameen, pledging greater opportunities for young people within the sector.

“To this end, to increase income and job opportunities in the north, God willing a further five resorts will be put up for bidding during this year and awarded for development,” he continued.

The industry – which accounts for 25 percent of GDP – continues to grow rapidly based on just over one hundred island resorts currently in operation. Tourist arrivals increased by 11 percent between August 2013 and August 2014, numbering 806,000.

Attempts at community based tourism have expanded rapidly in recent years, with the number of guest houses based within local communities growing from 22 registered facilities in 2009 to just under 200 today.

With tourism and community development the central theme of this year’s World Tourism Day, Minister of Tourism Ahmed Adeeb lauded the Maldives’ industry as an example of how tourism can develop local communities.

Adeeb cited the current government’s innovation in mid-market tourism – the integrated resort project model – as a way to “responsibly diversify the tourism product of Maldives to the mid-market segment”.

“One of the fundamental elements of the Maldivian tourism industry is that the views and aspirations of the host community are taken into account as their support and genuine involvement enriches the holiday experience for the travelers visiting the Maldives from across the globe”.

The integrated resort model – pioneered with the recently launched Thumburi resort project – is designed to make the industry more accessible to small and medium sized enterprises, though some have questioned how the scheme will benefit local communities.

People-based development

World Tourism Day 2014 was celebrated in the Maldives with boduberu performances at all the country’s airports as well as environmental activities at a number of resorts, including reef cleaning and tree planting.

A bicycle ride was also organised in Hulhumalé to raise awareness of the use of environmentally friendly forms of transport.

The ride was organised by the Tourism Adaptation Project which will include 10 investment schemes to “climate proof” infrastructure in the tourism industry, explained Adeeb in the World Tourism Day supplement published for the occasion.

The supplement also included statements from UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon and World Tourism Organisation Secretary General Taleb Rifai.

“Tourism is a people-based economic activity built on social interaction, and as such can only prosper if it engages the local population by contributing to social values such as participation, education and enhanced local governance,” said Rifai.

“At the same time, there can be no real tourism development if such development damages in any way the values and the culture of host communities or the socio-economic benefits generated by the tourism sector do not trickle down to the community level.”

In his article for the supplement, Adeeb noted that the government’s flagship special economic zones bill would accelerate the development of the atolls and pave the way to initiate mega projects in different regions of the Maldives and will be a platform to expand our tourism industry”.

President Yameen last week reiterated his determination to provide equitable development throughout the 26 atolls, during a ceremony announcing reliable electricity would be provided to all inhabited islands during 2015.

A UNDP human development report released in June noted the growing disparities between the region surrounding the capital and the outer atolls. It described the tourism industry as an “oligarchy”.

While acknowledging the recent growth of the guest house industry, the report argues that the bulk of the luxury resort industry provides little opportunity for local small and medium enterprises.

Recent statistics showed that Malé’s Kaafu Atoll was home to 39.9 percent of the tourism industry’s bed capacity, while Seenu Atoll – home to country’s second largest urban population – had just 3.6 percent.

Following the launch of an online petition in April calling for development of the tourism industry in Haa Dhaalu – the country’s second northernmost atoll – government minister’s pledged equal development of the industry.

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Maldives backtracking on democracy, warns MP Imthiyaz Fahmy

No additional reporting by missing journalist Ahmed Rilwan

The Maldives is facing an authoritarian reversal with a corrupt judiciary, impunity for human rights abuses, and growing religious extremism, opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) MP Imthiyaz Fahmy has warned.

In a lecture titled ‘The Maldives backtracking on democracy: human rights violations, impunity, and increasing religious extremism’ delivered last Friday (September 26) at the University of Western Australia in Perth – organised by the Centre for Muslim States and Societies – Imthiyaz stressed that the country’s problems “have nothing to do with Islam.”

“But our fear is that authorities are using few extremist individuals for their short-term political gain. This gives these few extremists a voice and influence in politics that they don’t deserve,” he explained.

“Our fear is that the lack of actions by the authorities against these few individuals could increase their influence in the society. This can be one of the biggest long-term challenges to our hopes for democracy.”

While “pundits and some ill-informed Western policy makers conclude that Islamic civilisation is in a clash with Western civilisation,” Imthiyaz argued that the “actions of a few extremists” did not warrant concluding that Islam was not compatible with democracy.

“Extremism of these individuals is not only incompatible with democracy, but most importantly for Muslims like Maldivians, Islam is not compatible with extremism,” he said.

Referring to reports of Maldivian jihadists fighting in Syria, Imthiyaz stressed that the vast majority of Maldivians were peaceful and remained “committed to the moderate values of Islam.”

Transitional justice and impunity

The turning point for the Maldives journey to democracy was the custodial death of Evan Naseem in Maafushi jail and subsequent prison shootings in September 2003, Imthiyaz observed.

Prior to the first multi-party democratic election in October 2008 following the adoption of a revised liberal constitution, Imthiyaz said the country was “ruled with an iron fist” by former President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, whose 30-year reign was characterised by oppression, censorship, and torture.

“The judiciary used to be the instrument which endorsed all those human rights violations and injustices that took place in the country,” he contended.

The Maldives became a forerunner to the Arab Spring, Imthiyaz continued, with the defeat of the “Egyptian-like dictatorship” in the October 2008 presidential election.

The challenges faced by the first democratically-elected government included the absence of a “transitional justice mechanism” to address human rights violations of the past, an unreformed judiciary, and incompatibility of coalitions with a presidential system, he explained.

Consequently, the MDP government was toppled in a “coup d’etat” on February 7, 2012 when former President Mohamed Nasheed was “forced to resign by mutinying police and army generals backed by politicians associated with the former dictatorship.”

Imthiyaz noted the police brutality in the aftermath of the transfer of power, particularly the heavy-handed crackdown on an MDP protest march on February 8, 2012.

He also referred to Amnesty International warning that “any attempt at political reconciliation in the Maldives would be meaningless” without accountability for human rights abuses.

Imthiyaz added that hundreds of MDP members as well as leaders were facing “selective prosecution” by the state.

Despite numerous calls by the Inter Parliamentary Union (IPU) for the government to investigate arbitrary arrests, attacks and harassment of MDP MPs, Imthiyaz said “the perpetrators have been enjoying complete impunity.”

He also observed that the Supreme Court’s repeated interference in last year’s presidential polls was criticised by the UN, the European Union, and the Commonwealth.

While the apex court dismissed the chair and deputy chair of the Elections Commission less than two weeks before the parliamentary elections in March, Imthiyaz noted that the court is currently conducting suo moto proceedings against members of the Human Rights Commission of Maldives.

Referring to the UN Special Rapporteur on the Independence of Judges and Lawyers questioning the court’s independence and impartiality, Imthiyaz said the Supreme Court was widely perceived as “as an instrument of partisan revenge than as a forum for impartial justice.”

Threats to MPs

The “growing threat” to MPs was another challenge for democracy, Imthiyaz continued, referring to the brutal murder of MP Afrasheem Ali – which police investigated in a “politicised” manner – and the stabbing of former MDP MP Alhan Fahmy.

“Death threat messages have been pouring on MDP MPs mobile phones. Yet the authorities do not seem to care at all,” he said.

The IPU has said that the government’s reaction would be “a test of the country’s democratic credentials.”

Imthiyaz noted that the Maldives dropped to 108th place in the RSF Press Freedom Index for 2014.

While the perpetrators behind the arson attack on Raajje TV last year have not been prosecuted, Imthiyaz said police have not conducted “a proper investigation” into the disappearance of Minivan News journalist Ahmed Rilwan and were “unable to establish whether they are now investigating a missing person case, or an abduction case or a murder case.”

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Government uses gangs for its ends, alleges former President Nashed

The government is unable to stop gang activities because it employs gangs for its purposes, former President Mohamed Nasheed has alleged.

Speaking to reporters yesterday prior to departing for the UK to attend the Conservative Party conference, the opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) leader said the government had the power and resources to clamp down on gangs, but was unable to do so because senior officials have used gangs.

“I am not necessarily saying that senior government ministers used gangs to make [missing Minivan News journalist Ahmed] Rilwan disappear or torch the MDP [office] or sent [death threats via] texts,” Nasheed explained.

“But senior government officials are using gangs for many other things.”

Nasheed’s remarks came after the main opposition party’s office was set on fire Thursday night (September 25) following two consecutive nights of vandalism and numerous death threats sent to the party’s MPs as well as journalists.

Earlier on Thursday, a machete knife was buried in the door of the Minivan News building after a known gangster – clearly identifiable on CCTV footage – removed the security camera.

Several journalist were also sent a text message warning them not to cover “the incidents happening in Malé now.”

“This is a war between the laadheenee [secular or irreligious] MDP mob and religious people. We advise the media not to come in the middle of this. We won’t hesitate to kill you,” read the threat.

Radicalised gangs

Nasheed meanwhile suggested that radicalised gangs were behind the recent “atrocities” in the capital, noting that extremist religious indoctrination of youth was a relatively recent phenomenon in the Maldives.

“In my view, one of the most important reasons the government has to think deeply about this is because certain people are instilling their interpretation of Islam in the hearts of the boys in these gangs,” he contended.

The opposition leader claimed that many young men from criminal gangs were seen in a protest march held in Malé on September 5 with participants bearing the militant organisation Islamic State (IS) flag and calling for the implementation of Islamic Sharia.

Of the approximately 150 participants, Nasheed claimed most were “active in gangs.”

“So youth in gangs are turning to ISIS [Islamic State of Iraq and Syria] ideology. That activities of ISIS are happening in the Maldives is becoming very clear to us. And while this is happening, the government is unable to stop gang activities,” he said.

The government’s inaction posed a serious danger to the security of the country, he added.

A Facebook page called Islamic State in Maldives promoting IS in the country was discovered last month, which shared photos of protests calling for a ban on Israeli tourists where protesters carried the IS flag.

Moreover, a new site called Haqqu and Twitter account sprang up recently featuring IS-related news and publications in Dhivehi as well as translations of a sermon by self-proclaimed Caliph Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.

The site was most recently updated this morning with the news of a Saudi Arabian pilot who allegedly refused to participate in military operations against IS.

Extremism in police and military

Nasheed also reiterated his claim that there were IS supporters or sympathisers in the police and military.

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 as both “baseless and untrue” and intended to “discredit and disparage” the military.

The Maldives Police Service (MPS) meanwhile issued a press release on 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, asked about the party’s response to attacks on its office, Nasheed said ensuring safety and security of all Maldivian citizens was the responsibility of the state.

“The MDP could form its own militia or paramilitary, but that’s not the path we want for the Maldives. If we are forced to protect and defend ourselves, we have reached a very tragic state,” he said.

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Census taking extended till Tuesday

The national bureau of statistics has decided to extend the ongoing census taking process till next Tuesday (September 30), reports local media.

While the process was complete in most atolls, the bureau explained that complete information had not been gathered from some households in the capital Malé.

Census takers were facing difficulties in meeting people after making appointments, the bureau noted.

The census taking was scheduled to take place from September 20 to 27 in the first time national data has been collected since 2006.

The last census was conducted in 2006 by the Ministry of Planning and Development, which found the population to be 298,968.

In March 2013, the now-defunct department of national planning announced that the census would be conducted in September 2014 under the slogan “count me in.”

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Maldives sprinter qualifies for 100 meter sprint semi-finals at Asian Games

Maldives sprinter Hassan Said qualifies for the 100 meter sprint semi-finals of the 2014 Incheon Asian Games with a sprint time of 10.50 seconds.

In the first time a Maldivian athlete has passed the first round at Asian Games, the second biggest sporting event in the world, Said broke the national sprint record for the fifth time in his career.

He qualified for the semi-finals after placing fourth in the third heat race of the 100 meter sprints.  Said was behind athletes from South Korea, Japan and Iran.

Said, who has completed trainings at the Jamaica’s high performance training center for athletes will be competing against 16 runners today in the semi-finals where the top eight will be qualify for the sprint finals.

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Nevada store fire causes damages worth MVR13 million

A fire that broke out in the Nevada store in the local market area around 5:30pm yesterday (September 27) caused damages worth MVR13 million (US$843,060), reports local media.

The fire was put out around 6:50pm by the fire and rescue service of the Maldives National Defence Force (MNDF), which said no one was harmed in the incident.

The owner of the store told local media that the fire was most likely caused due to an electrical short circuit and is estimated to have to cost MVR10 million (US$648,508) in damages.

Goods worth MVR2.5 million (US$162,127) was meanwhile damaged in the adjoining Asters Trading in the same building after the fire spread next door.

Both shops were wholesale businesses with foodstuff stored in warehouses.

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