Day: October 18, 2014

Amnesty calls on Maldives police to “intensify efforts” into cases of threats, violence, and abductions

The Maldives police force must “intensify efforts” to find those responsible for death threats, abductions, and violent attacks against journalists, politicians, and civil society activists says Amnesty International.

“The Government of the Maldives is obliged under the international human rights instruments it has ratified to ensure the security and physical integrity of all persons,” said the Human Rights NGO in a statement released yesterday.

Amnesty went on to list the large number of incidents from recent months, including the disappearance of Minivan News journalist Ahmed Rilwan 71 days ago, and an attack on the outlets’ premises in September.

“In particular the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance, require ensuring the protection of all people from abductions, death threats and attacks.”

A number of abductions by vigilante gangs targeting perceived secularists in June were followed by threats made against journalists attempting to report on a rise in gang-related violence at the start of August.

Rilwan – who himself had reported on these threats – was last seen on the ferry to Hulhumalé on August 8, just minutes before a man fitting his description was seen being forced into a car outside his apartment.

Tension in the capital Malé rose again in late September following the release of a private investigative report into Rilwan’s disappearance.

The report, commissioned by local NGO Maldivian Democracy Network, suggested that radicalised gangs were the most likely culprits in a number of potential lines of inquiry detailed.

Police labelled the investigation “irresponsible” and “politically motivated”, suggesting it had violated the human rights of those involved and vowing to take against against those involved in the report’s compilation.

A series of death threats followed the release of the report and the subsequent media coverage. One individual mentioned in the report was arrested following the attack on Minivan News offices before being released by police the following day.

The offices of the Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) were also attacked a number of times, while the party’s MPs were threatened and homes attacked. The party has described recent threats to its MPs as being too many to mention.

Police response

The Inter-Parliamentary Union has described the authorities’ response as a test of the country’s democracy, while the EU has expressed concern over “mounting gang violence and signs of increasing religious intolerance” in the Maldives.

Police are working with local telecoms companies to identify the source of the threats although the Communications Authority of Maldives has said the use of foreign networks and computer software would make the culprits harder to trace. Threats sent to MDP leader Mohamed Nasheed while in the UK this month have resulted in the involvement of the UK’s metropolitan police.

After continued criticism of the police’s investigation from both Rilwan’s family and international groups, four individuals were taken into custody earlier this month in connection with the disappearance, although three have since been released.

Police have yet to suggest any possible theories or lines of inquiry into the disappearance and have previously stated that there was no concrete evidence linking Rilwan and the reported abduction in front of his apartment.

Speaking with Vaguthu last week, Police Commissioner Hussain Waheed accused both the family and local media of impeding the investigation.

“Certain media has acted in ways which has caused the police investigation to lose some of the leads we had so we urge the media to not do their own investigations into the case,” said Waheed.

“If Rilwan’s family and the media acted responsibly we would be seeing a better outcome than what we are seeing right now,” he told Vaguthu.

When Minivan News requested a similar interview with the police commissioner, it was informed that scheduling issues would not make this possible during the coming weeks.

The past eight days have seen a further number of attacks on the MDP during its tour of the southern atolls. 16 men were arrested following attacks on a party rally in Feydhoo, though all were subsequently released without charge.

The party’s offices in Addu were also attacked by arsonists following the disrupted rally.

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Manhunt underway for escaped convicts

Police have launched a manhunt for two convicts serving life sentences who escaped from Maafushi jail on Friday night (October 17).

Police intelligence learned around 8:15pm that cell mates Ibrahim Shahum Adam, 23, from Galolhu Cozy in Malé, and Fariyash Ahmed, 26, from Javahiruvaadhee in Gaaf Alif Maamendhoo, had broken out, police revealed in a statement last night.

Police asked the Maldives Correctional Service (MCS) around 8:30pm to check their cell.

The pair reportedly escaped through a ventilation shaft from the ‘Pentagon’ unit.

Home Ministry’s Media Coordinator Thazmeel Abdul Samadh told Minivan News today that the suspects might still be in Maafushi.

A joint search effort involving police, MCS and the Maldives National Defence Force (MNDF) is ongoing to check the area around the prison as well as warehouses and guest houses on the island, Thazmeel said.

The MNDF’s coastguard is searching the sea around Maafushi, he added.

Police said today that an investigating team and an operation team were sent to Maafushi and were currently searching the island as well as nearby uninhabited islands and resorts.

Thazmeel said nearby resorts have been informed about the breakout and stressed that the government was employing “all available resources” to find the escapees.

Police have urged anyone with information of the escaped convicts to call the police hotline number 3322111 or the serious and organised crime department at 9911099.

“Every prison escape is an opportunity for Prison Officers to identify the loop holes and improve the system while we hunt them down,” Home Minister Umar Naseer tweeted today.

In March 2013, Shahum was convicted on terrorism charges in connection with the murder of Mohamed Hussain, 17, from Maafanu Beauty Flower in Malé  in July 2010.

Fariyash was sentenced to life imprisonment for his part in the murder of Mohamed Shihab, from Kaduolhi in Gaaf Alif Villigili, on the island of Maamendhoo in 2006.

Shahum is also on trial for the murder of 21-year-old Ahusan Basheer near the NC Park in Malé. The Criminal Court has concluded hearings of the case and is due to deliver a verdict.

Shahum allegedly stabbed Basheer in February 2011 after he was released by Chief Judge Abdulla Mohamed following six months in remand detention. He was later taken into custody from an uninhabited island.

In June 2011, the Criminal Court found Shahum guilty of assault and battery in an unrelated case and sentenced him to one year’s imprisonment.

The victim told the court that Shahum attacked him with a wooden plank after he refused to have tea with him. The victim explained that Shahum was studying with him at an Imam training course and that he had to drop out of the course due to haraassment from Shahum

Shahum was also among nine individuals detained and labelled by police as “dangerous criminals” involved in violent assault.

The Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) has meanwhile blamed the government’s “irresponsibility and incompetence” for the jail break.

In a press statement today, the main opposition party contended that public safety has been lost while murders, violent assaults, and drug trafficking has reached “extreme levels” under the current administration.

The public has been expressing concern with the government’s inability to bring perpetrators who commit crimes in “broad daylight” to face justice, the party said.

The MDP called on the government to conduct a thorough investigation and hold culpable officials accountable.

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OHCHR expresses concern over Human Rights Commission charges

The Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) has expressed concern over the Supreme Court’s suo moto case against the Human Rights Commission of the Maldives (HRCM).

“We are deeply concerned about the case initiated by the Supreme Court of the Maldives against the five members of the Human Rights Commission of the country,” read the press briefing.

The OHCHR expressed its concerns in a press release yesterday (October 17) from spokesperson for the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Ravina Shamdasani.

The Supreme Court has charged the HRCM with undermining the constitution and the sovereignty of the Maldives by spreading falsehoods about the judiciary in its submission for the UN Human Rights Council’s Universal Periodic Review.

Next year’s review – the Maldives’ second since the introduction of the process – will take place between April and May next year.

The OHCHR statement noted that, in making the UPR submission, the commission had operated in line with international principles governing national institutions.

The OHCHR urged the government to “firmly defend the independence of the Human Rights Commission of the Maldives in line with the commitments made during the first UPR of the Maldives in 2011.”

“The government has a responsibility to ensure a safe operating space for the commission and for civil society actors in the country, so that they are able to cooperate with UN human rights mechanisms without fear of reprisals,” read the press release.

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein has also written directly to the Maldivian Government to express his concerns over the issue.

Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird has already called the case “unfortunate”, describing the court’s action as “a decision that will not help restore its credibility.”

The Supreme Court came under intense international criticism following its role in the 2013 presidential election, which included the annulment of the first round based on evidence later discredited by UN experts.

“Free Speech must be protected, not trampled,” said Baird late last month.

The Asia Pacific Forum of National Human Rights Institutions urged President Abdulla Yameen to ensure the independence of the HRCM and to guarantee immunity from prosecution for its members.

In the second court hearing held in the case on September 30, the Supreme Court denounced the submission’s section on the judiciary as “dangerous”, “irresponsible” and “poorly researched.”

The Supreme Court slammed commission members for basing criticism of the judiciary on findings from the 2013 report by UN Special Rapporteur Gabriela Knaul that it had previously rejected.

Former Judicial Service Comission member Aishath Velezinee was denied entry into the hearing after being issued a pass at the reception, with a court official telling her that she could not be let into the court room for security reasons.

In similar suo moto action in March, senior members of the Elections Commission were dismissed after being prosecuted for charged with contempt of court and disobedience to order.

Suo moto cases – unheard of in the Maldives before this year – involve the court taking the initiative to bring charges which are then overseen by its own judges.

While the President’s Office has also criticised the HRCM’s submission, suggesting that sections on the death penalty are misleading, the Maldivian Democratic Party has accused the court of undermining the commission’s mandate.

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