Month: April 2015

Riot police conduct training exercises ahead of May Day rally

Specialist Operations (SO) police officers have conducted training exercises ahead of an anti-government mass rally on May 1.

The opposition alliance, made up of the main opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP), the Adhaalath Party (AP) and leaders of business tycoon Gasim Ibrahim’s Jumhoory Party (JP), expects at least 25,000 people to take part in the May Day protest.

MDP vice president Mohamed Shifaz told Minivan News that the alliance does not expect a heavy-handed crackdown from police.

“We are not talking about overthrowing the government on May Day. We want an end to the brutality shown against Maldivian citizens by president [Abdulla] Yameen’s government,” he said.

Leaders of the opposition alliance have been traveling across the country in recent days, holding rallies and urging opposition supporters to converge on the capital on May 1.

Last week, tourism minister Ahmed Adeeb challenged the opposition to a confrontation on May Day, prompting fears of a stand-off and civil unrest.

Opposition leaders have said the mass rally will force president Yameen to “come to the negotiating table” and discuss the release of imprisoned ex-president Mohamed Nasheed and ex-defence minister Mohamed Nazim.

The SO training meanwhile took place on the island of Feydhoo Finolhu during the weekend and involved exercises on controlling protests.

Police said the first round of the training session has concluded and all SO officers and other officers transferred to the department participated in the exercises.

Similar exercises were carried out with stun guns and grenades ahead of an MDP-JP mass rally on February 27.

In a sermon in Malé on Thursday night – attended by senior members of the allied parties – head of the AP’s religious scholars’ council, Sheikh Ilyas Hussain called on the police and military not to “brutalise” any Maldivian citizen.

Ilyas urged police to disregard orders from superiors to use force against the public.

Meanwhile, speaking at a futsal stadium opening event in Lhaviyani Naifaru on the same night, Adeeb said the current government cannot be overthrown through street protests.

The deputy leader of the ruling Progressive Party of Maldives said only 60 or 70 people were taking part in the nightly protests.

The opposition alliance “cannot do anything,” he said.

In response, Shifaz said today that the rally on February 27 had considerably more than 60 or 70 people.

“We are doing what an opposition party is supposed to do,” he said.

Shifaz said it was inappropriate for a minister to mock and challenge the opposition.

He suggested that Adeeb and other senior government officials were “unfamiliar” with the new democratic constitution and multi-party democracy.

“We were there even at the start of the work and awareness of democracy. Maybe Adeeb is too young to be familiar with ruling through a democratic system and the constitution. How can such people rule the country?” he asked.

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Prominent historian Shafeeq passes away

A prominent historian and writer, Ahmed Shafeeq, passed away on Friday after battling a long illness.

Shafeeq was 87-years-old and leaves behind 12 children. He wrote numerous books, earned national literary awards, and had served as atoll chief and member of parliament.

In his last book titled ‘A day in the life of Ahmed Shafeeq,’ he alleged that 111 people had been killed during ex-president Maumoon Abdul Gayoom’s 30-year reign.

Gayoom successfully sued Shafeeq for defamation and the civil court in July 2012 ordered the writer to pay MVR5,000 as compensation.

Shafeeq was held in solitary confinement for 83 days in 1995 together with three other writers, including Hassan Ahmed Maniku, Ali Moosa Didi and Mohamed Latheef.

Shafeeq contended that 50 of his diaries containing evidence relating to the deaths of the 111 Maldivians were confiscated during a raid by 15 armed men. He was ultimately released by Gayoom without charge, and was told by the investigating officer to write a letter of appreciation to the then-president for the pardon.

After Gayoom declared that he will sue Shafeeq in late 2010, then-president Mohamed Nasheed said police will investigate the claims of 111 custodial deaths.

Nasheed had said that Gayoom alone could not be blamed for all the human rights abuses that occurred under his watch.

“It was not done by him alone. It was a whole system that did it. It was Dhivehi tradition that did it. It was Dhivehi culture that did it,” he said.

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New city council office infested with rats and fungus

New office space offered to Malé city council office by the government is infested with rats and fungus, says deputy mayor Shifa Mohamed.

The housing minister ordered the opposition-dominated council last week to vacate the city hall building at Galolhu Billoorijehige and move to smaller offices at the Huravee building within seven days.

Shifa told Minivan News today that the council has shared numerous concerns regarding safety and hygiene with the civil service commission.

“There is fungus on the walls of the building. The building has a pungent smell and there are rats and rat holes everywhere,” she said.

Nearly 60 civil service staff at the council have filed a petition at commission, saying the building is unfit for office work.

The city hall takeover was the latest incident in a long-running power struggle between the ministry and the council. Earlier this year, the ministry transferred a third of the council’s employees to the ministry.

Shifa said the council has asked the ministry for an extension of the seven-day deadline for the move, but is yet to receive a response.

“The ministry is not responding to any political staff at the city council,” she said.

Services provided to the public could be interrupted if the ministry does not grant an extension, she added.

Local media observed cracks on the walls, several rat holes and waste leaking onto the carpet floor of the new office.

Civil service commission president Dr Mohamed Latheef declined to comment on the state of the building until the council officially requests for assistance.

“We do not want to get involved with the matter,” he said.

However, he assured assistance and an inquiry as soon as the council officially files a complaint.

The letter evicting the council from city hall was signed by acting housing minister Thoriq Ibrahim.

The ministry also ordered the council to hand over the compound building the Billoorijehige building and the local market.

Thoriq said the cabinet had decided on April 19 that the building was better suited for government offices.

The housing ministry did not consult the council on the issue before the decision, and Shifa claimed the lack of communication “was enough proof that the cabinet’s decision was political.”

In November last year, the council was shut down after police confiscated several hard drives and documents saying the council was using the documents to gain “unlawful advantages.”

In October, masked individuals wielding machetes uprooted all of Malé City’s Areca palms. When the council attempted to replant the trees, the cabinet announced the council no longer had power over the city roads.

Shifa has previously suggested that the government was ‘destroying decentralisation’ after the housing ministry seized numerous plots of land from the council including two parks, the artificial beach, the carnival area, the south harbour area, Usfasgandu, Dharubaaruge, and the area near the T-Jetty.

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Legal status of penal code thrown into doubt

The new penal code is now in force despite parliament delaying its enforcement to July 16, the state human rights watchdog and prominent lawyers have contended .

A provision for postponing implementation of the new penal code was included in an amendment bill passed on April 12, a day before the new law was due to come into force.

The new penal code was ratified on April 13, 2014 with a one-year period for preparation.

The bill changed the date of enforcement from April 13 this year to July 16.

However, the bill stated that the amendments – including the provision for postponement – “will come into force starting from July 16, 2015.”

The provision for postponement was therefore inconsequential as it has not become law, the Human Rights Commission of Maldives (HRCM) and lawyers Maumoon Hameed and Shaheen Hameed argued.

By following the old penal code, Maumoon Hameed said the state is presently enforcing “a law that does not exist.”

The HRCM wrote to the attorney general and prosecutor general last week seeking clarification of the legal dispute, saying it is unclear which criminal law the police, prosecutors, and courts are presently following.

The commission said it was “extremely concerned” about resulting human rights violations in the investigative and judicial processes.

Prosecutor general Muhthaz Muhsin told Minivan News that “as a common rule the old penal code would be in force now”.

“I cannot say anything specifically about the issue until the office has responded to the HRCM’s letter. Also, it is not my role to criticise laws but rather uphold it,” he said.

Former Chief Justice Ahmed Faiz meanwhile dismissed the legal questions surrounding the penal code as an unjustifiably narrow approach in interpreting the law.

He said the “amendment makes it clear that the new penal code will come into effect starting July 16.”

“The amendment will also become part of the law. So the penal code now states the date it would come in to effect. We cannot simply single out one article and interpret the whole law. I think it’s quite clear,” he told Minivan News.

However, lawyers Maumoon Hameed and Shaheen Hameed insisted that the new penal code has replaced the old law.

There are presently no obstacles to enforcing the new penal code, Maumoon Hameed told Minivan News today.

“The new penal code states the old law would be dissolved when the latter law comes into effect. So I believe that the state is implementing a law that does not exist,” Hameed said.

Shaheen Hameed, former deputy speaker of parliament, also said he believes “the new penal code is in effect now”.

The current penal code was adopted in the 1960s and has been widely criticised as outdated, draconian and unsuited to the 2008 constitution.

The main opposition Maldivian Democratic Party had said the postponement was a “politically motivated attempt to continue using the current penal code as a means to harass and intimidate the opposition.”

Under the new code, the punishment for protesters who do not have a criminal record will be less severe as judges are required to take mitigating factors into consideration under new sentencing procedures.

However, the ruling party said more time was needed to raise public awareness and address concerns of religious scholars.

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Government accuses Amnesty of colluding with MDP to tarnish Maldives’ image

The government has accused Amnesty International of tarnishing the Maldives’ image in collusion with the opposition, dismissing its concerns of a crackdown on human rights as “preposterous fabrications with zero truth”.

Amnesty’s observations of a “rapidly deteriorating” human rights situation are “fallacious”, contended foreign minister Dunya Maumoon, accusing the organisation of seeking to “undermine and defame the Maldives judiciary and its national institutions.”

“The general human rights situation in the Maldives has been improving steadily especially following the reform agenda launched in 2004 leading to the ushering in of a modern constitution in 2008,” she insisted in a statement on Friday.

“Additional impetus has been seen during President [Abdulla] Yameen’s government in terms of promotion and protection of human rights.”

The enactment of 18 pieces of legislation under the current administration is “an unparalleled record in the history of the Maldives,” she added.

Amnesty had said in a report last week that the government is cracking down on peaceful protests, stifling dissent, and “abusing the judicial system” to imprison opposition politicians.

“Ludicrous”

Amnesty’s allegation of police attacking peaceful protesters “is ludicrous and an absolute lie”, Dunya said.

The nightly anti-government protests staged by the opposition coalition in the capital “attract an extremely small crowd, and the police are able to control the protest well and ensure peace and security for all citizens of Malé.”

“The opposition MDP have however, by contrast, in the past been responsible for systematic acts of arson and other violent acts,” the ministry claimed.

MDP spokesperson Imthiyaz Fahmy told Minivan News today that Dunya was speaking on behalf of the Gayoom family. Dunya is the daughter of ex-president Maumoon Abdul Gayoom and niece of president Yameen.

“Foreign minister Dunya Maumoon sounds like North Korea when she keeps rejecting any concern raised by any international organisation, be it Amnesty, the Commonwealth, European Union, United Nations or even concerns raised by friendly countries,” he said.

“This says it all. The government has no intention at all to protect human rights in the country and come into line with the internationally recognised standards.”

Engagement

Amnesty’s briefing report titled ‘Assault on civil and political rights’ was released after a delegation conducted a fact-finding mission in the Maldives from April 17 to 22.

The delegation said it sought meetings with government officials and a visit to Dhoonidhoo detention centre to meet ex-president Nasheed, but the foreign ministry offered to facilitate the meetings in May.

However, Dunya said the delegation visited the Maldives on April 27 despite a mutual agreement to schedule a visit for May and “choose to meet with only officials and supporters of former President Nasheed’s opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP).”

The ministry said it has facilitated visits to Nasheed in prison by the International Committee of the Red Cross, the Commonwealth, and the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights. 

“The government of Maldives maintains its engagement first policy and continues to hold constructive dialogue with its international partners, including international non-governmental organisations that are serious about and value such dialogue,” it said.

“Sham trial”

After launching the briefing at a press conference in Delhi last Thursday, Abbas Faiz, Amnesty International’s Maldives researcher, said Nasheed’s imprisonment “came after a sham trial.”

“It is disturbing how far the Maldives government has co-opted the judiciary as a tool to cement its own hold on power,” he said.

Nasheed was sentenced to 13 years in prison last month after a 19-day trial widely criticised by foreign governments and the UN for its apparent lack of due process.

However, the foreign ministry said Amnesty’s accusations about Nasheed’s trial are “without any basis.”

Nasheed was sentenced for the “abduction and enforced disappearance” of criminal court chief judge Abdulla Mohamed in January 2012.

“President Nasheed has been tried, convicted and sentenced for this heinous crime as per Maldivian laws,” the ministry said.

“His rights were assured to him and he chose not to appeal the verdict or sentence of Criminal Court. Amnesty through its baseless allegations once again seeks to undermine and defame the Maldives judiciary and its national institutions.”

Amnesty had said it “welcomes the investigation of alleged past human rights abuses committed in the Maldives, but the organisation remains concerned that the case pursued against Mohamed Nasheed was politically motivated and selective” as human rights abuses under both the current and previous presidents remain unaddressed.

“Amnesty International is also concerned that the outcome of the trial appeared to have been predetermined to procure a conviction against Nasheed even before the trial began,” the briefing stated.

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‘Peace offering’ met with pepper spray and arrests

Three activists were arrested from a youth-led opposition protest march yesterday after making a “peace offering” of white roses to riot police.

Specialist Operations (SO) police officers blocked the march at Orchid Magu, issued warnings of dispersal by force, and used pepper spray against protesters after the roses were laid at their feet, Mohamed Azmeel, president of the main opposition Maldivian Democratic Party’s (MDP) youth wing, told Minivan News today.

“White roses are used everywhere in the world as a peace offering. A group of youth offered white roses to police to show that we are peaceful. But they didn’t accept and pepper sprayed us,” he said.

He noted that the three activists taken into custody were among the group that offered roses to police.

The protest march dubbed ‘Heylaa’ (Wake Up) was organised by youth activists of the opposition alliance, made up of the MDP, the religious conservative Adhaalath Party, and the Jumhooree Party, with the aim of “bringing an end to brutality”.

The alliance has been staging nightly protests in Malé against what they call the government’s persecution of opposition political leaders. Former president Mohamed Nasheed and ex-defence minister Mohamed Nazim were sentenced last month to 13 years and 11 years in jail, respectively, on terrorism and weapon smuggling charges.

At least 140 protesters have been arrested since February. The MDP has previously accused SO officers of instigating a “coup d’etat” in February 2012 that led to then-president Nasheed’s resignation and of using excessive force against protesters.

The MDP youth wing has said protesters wore white t-shirts yesterday to “symbolise peace and friendship” while the white roses were offered to show that protesters were not seeking a violent confrontation.

Azmeel said he did not understand why police had to use pepper spray or make arrests as protesters did not attempt to break police lines.

He noted that police had not put up barricades on Orchid Magu.

A police media official said the three men were arrested for “disobeying orders” and “obstructing police duty.”

One protester was released “after giving advice” last night, he said, and police have not decided whether to seek extension of remand detention for the pair still under arrest.

Azmeel insisted that the march was peaceful and that protesters did not disobey orders.

“Disobeying orders would be crossing a barricade or refusing to take a route they showed. But none of that occurred there,” he said.

At least 150 youth led the march on Friday afternoon, Azmeel said, which began around 4:30pm at the Usfasgandu area and made its way west on the capital’s main thoroughfare, Majeedhee Magu.

The protest march stopped at various locations where youth leaders made speeches, he noted, adding that police had told protesters not to stop.

The march ended with a prayer for the safety of opposition leader Nasheed and other detainees.

Azmeel said the purpose of the march was “to raise concerns of youth and raise our voices.” The march was part of opposition activities in the run-up to a mass anti-government rally planned for May 1.

Last week, tourism minister Ahmed Adeeb challenged the opposition to a confrontation on May 1, prompting fears of a stand-off and civil unrest.

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MDP MP appeals for Indian pressure to release Nasheed

An opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) MP has appealed for Indian prime minister Narendra Modi’s help to secure the release of imprisoned ex-president Mohamed Nasheed.

The disappearance of Minivan News journalist Ahmed Rilwan, death threats against journalists and human rights defenders, and an arson attack against opposition-aligned Raajje TV are “symptomatic of the Maldives’ slide into tyranny,” MP Eva Abdulla wrote in a letter to the Indian prime minister.

“I hope you can use your good offices to pressure the Maldivian government to release President Nasheed and other political prisoners, return to rule of law, uphold the constitution and protect the basic human rights of all Maldivians,” reads the letter sent on April 22.

Eva’s appeal was echoed by Amnesty International last week, which warned that the human rights situation in the Maldives is “rapidly deteriorating” with the government cracking down on peaceful protests, stifling dissent, and imprisoning opposition politicians.

Raghu Menon, Amnesty International India’s advocacy coordinator, said India as a regional power “has a responsibility to work towards a human rights-friendly environment in the Maldives.”

The ruling coalition has previously condemned calls for Indian intervention as “irresponsible”.

“Urging India to intervene in a sovereign nation’s internal affairs is a betrayal of our constitution. Its results will be bitter, especially on the Maldivian public,” majority leader of parliament Ahmed Nihan told Minivan News after Nasheed urged India before his arrest in February to ensure the security of opposition politicians.

Foreign minister Dunya Maumoon has also expressed confidence that India “will not intervene in domestic politics of Maldives.”

Following Nasheed’s arrest and prosecution on controversial terrorism charges, Modi dropped the Maldives from a tour of Indian Ocean neighbours in early March.

Nasheed was sentenced to 13 years in prison last month on terrorism charges related to the military’s detention of a judge during his tenure. The 19-day trial was widely criticised by foreign governments, the UN, and Amnesty International for its apparent lack of due process.

“Slide towards dictatorship”

Rilwan’s disappearance on August 8 in a suspected abduction “highlights the nature of today’s Maldives, where the rule by fear has taken the place of rule of law,” Eva wrote.

The government’s commitment to finding Rilwan was “questionable” as president Abdulla Yameen refused to comment on the disappearance.

“Of the many human rights abuses that have taken place in the Maldives, Rilwan’s has resonated across the country for its encapsulation of every fear within our society,” she said, adding that the disappearance came after “months of intimidation against journalists, civil society, and independent institutions.”

The public was still awaiting answers, she continued, as police have not “credibly” investigated the murder of former MP Afrasheem Ali, the attempted murder of Raajje TV journalist Ibrahim Waheed ‘Asward’, and the torching of Raajje TV’s studios.

Eva accused the current administration of using its parliamentary majority to “crush dissent, eliminate political opposition and make laws to facilitate executive and judicial tyranny” and offering immunity from prosecution to violent gangs that operate with impunity.

“An impunity and patronage the government makes no attempt to hide,” she added.

She further contended that “confessions through torture, show trials, and state sponsored violence” of the autocratic past have returned under president Yameen.

However, Eva said “Maldivians refuse to be cowed by president Yameen’s authoritarian tactics” and have taken to the streets to protest against “the slide towards dictatorship.”

“In tightening its grip, the regime appears to be losing it,” she suggested.

“More political parties, politicians and activists are leaving the regime and joining the opposition coalition.”

The Indian government has “the power to make a difference in the Maldives” and had been crucial to the success of the democratic reform movement that culminated in the adoption of a rights-based constitution and multi-party elections in 2008.

“The movement cannot end yet, we have come too far to leave this conflict to our children,” she wrote.

“So we ask India’s help again. I believe it is in India’s interest to see the Maldives return to the democratic path. We cannot afford another failed Muslim democracy, nor a front of instability in the Indian Ocean.”

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Faris Maumoon secures PPM ticket for Dhiggaru by-election

Former president Maumoon Abdul Gayoom’s son, Ahmed Faris Maumoon, has secured the ruling party’s ticket to contest the upcoming by-election for the vacant Dhiggaru constituency parliament seat.

Faris won a primary of the Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM) held yesterday after competing against Meemu atoll council president Moosa Naseer.

Faris won the contest with 288 votes (66.98 percent) while Naseer received 140 votes (32.71). A total of 428 valid ballots were cast.

Polling took place in four of the five islands that make up the Dhiggaru constituency in Meemu atoll as well as in Malé.

Faris is a nephew of president Abdulla Yameen and a state minister at the ministry of economic development. His father, ex-president Gayoom, is also the leader of the PPM.

Three other candidates who initially sought the ruling party’s ticket withdrew their candidacies last week, including Meemu atoll councillor Moosa Naseer Ahmed and deputy environment minister Mohamed Hanim.

A primary of the Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) is due to take place tomorrow to select a candidate to represent the main opposition party in the by-election.

The by-election, triggered by a 25-year jail sentence handed down to former ruling party MP Ahmed Nazim, is scheduled to take place on June 6.

Contestants must file candidacy papers at the Elections Commission before the end of April.

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Two men sentenced to life imprisonment for murder

Two men have been sentenced to life imprisonment over the murder of a 65-year-old man in May 2012.

Ahmed Naushad, 30, and Mohamed Faisal, 29, were found guilty on Thursday (April 23) of causing the death of Hassan Abubakuru during a robbery on the island of Maafaru in Noonu atoll.

The pair along with a minor were accused of breaking into Abubakuru’s residence after midnight on May 29 and tying up the elderly man in his bed.

The criminal court said the pair’s statements during the police interrogation, witness testimony at trial, and the prosecution’s evidence were sufficient to prove guilt beyond reasonable doubt.

However, the juvenile court had acquitted the 17-year-old charged in relation to the murder, citing lack of evidence.

maafaru77Police said Abubakuru died after Faisal gagged the victim with a t-shirt and covered his face with a pillow while Naushad and the minor tied his hands and feet with insulation tape.

Abubakuru’s death was among ten murders that occurred in 2012. The authorities have faced criticism for the lack of convictions for murder, which has been blamed on failings in the criminal justice system.

 

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