Maldives “tied acceptance of prisoners” to American help with IMF assistance

Secret US diplomatic cables obtained by Wikileaks reveal that the Maldives agreed to resettle detainees from Guantanamo Bay in return for American help with obtaining assistance from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), according to the New York Times.

The paper reports that the cache of correspondence made public by Wikileaks reveals that “American diplomats went looking for countries that were not only willing to take in former prisoners but also could be trusted to keep them under close watch.

“In a global bazaar of sorts, the American officials sweet-talked and haggled with their foreign counterparts in an effort to resettle the detainees who had been cleared for release but could not be repatriated for fear of mistreatment.

It reveals that while the Bush Administration offered the South Pacific nation Kiribati an “incentive package” of US$3 million to take 17 Chinese Muslim detainees, “the Maldives tied acceptance of prisoners to American help in obtaining International Monetary Fund assistance.”

The EU observer meanwhile reported that Washington’s special envoy on Guantanamo resettlements, Daniel Fried, told ”politicians in the Maldives that other states had received US$25,000 to US$85,000 per detainee to cover temporary living expenses and other costs” and that ”the Maldives could expect something toward the upper end of the range.”

In December last year, President Mohamed Nasheed announced that the Maldives had offered to resettle two detainees from Guantanamo Bay.

“If a Muslim does not have a place to live in freedom, we will help in whatever way we can. We don’t want anyone to suffer any harm,” Nasheed then said. “We know that the Maldives, in helping just three people from Guantanamo Bay, does not mean that either the Maldives or the world would be free of inhumane treatment,” he said. “However this jail, Guantanamo jail, is very symbolic.”

Nasheed said at the time that as a result of resettling the detainees “the country will get a good name, honour and prestige. We will be noted as people who help in whatever capacity we can to help solve others’ problems.”

The decision was met with fierce opposition from the Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party-People’s Alliance coalition in parliament, which conducted national security committee hearings on the subject.

Foreign minister Dr Ahmed Shaheed told Minivan News at the time that “the United States has not come with a bag full of money and said: ‘here’s your reward for doing this’, but because we work with the US on this and other issues, they will try to help us where we need help.”

He added that the decision was not made on a ”quid pro quo basis”.

Likes(0)Dislikes(0)

Average Maldivian citizen has 4.7 years of education, finds UN Human Development Report

Education in the Maldives is generally behind regional neighbours such as Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, despite an 18 percent increase in the average number of years spent at school between 1990 and 2010.

The average Maldivian citizen had 4.7 years of schooling in 2010, compared with 3.9 years in 2005, according to the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP’s) 2010 Human Development Report. This was almost a third of the country’s ‘expected level of schooling’ of 12.4 years.

Despite the recent improvement, the Maldives remains behind Bangladesh and Sri Lanka in terms of average schooling, which were ranked at 4.8 and 8.2 years respectively. UK and US students spend on average 9.5 and 12.4 years of their lives in education by comparison, according to the report’s findings.

The overall findings compiled by UNDP painted a mixed picture for human development in the Maldives, with a comparatively high life expectancy of 72.3 contrasting with concerns over education and gender equality in the country.

For 2010, the Maldives was ranked 107 out of 160 nations under the UNDP’s Human Development Index (HDI), which is used to measure long-term national achievements in providing citizens with “a long and healthy life, access to knowledge and a decent standard of life.” The Maldives has climbed four places since 2005.

Speaking at the launch of the report, Vice President Dr Mohamed Waheed said that failure to the current failure obtain parliamentary approval for cabinet members would not be a long term setback to the country’s development aspirations though.

“Development and democracy goals are generally accepted by all parties, but clearly there are difficulties,” he said. “I don’t believe the [cabinet controversy] will seriously affect the long-term human development objectives of this or a future government.”

Despite praising an increase in average life expectancy of six years in the last decade, Dr Waheed raised concerns over inequality across the nation’s atolls, particularly among women in terms of both education and politics.

“Women are not contesting in elections as much as we had hoped,” he said. “We hope February’s council elections will see much higher numbers [of female candidates].”

Dr Waheed claimed that in areas such as poverty reduction, the Maldives was doing “quite well”, though he added that economic recession in the last few years had been a setback to these goals.

UN Resident Coordinator and UNDP Resident Representative Andrew Cox said he agreed with the Vice President’s view of the report. Cox added that the latest UNDP figures showed the Maldives’ HDI was generally above the regional average for South Asia.

Report Findings

Posting an average life expectancy rate of 72.3 years of age, the Maldives was found to be ahead of other nearby nations such as Bangladesh (66.9 years) and Thailand (69.3 years), though behind Sri Lanka (74.4 years). Western nations like the UK and the US recorded average life expectancy rates of 79.8 and 79.6 years of age respectively.

In the area of gender equality, the report used a new index system that looked at a number of specific factors such as reproductive health, the gender share of parliamentary seats and educational achievements and economic activity to identify the possible disadvantages to women in a nation.

Using this Gender Inequality Index (GII), the Maldives was ranked 58 out of 138 countries based on data supplied from 2008. By comparison, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh were ranked 72 and 116 respectively under the same conditions.

In terms of education, 31 per cent of Maldivian females had obtained a secondary or higher level of education as opposed to 37 percent of Maldivian men. In addition, female participation in the labour market was found to stand at 58 percent, compared to 77 percent among males. Unemployment was 14.4 percent.

The report found that 23.5 of every 100 citizens had access to the internet.

Likes(1)Dislikes(0)

Three more Somalis found in second dinghy near Thinadhoo

A Maldivian fishing boat has discovered another lost dinghy with three Somalis aboard near Thinadhoo in Gaafu Dhaalu Atoll.

Captain of the fishing boat Mohamed Hussain told Minivan News that the dinghy was found while the group was out fishing this morning.

”Around 10:15pm this morning we found the dinghy and followed it – there were three men aboard,” said Mohamed. ”One of them was in a very serious condition an has a wound under his neck.”

Mohamed said the other two were in a good condition, as the dingy contained food and 14 barrels of diesel.

”They said someone attacked them and they were trying to flee, after the injured man was stabbed by the attackers,” he said.

Island Councilor of Thinadhoo Mohamed Zahir said that no one had officially reported the case to the island office yet.

Major Abdul Raheem said a Maldives National Defence Force (MNDF) vessel was on the way to the island.

”After our vessel reaches the island we will disclose more information regarding the case,” he said.

Another dingy with seven Somalis was found on Sunday near Fuvamulah. MNDF officers who searched the vessel discovered a bullet shell in the dingy.

Likes(0)Dislikes(0)

Hudhuranfushi unaware of alleged food poisoning incident

Director of Adhaaran company that operates Hudhuranfushi resort, Mohamed Mahdy, has said he was unaware of allegations that a tourist couples’ ‘dream holiday’ was ruined by ‘food poisoning’ in March 2008.

The Liverpool Daily Post reported that the holiday of a couple that went to Hudhuranfushi to celebrate the husband’s 50th birthday was ”ruined by food poisoning.”

The paper reported that the couple were now suing their tour operator Thomson.

It quoted the husband as saying “We were served undercooked food, as well as food that was recycled and served up two days running. The pool and the toilets were filthy. We were so excited about the holiday. But, instead of enjoying it, I spent most of our time being violently ill.”

Mrs Wears was so ill with severe diarrhea that a doctor had to be flown in from another resort to treat her, said Liverpool Daily Post.

”I am very sure that such an incident did not take place in the hotel in March,” Mahdy said. ”I really do not think that is true.”

He said that customers sometimes complained about issues, “but there was no major issue like that.”

Liverpool Daily Post reported a Thomson spokeswoman as saying that “Thomson can confirm that five customers reported illness while staying at the Hudhuranfushi Island Resort, Maldives, in March, 2008. We are currently in talks with the no win, no fee law firm that is representing these customers.

“Hudhuranfushi Island Resort continues to be extremely popular with our customers, and we are confident that guests due to travel to the resort in the future will experience the high levels of quality and standards they expect from a Thomson property,” said the spokeswoman, according to Liverpool Daily Post.

Likes(0)Dislikes(0)

GMR’s airport segment grows with Male’ Airport acquisition

The airport segment of Indian infrastructure giant GMR has grown become a significant contributor to the company’s revenue, reports financial news website India Infoline, with both the Delhi and Hyderabad airports witnessing stable growth in passenger and cargo volumes.

The company’s airport segment accounts for 40 percent of the firm’s total revenue. With the Male’ airport operations already profitable and with high passenger revenue of $US50 per passenger (compared with US$12 and US$17 per passenger at Delhi and Hyderabad airports), the existing revenue is expected to account for a third of the company’s airport operations.

Male’ International Airport generated US$135 million in revenue last year, Infoline reported, with an operating profit of US$30 million. Being an exotic tourist destination, “air traffic in Male is expected to be steady”, the site added.

GMR has taken debt of US$358 million to complete US$511 million deal to construct a new terminal, and will charge an extra US$25 per passenger, the site reported.

Likes(0)Dislikes(0)

Comment: Diplomats must engage in frank discussions with their colleagues

President Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton have made it a priority to reinvigorate America’s relationships around the world. They have been working hard to strengthen our existing partnerships and build new ones to meet shared challenges, from climate change to ending the threat of nuclear weapons to fighting disease and poverty. As the United States Ambassador to Maldives, I’m proud to be part of this effort.

Under the leadership of President Obama, we have greatly expanded our engagement in Maldives. We have strengthened our security cooperation, and we have broadened our mutual efforts on climate change (including $3.5 million from our development agency, USAID). As a sign of this growing friendship, Farah Pandith, the first ever US Special Representative to Muslim Communities, visited the Maldives just last week, where she met ordinary citizens and government officials.

In the past few days, documents purportedly downloaded from US Defence Department computers have become the subject of reports in the media. I cannot vouch for the authenticity of any one of these documents. But I can say that the United States would deeply regret the disclosure of any information that was intended to be confidential. And we condemn it.

Diplomats must engage in frank discussions with their colleagues, and they must be assured that these discussions will remain private. Honest dialogue—within governments and between them—is part of the basic bargain of international relations; we couldn’t maintain peace, security, and international stability without it.

People of good faith will recognise that diplomats’ internal reports do not represent a government’s official foreign policy. In the United States, they are one element out of many that shape our policies, which are ultimately set by the President and the Secretary of State. And those policies are a matter of public record, the subject of thousands of pages of speeches, statements, white papers, and other documents that the State Department makes freely available online and elsewhere.

But relations between governments aren’t the only concern. US diplomats meet with local human rights workers, journalists, religious leaders, and others outside the government who offer their own candid insights. These conversations depend on trust and confidence as well. In some countries, if an anti-corruption activist shares information about official misconduct, or a social worker passes along documentation of sexual violence, revealing that person’s identity could have serious repercussions: imprisonment, torture, even death.

The owners of the WikiLeaks website claim to possess some 250,000 classified documents, many of which have been released to the media. Whatever their motives are in publishing these documents, it is clear that releasing them poses real risks to real people, and often to particular people who have dedicated their lives to protecting others. We support and are willing to have genuine debates about pressing questions of public policy. But releasing documents carelessly and without regard for the consequences is not the way to start such a debate.

For our part, the US government is committed to maintaining the security of our diplomatic communications and is taking steps to make sure they are kept in confidence. We are moving aggressively to make sure this kind of breach does not happen again. And we will continue to work to strengthen our partnership with the Maldives and make progress on the issues that are important for our two countries. We can’t afford anything less. I am in close contact with President Nasheed to make sure we continue to focus on the issues and tasks at hand. President Obama, Secretary Clinton, and I remain committed to being trusted partners as we seek to build a better, more prosperous world for everyone.

Patricia A Butenis is the US Ambassador to the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka and the Republic of Maldives.

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]

Likes(0)Dislikes(0)

Supreme Court cancels hearing on cabinet endorsement issue

The Supreme Court has canceled the first hearing of the case filed against the government by the opposition over the matter of cabinet endorsement.

The case was filed by opposition Dhivehi Rayithunge Party (DRP) Deputy leader and MP Ali Waheed and the Dhivehi Qaumee Party (DQP), requesting that court to determine whether cabinet members who did have the consent of the parliament could remain in their position.

The hearing was scheduled for 10:30pm, however after the media and others entered the court chamber the court announced that the hearing was canceled and would be scheduled later.

The court did not mention any reason why the hearing was canceled.

Later the Supreme Court issued a statement saying that one of the court’s judges was unable to be present at the panel and ”the case could be trialed only if all the judges are present.”

Supreme Court said that the judge had to leave due to the medical condition of his child and that the date the hearing would be scheduled is to be advised.

Likes(0)Dislikes(0)

Two Maldivians arrested in Trivandrum for drug smuggling

A pair of Maldivians have been arrested in Trivandrum Airport for allegedly trying to traffic drugs to the Maldives.

Haveeru reported that 24 year-old Mohamed Waheed Adam and a 14 year-old were arrested on Sunday.

The newspaper reported that the two Maldivians attempted to boarded a flight at 12:30pm flight on Sunday were being held in the airport after illegal drugs were allegedly found in the child’s baggage. The Malayalam newspaper also reported that hash oil was found hidden in the child’s trousers.

Likes(0)Dislikes(0)

Bullet shell discovered in dinghy of rescued Somalis

The Maldives National Defence Force (MNDF) has said that officers who searched the vessel of seven Somali castaways yesterday bought ashore in Gnaviyani Atoll have discovered a bullet shell inside the boat.

Several incidents of Somali nationals being washed up or brought to the Maldives after being found lost at sea have been reported during the last twelve months.  This has led to allegations that piracy originating from Africa may have reached the Indian Ocean – suspicions that are yet to have been proven beyond circumstantial evidence.

The latest vessel thought to have gone adrift from the country was found floating near the reefs of Fuvamulah in Gnaviyani Atoll late yesterday afternoon, leading to a search of the boat by MNDF officials.

”The bullet shell was found inside waste materials in their dinghy,” said MNDF Major Abdul Raheem. ”Only one was found.”

Abdul Raheem said the seven men aboard the vessel had now been handed over to police for investigation.

Island Chief Muneer Hussein said the vessel was discovered yesterday around 5:30 pm.

”They were flying white flags and calling for help,” he said.

Muneer said people on the beach signaled them to come ashore.

”They ran their vessel’s engine and came ashore,” Muneer said. ”With the help of some boys near the beach the boat was beached.”

He said the castaways spoke a little English and said they were from Somalia.

”They said they had been drifting in the sea for two months, but appeared to be in good condition and were fairly strong,” he said.

Some opposition politicians have moved to criticise the government over the real identities and nature of castaways being found in the country.  Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP) MP Ali Waheed has said that there is a big concern lately that a large number of Somalis are being found drifting into Maldivian waters.

Waheed claimed that the government has failed to provide  sufficient information for civilians on the true nature and number of castaways being found in the country, alleging a possible cover up.

”The people [Somalis] we saw yesterday do not have the appearance that they have been drifting in the sea for a long time, neither did their vessel,” he said. ”The government have not been disclosing information to the citizens and media about the recent similar incidents.”

Six badly malnourished Somali nationals were discovered adrift near the island of Makunudhoo in June after spending three months at sea – one was almost buried alive because his condition was so bad that police and islanders believed he was dead. According to an island official who spoke to Minivan News at the time, he was only saved from being buried alive because of an island superstition that the area “might become haunted if a rotten dead body was buried.”

Seven were rescued on December 1, 2009 and a further five people on December 5, while seven were rescued on May 12,  2010.

While local reports have speculated that some of the rescued Somali nationals may have been involved in piracy before becoming lost and finding their way to the Maldives, the evidence so far has been circumstantial.

Likes(0)Dislikes(0)