Month: March 2015

Government bars Nasheed from MDP

The government has barred ex-president Mohamed Nasheed from the Maldivian Democratic Party he co-founded by using its parliamentary majority to pass a law banning prisoners from political party membership.

Nasheed will lose his leadership and membership of the MDP because of a terrorism conviction this month relating to the detention of a judge during his period in power.

He was jailed for 13 years after being found guilty of terrorism in a case that his party says represented a politically-led campaign against him by the government of President Abdulla Yameen.

MDP MPs did not take part in the vote, but protested on the Majlis floor as deputy Speaker ‘Reeko’ Moosa Manik announced the vote, using megaphones and sirens to make his voice inaudible. The ruling Progressive Party of the Maldives has a strong majority in any case.

The law was passed by 42 votes in favour, with just two against.

Speaking to the press, MDP chairperson Ali Waheed said the party would not accept the amendment and would choose its own leader. Nasheed remains the MDP’s presidential candidate, the party has said, despite his jail sentence.

“The government, because they have absolute power, is trying to wipe out all political rivals. Note this, they will eventually try to disband the MDP. But how can they get rid of what is in our hearts?” Waheed said.

MDP MP Eva Abdulla said the party would not accept the government using the Majlis as “an extension of its tyranny to strip us of our democratic rights.”

“No amount of backtracking can strip him of the fact he formed the first political party in the country and became its first democratically elected leader. Or the fact that those who vote for this amendment today would not be in a political party if not for the hard work of this man to win them that freedom,” she told Minivan News.

Eva said the Majlis was being conducted unconstitutionally as standing orders prohibit sittings from going ahead without order on the floor. The MDP has been protesting on the floor at every sitting since March 2, and has said it will not stop until the government releases Nasheed.

The bill was never debated in parliament due to opposition protests, while PPM MPs were not responding to calls at the time of going to press.

The two MPs who voted against the amendment to the 2013 Prisons and Parole Act are Adhaalath Party MP Anara Naeem and Nolhivaram MP Hussein Areef, who recently resigned from the PPM.

The Adhaalath Party this month withdrew support for President Yameen’s administration, saying he was acting to eliminate political rivals, and instead formed an alliance with the MDP.

The amendment also bars prisoners from holding membership or leadership in non-governmental organizations for the duration of their prison term.

At an MDP protest outside the Majlis, Aminath Rasheedha, 47, said: “Yameen’s corrupt and unlawful government cannot decide who our presidential candidate is. That is for us to decide. Our president and leader will always be Mohamed Nasheed.”

MDP parliament protest

Separately, the ruling PPM has also submitted an amendment to the law on privileges for former presidents stripping any president who resigned – as Nasheed did, although he said it was under duress – from army protection and financial privileges.

Tensions are high in Malé, with the opposition’s daily protests now entering their seventh consecutive week. The police last week threatened to crackdown on protesters, claiming they were inciting violence and assaulting police officers.

Observers including the UN and Amnesty International have condemned Nasheed’s trial. Amnesty called it a travesty of justice, while the UN said it made a mockery of the constitution and international treaties.

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Home minister plans law changes to boost police power

The government is preparing changes to several laws to increase police powers and remove “loopholes”, Home Minister Umar Naseer told police at an anniversary event last night.

At a ceremony to mark the 82nd anniversary of the Maldives Police Service, Naseer said existing laws were unsuited to the Maldives, making it harder to maintain public order, and needed to be revised to reflect the country’s “unique circumstances”.

He appealed for cooperation from MPs to “solve problems in laws that conflict with the Maldivian environment.”

“The result of making laws disproportionate to the state’s means, the Maldives’ geography, and the state’s resources is police not arresting a person unless they are absolutely forced to,” he said.

A coat tailor-made for a “tall, bulky Englishman” would be ill-fitting for a “short Maldivian in tropical Maldives”, Naseer said.

Naseer’s remarks come in the wake of a recent spike in violence in Malé that saw the murder of a 29-year-old on Saturday night.

While public anger was directed towards the police following the incidents, Naseer said police should not consider all such criticism as politically motivated, suggesting it stemmed from ignorance of obstacles faced by police.

The public were unaware of loopholes in the law that allowed criminals to go free, he said.

The home minister said several laws passed after the adoption of the 2008 constitution were copied from England and pose difficulties for law enforcement.

As a consequence, Naseer argued, expensive police operations intended to protect society from criminals become exercises in futility.

Presenting detainees before a judge within 24 hours was also difficult and costly due to the geographical dispersion of Maldivian islands, he said.

Moreover, Naseer suggested that constitutional rights of people arrested by police should be restricted or narrowed for the good of the whole society.

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In his speech at the function, President Abdulla Yameen also argued that the safety and security of the community trumped individual rights.

President Yameen pledged to do everything in the government’s power to curb violent crime.

The government has decided that the army will assist police in security operations, he added.

Narrowing constitutional rights

In December, the People’s Majlis amended a 2010 law banning “threats and carrying dangerous weapons and sharp objects” and restricted the rights to remain silent and retain legal counsel for suspects arrested for violent assault.

Suspects accused of murder, or of causing death or loss of limb and organ by assault, cannot exercise the right to remain silent “to any extent” and will only be able to speak to their lawyer for the first 96 hours of arrest in the presence of the police.

Further, suspects will only be allowed six hours to appoint a lawyer. If the suspect fails to appoint a lawyer or if the lawyer is not able to present a valid reason for absence, police are authorised to question the suspect without a lawyer.

The amendments also relaxed requirements for courts in extending pre-trial detention.

Advocacy NGOs the Maldivian Democracy Network and Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative said the amendments “absolutely violate… fundamental rights of the people” and would “seriously hinder the democratic system Maldives has transited to”.

The opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) meanwhile released a statement yesterday noting that seven out of 12 murders since December 2013 occurred in the capital Malé.

Instead of combating crime, MDP contended that police resources were being deployed to “weaken peaceful political activities”.

Public trust in the police institution has fallen to unprecedented levels, the statement continued, whilst police are suspected of committing a number of “atrocities”.

Incidents of police brutality, discrimination in providing services, and using obscene language against protesters have also increased, the party said, insisting the police leadership should bear responsibility for this state of affairs.

“Misusing powers granted to police by laws in order to maintain public safety and using resources provided to police through public funds towards political ends are alien to democratic norms and mechanisms and conflicts with best practices of the police service,” the MDP statement read.

Police said last week that 162 protesters have been arrested since February and police have forwarded cases involving 95 protesters, including two MPs, to the Prosecutor General’s Office.

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Gasim’s company requests delay to $100m fine

Politician Gasim Ibrahim’s Villa Group has asked to delay payment of a $100million payment for fines and rent levied by the government on a series of island and lagoon leases, Haveeru reports.

The government has been seeking to end agreements with Villa over the leases, and said in February the group of companies owed them USD 100 million (MVR 1.5 billion) to be paid within 30 days.

Villa has also requested a suspension of the Tourism Ministry’s order to terminate the lease agreements, and has filed ten lawsuits over the termination of deals related to six uninhabited islands.

The civil court had earlier granted a hold on the termination notices, but this was rescinded after an appeal.

Villa last week said that it still had four years left to develop the islands under the original contracts, and therefore it  did not believe it should have to pay the fines before that time.

The fine was levied after Gasim and his Jumhooree Party left the ruling coalition and allied with the opposition Maldivian Democratic Party, taking part in a series of protests which began on February 10th.

“Even though Gasim has not been put behind prison bars, the government has economically paralysed him,” Ameen Ibrahim, deputy leader of the Jumhooree Party, said earlier this month.

Speaking at the same press conference, Adhaalath Party president Sheikh Imran Abdulla accused the government of planning to seize all of Gasim’s assets and making sure he was “unable to move his hands or legs” in his defence.

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Parliament to consider mandatory Shariah punishments

Anara Naeem MP; Haa Dhaal Makunudhoo; Adhaalath1

An amendment to make Islamic Shariah punishments mandatory in the new penal code was accepted for consideration at today’s sitting of the People’s Majlis.

Proposed by Adhaalath Party MP Anara Naeem, the amendment to article 1,205(a) (Dhivehi) reads: “If a person is found guilty of a crime with qisas [retaliation in kind] or hadd [a punishment fixed in the Quran or teachings of the Prophet], the sentence must be the penalty prescribed in Islamic Shariah.”

Introducing the amendment, the MP for Haa Dhaal Makunudhoo referred to Article 10(b) of the Constitution, which states, “No law contrary to any tenet of Islam shall be enacted in the Maldives.”

The new penal code is due to come into force on April 13. Anara noted that the law currently states that Islamic Shariah punishments must be meted out only for crimes with a punishment fixed in the Quran.

The purpose of her amendment is to “further improve” the provision in line with the constitution, Anara said.

The six crimes with punishments fixed in the Quran are theft (amputation of the hand), illicit sexual relations (death by stoning or one hundred lashes), making unproven accusations of illicit sex (eighty lashes), drinking intoxicants (eighty lashes), apostasy (death or banishment), and highway robbery (death).

The only one of these punishments that is currently implemented is the flogging punishment for illicit sexual relations, normally enforced on women. However, the home minister last year established a death chamber at Maafushi jail, ending a six-decade moratorium on the death penalty.

The amendment bill was unanimously accepted for consideration with 44 votes in favour and sent to the National Security Committee for further review.

Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM) MP Ibrahim Riza also proposed several amendments to the penal code on behalf of the government to correct minor errors and problems noted during the preparations for implementing the new law.

The government-sponsored legislation proposes amending issues of conflicting interpretations and confusing provisions as well as reordering sections.

Riza’s bill was accepted with 40 votes in favour and two abstentions.

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Youth movement calls for change after Earth Hour axed

A movement representing Maldivian youth has raised the alarm over a lack of arts and creative opportunities after the government cancelled plans for Earth Hour celebrations.

“Without proper preventive measures, we would see a decline in creativity and expression, as well as freedom of assembly and celebration of global causes,” Dhi Youth Movement, a non-governmental organisation, said in a statement.

Young Maldivians had planned to mark Earth Hour, an annual environmental campaign, with a music show and other celebrations in Male’ on Saturday but the government banned the events on security grounds after a spate of stabbings in the capital.

“We would also like to express our disappointment with government’s decision to cancel the Earth Hour celebrations on perceived potential security concerns,” said DYM.

Despite the ban, a 29-year-old man died after being stabbed outside the Indira Gandhi Memorial Hospital, one of the busiest hospitals in the city, on Saturday night, in the fourth murder so far this year. No one has so far been arrested over the crime.

“As witnessed by last night’s crime, we have reconfirmed that crime happens regardless of whether or not the lights are on, even in front of police stations and hospitals,”  DYM said.

People who had planned to attend the celebrations expressed their discontent online.

“Yesterday, government stopped a bunch of people from making a prayer for President Nasheed after the Friday congregational prayer. Today it prohibited holding Earth Hour events for ‘security reasons’. Tomorrow it’ll ban funerals,” one said.

Another commented: “Security concerns regarding violent crimes during the day time has led to the Home Ministry issuing a statement to enforce planetary laws to turn off the sun at 10am.”

A youth leader wrote: “This much crime in such a small place, is scary, but the only security threat I see is the fact that no proper proactive measures are being taken to combat them.”

Earth Hour is hosted by Earth Hour Maldives collaborating with Scouts Association of Maldives, who outsourced the event to Empire Events, a recently established event management company. Lights are traditionally turned off for Earth Hour, while those taking part celebrate by candlelight.

Despite the event’s official cancellation, some members of the public decided to celebrate anyway.

Concerned youth and artists turned up to enjoy the hour outdoors, while children drew in chalk in a co-ordinated event at the helipad.

Young people lit candles reading “60+”, which stands for the 60 minutes of the Earth Hour.

DYM said that a fall in numbers of students enrolling in the arts stream — students can choose between arts, business and science streams aged 13 or 14 — was a sign of the declining position of arts and creativity. They called for a community where expression and art can thrive, without it involving “knives and crime”.

The group called for the government and authorities to do their best to address the root causes of the current gang violence so that temporary curfews can be lifted.

However, Dhi Youth Movement also noted that they had not been consulted on policy level discussions about youth by government bodies, and said they hoped the government would consult civil society more in decision making.

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Five-year-old ‘almost poisoned by mother’

A five-year-old boy in Laamu atoll Maabaidhoo has been saved from his mother’s attempt to poison him, media reports said.

The Indian woman had tried to poison her son by barricading herself inside her home and pouring pesticide in to the boy’s mouth on Monday night, said Ibrahim Shareef, the Island Council President, according to local media.

The woman had already been arrested and released over a family dispute on Sunday evening in which she threatened to kill the child, Haveeru reported.

The council went to the woman’s home, concerned for the family’s welfare, but found all the doors closed. They broke down the door to find the child being fed pesticide, but were able to intervene and save him.

The woman had made previous attempts on her children’s lives, the report said.

Shareef said the boy had been treated at Maabaidhoo Health Centre.

In a separate case in 2010, the Indian wife of a Maldivian man was arrested after being accused of infanticide. The state was unable to provide her with an attorney, so the case stalled and she was confined in Dhoonidhoo detention center for four years before being released without charge.

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A new storm brewing over the Maldives

The following article is by Paulo Casaca, the Executive Director of the South Asia Democratic Forum (SADF).

Many Europeans flock to the beautiful Islands of the Maldives to spend their honeymoon, discover the amazing scuba diving possibilities, and walk in pure sandy beaches and to enjoy the warm hospitality of people of the island state. The Maldives is often referred to as Paradise on earth. Today, this statement could not be further from the truth. Many visitors are unaware of the political and constitutional turmoil, the increasing danger posed by fundamentalists, the inefficient and politicized judiciary, and the erosion of human rights and democratic principles. They are neatly tucked away on island resorts, while Malé is once again prone to turn into a battleground.

The 30 year long authoritarian era of former President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, who ruled the country from 1978 to 2008, formally came to an end seven years ago, but the reality on the ground is different. Gayoom has managed to keep a firm grip on power through old friends, family members and beneficiaries.
When Mohamed Nasheed, a long time democracy campaigner won the country’s first multi-party elections in 2008, there was hope the longest reigning autocracy in South Asia would come to an end. Nasheed was able to initiate first steps in democratizing the island state, but his efforts were blocked by a destructive opposition that continued to act ewithin the same obstructive and totalitarian logic of the past. The 2012 coup d’état that ousted Nasheed from power, half-way through his term, showed that the forces of oppression had not been silenced and were still alive and kicking.

The dysfunctional state of democracy, especially with regards to the judiciary, became blatantly evident in the recent terrorism charges and sentencing of Nasheed through what can only be described as a “show trial.” The fact that judges presiding over the trial had acted as prosecution’s witnesses says it all. Not only are judged politicised, biased, and negligent of the constitution, they also lack professional education and training. In May 2013, the UN Special Rapporteur on the Independence of Judged and Lawyers Gabriela Knaul described the Maldivian Justice system as a “system in crisis” and expressed great concern over political bias and low qualifications. Nothing has changed in the past two years.

And nothing will change, if the international community shies away from robust measures. In 2004, the EU’s threatened sanctions on the Maldives in the wake of human rights abuses and totalitarian governance void of any democratic principles. Only then did the regime, under the auspices of supranational bodies, start changing its atrocious behaviour towards its own people. Only when the party cadre was affected personally, did they slowly and unwillingly soften their chocking grip on civil society and the hope of freedom.
Issuing statements is a good and necessary first step. It creates awareness, and generates and increases the interest of the public. But it is not enough.

If democracy wants to have a chance in the Maldives, the international community must help pro-democratic forces. Roughly a decade after the first wave of sanctions, the EU especially, has to consider imposing them again. Freezing foreign assets and all non-humanitarian aid as well as issuing travel bans are efficient tools in this regard.

There is a old Maldivian proverb, Furifá huri badiyale gudu gude naalhaane (roughly translated from Divehi: “The water pot that is full will not shake”). Under Nasheed, water was poured into the water pot, but it trickled away due to existing holes and new holes added by the then-opposition. Now the vessel is on the brink of being completely emptied. The EU and other supranational institutions should play their role in preventing the water from being absorbed by the authoritarian modus operandi.

All comment pieces are the sole view of the author and do not reflect the editorial policy of Minivan News. If you would like to write an opinion piece, please send proposals to [email protected].

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Adhaalath condemns Maldives abstention on UN gay vote

The religious conservative Adhaalath Party has condemned the government for abstaining from a United Nations vote on a resolution against providing gay marital benefits to all UN employees.

The secretary general of the Adhaalath Party, which condemns homosexuality, told Vnews the abstention indicated that the Maldives did not oppose providing the marital benefits for gay couples.

In a tweet yesterday, Adhaalath said that it was “shameful” that the Maldives abstained from voting on the resolution, which was voted down last week.

Secretary general Iaadh Hameed added that the government’s foreign policy should be built upon Islamic principles and values, and that those policies should not encourage irreligious acts.

The vote on the resolution was held on March 24, after Russia challenged UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon’s decision to provide marital benefits to legally wed gay and lesbian couples similar to those provided to heterosexual couples.

However, the UN General Assembly rejected the resolution, with 80 countries voting against it, 43 countries voted in favour and 37 countries abstaining.

While China, Belarus and Muslim-majority Malaysia voted in favour of the resolution, Muslim-majority Indonesia also abstained.

Previously, the Maldives government had strongly criticised the European Union, saying that EU asked the Maldives to legalise same sex marriage and freedom of religion in exchange for extending duty-free status on Maldivian fish.

Economic development minister Mohamed Saeed claimed at the time that the EU declined to extend the duty exemption after Maldives refused the condition of “allowing homosexual relations and the opportunity for people to follow any religion they want”.

“The Maldives is an Islamic state and will remain so. We will uphold Islam. We will not compromise on anything that conflicts with Islam,” he said.

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Government sends out letters to international stakeholders with demonstrably false claims

Letters from the government to stakeholders in India as well as the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights concerning the trial and conviction of former President Mohamed Nasheed contains several demonstrably false claims.

An open letter dated March 19 – sent from the Maldives High Commission in India to major political actors – along with a letter from Foreign Minister Dunya Maumoon to the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights were recently leaked online and reported on by local media.

A ‘Timeline of key events in the trial’ in the letter to Indian stakeholders read: “On 23 February 2015, former President Nasheed was given the opportunity to appoint legal counsel, when he was presented before the judge of the Criminal Court for a procedural remand hearing in relation to the amended and re-filed charges.”

“His legal team was not present at this hearing because they had failed to register themselves as per Criminal Court regulations.”

The claim is false as Nasheed was arrested around 2:30pm on February 22 and brought to the Criminal Court for the first hearing of the terrorism trial at 4:00pm the next day, where charges were read out and he was given three days to appoint lawyers.

Nasheed’s lawyers held a press conference at noon on February 23, announcing they were unable to represent the opposition leader, as the Criminal Court had told them they should have registered two days in advance despite being unaware of the trial until the opposition leader’s arrest the previous day.

Moreover, while remand hearings take place within 24 hours of an arrest, Nasheed was brought to court after the 24-hour period lapsed.

At the same hearing, judges ruled Nasheed be held in a location determined by the Home Ministry until the end of the trial. He was subsequently held in police custody at the Dhoonidhoo Island Detention Center.

The High Commission’s letter also justified Criminal Court’s refusal to grant adequate time to prepare for defence stating the court “determined that all the relevant documents relevant for the defence had been issued as far back as mid-2012, and that no new evidence was being put forward by the state prosecutors.”

But Nasheed’s defence team quit half-way through the trial after they were unable to view documentary evidence submitted by the state as some evidence CDs were left blank or were dysfunctional.

“The court repeatedly reminded former President Nasheed to engage legal counsel or the bench would consider that he waived his right to counsel, but advised former President Nasheed that he could engage counsel at any time,” the High Commission’s letter stated.

However, in subsequent hearings, the court refused Nasheed’s repeated request for between ten and 15 days to appoint new counsel and concluded proceedings four days later.

“Rushed process”

Meanwhile, a letter from Foreign Minister Dunya Maumoon to UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein was also leaked online.

In a statement on March 18, the UN human rights chief said Nasheed was convicted after “a rushed process that appears to contravene the Maldives’ own laws and practices and international fair trial standards in a number of respects.”

Asserting the independence of the Prosecutor General and judiciary, Dunya insisted that criminal proceedings against Nasheed were fair, transparent and in accordance with the Constitution.

“I can therefore assure Your Excellency that the independence of the judiciary and the fairness of due legal process remain as sacrosanct in the case against [Nasheed] as they would for any other Maldivian citizen,” the letter stated.

“I can also further assure Your Excellency that the government of Maldives will continue to ensure the inviolability of a citizen’s right to a fair trial, insulated from political interference.”

Dunya also falsely claimed that Nasheed was presented before the Criminal Court on February 23 for a remand hearing.

“His legal team was not present at this hearing because none of them had registered their right of audience for the case,” the letter stated.

While the High Commissioner stated that Nasheed was “constrained from calling witnesses” and noted a conflict of interest as “judges in the case as well as the Prosecutor General were witnesses in the investigation,” Dunya claimed both points were “indeed incorrect.”

Dunya said Nasheed had called two of the presiding judges and the PG as witnesses for the defence.

“Mr Nasheed’s request was naturally overruled by the bench on the basis that these officials could not be called as witnesses on evidentiary rules of relevancy and probative value,” the letter stated.

The PG, and two of the three presiding judges were at Judge Abdulla’s home at the time of his arrest and had testified in a 2012 Human Rights Commission of the Maldives investigation. The PG’s case is built on the HRCM investigation.

Conspiracy

The government meanwhile denied a “conspiracy to unwarrantedly convict” Nasheed to prevent the opposition leader from contesting the 2018 presidential election.

In the open letter to stakeholders in India, the government also assured that Nasheed was “afforded a free and fair trial in full accordance with the Constitution and laws” contrary to “speculation and misrepresentation of facts” by the opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP).

It suggested that Nasheed’s participation in the 2013 presidential election “amply proves there are no conspiracy theories to eliminate him from the political arena.”

The administration of President Abdulla Yameen could “neither interfere nor influence” any decision by the independent Prosecutor General or the judiciary, it added.

“The independence of the judiciary and the fairness of due legal process have been as sacrosanct in the case against former President Nasheed as they would have been for any other Maldivian citizen. The Maldives government will continue to ensure the inviolability of a citizen’s right to a fair trial, insulated from political interference,” reads the letter.

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