PA proposes bill to protect Dhivehi language

A bill to protect Dhivehi, the Maldivian language, has been presented to  parliament by People’s Alliance (PA) MP Abdul Azeez Jamaal Abubakuru.

Jamaal said that the Dhivehi language was “why Maldivians remain as Maldivians” and the source of the country’s success.

”Dhivehi is one of the most valuable national relics that our forefathers have delivered to us,” Jamaal said. ”Without doubt it is our responsibility to deliver it to the next generation safely, like our forefathers did.”

Jamaal said if people were careless with their mother-tongue, there was a potential for words to be lost.

”I believe that allowing the Maldivian language to dissolve is like dissolving our nationality,” he said.

Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) MP Mohamed ‘Colonel’ Nasheed thanked MP Jamaal for presenting the bill, but said he did not believe a bill was the only solution.

Nasheed said that linguistic experts of had noted that languages  form, change and decease naturally.

”A perfect research paper on this was produced by Dr Noam Chomsky,” he said. “All these things are mentioned very clearly in his book, ‘Language Death’. It mentions three stages a language goes through before it dissolves.”

Nasheed said that research conducted by UNESCO showed that there were 6800 languages used in the world.

”Our language is included in a list of languages in the report that are at risk of disappearing in 20 years.”

Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP) Deputy Leader and MP Ali Waheed said that he supported the bill.

”It was not  for political gain that we criticised the disbanding of the National Centre for Arts and Culture,” Waheed said. ”We were just expressing concern.”

Waheed said that although the Maldives was just a small dot compared to many much larger countries, “we should be proud to have our own language.”

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Islamic Sharia applies where Maldivian law silent, High Court clarifies

The High Court of the Maldives has clarified that Islamic Sharia law defaults in cases where crimes may not be specifically forbidden by Maldivian law, and instructed parliament to keep this in mind when amending the penal code.

”When bringing amendments to the penal code of the Maldives, I rule that the concerned state institution amend the penal code in a manner that does not obstruct the giving of penalties for crimes prohibited under Islamic Sharia,” Judge Abdul Gany Mohamed ruled.

Judge Gany added the landmark ruling to the verdict in a case concerning a man who threatened a doctor last year in Indira Gandi Memorial Hospital (IGMH).

The prosecution claimed that Sulhath Abdulla, of Maafannu Kurevi, went to IGMH in May last year and threatened a doctor who had refused to write him a prescription for a control drug.

The Criminal Court of the Maldives last year ruled that there was no specific law forbidding Sulhath Abdulla’s actions, and therefore he could not be punished.

Judge Gany said that although there was no Maldivian law for the crime he committed, anything prohibited under Islamic Shariah was consisted prohibited according to articles 2, 10, 19 and 59 of the constitution.

”Under article number 142[a], the courts must rule according to Islamic Sharia when deciding a matter on which [Maldivian] laws are silent,” Judge Gany said.

Judge Gany sentenced Sulhath Abdulla for four years house arrest for objection to order and violating article 88[a] of the penal code.

He explained that using foul words when addressing to people, threats to damage another’s body or property, intimidation, refusing to give samples necessary for investigations, obstructing investigation, using or possessing a sharp object that might cause “fear in society”, and using any object that could potentially be classed as a weapon should all be considered prohibited under article number 2, 10, 19 and 59[a] of the constitution.

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STO profits drop 10% in 2009

Profits of the State Trading Organisation (STO) dropped 10 percent in 2009 to Rf140 million, reports Haveeru.

The company received Rf3.8 billion in revenue last year, a 35 percent decline from 2008 (Rf5.9 billion).

The company directors’ report blamed the impact of the worldwide economic recession and a drop in imports due to the dollar shortage.

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MNDF rescues stranded vessel in six hours

Maldives National Defence Force (MNDF) rescued a vessel with a damaged engine after six hours, reports Haveeru.

The news paper reported that the boat was stranded near Gaafaru in Kaafu (Male) Atoll, while an MNDF vessel was also stationed in the atoll.

Haveeru reported an MNDF official saying that rough seas and bad weather contributed to the delay, and that six hours was not late considering the circumstances.

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Family of man who self-immolated in custody decide to bury body

The family of the man who died in police custody have decided to bury his body after keeping him for four days for investigation.

The man set himself ablaze after pouring petrol onto his body from a bottle stored in the police station, suffering severe burns. He was transferred to Indira Gandhi Memorial Hospital (IGMH) but died during treatment on Saturday. However, a member of his family claimed he was tortured in police custody.

Today a family member of the man told Minivan News that the body was buried today Asru prayers.

”We decided not to do the postmortem examination of the body, and besides it’s not very good to keep a dead body without burying,” she said. ”We have not received further information on the case.”

She said that the police were fully cooperating with the family to investigate the case and find out if there was any irresponsibility on behalf of the police.

”We will know further information after the police finish the investigation,” she added.

Police Sub-Inspector Ahmed Shiyam confirmed that police were investigating the incident and would reveal details after the investigation.

”The police are ready to provide any assistance that the family requires from police,” Shiyam said. ”They requested police investigate.”

He said that if the family requested police would offer the family postmortem but they wanted to bury them today.

Shahindha Ismail from the Police Integrity Commission (PIC) said that a team from the commission had arrived at Gahdhu Police station [where the incident took place] to investigate the case.

Shahindha said that the details of the case would only be given after the conclusion of the investigation.

”After finishing the investigation we will issue a press statement to give details of the case,” she said.

She assured that action would be taken against police if they were found to have been negligent.

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Rogue recruitment agencies juggling labour quotas to illegally traffic workers

Rogue recruitment agencies in countries like Bangladesh are bringing workers into the Maldives on the labour quotas of one company before ‘reselling’ them to another party on their arrival in the country, the Immigration department has revealed.

In some cases the workers will even arrive in the Maldives having been told they will be working in a country like Malaysia, Chief Immigration Officer Hassan Khaleel told Minivan News.

“For example, in one case some waiters were recruited and told work they would be working in a resort, but were made to work in a restaurant in Male’,” he said, explaining that many trafficked workers were “uneducated and illiterate” and did not understand their contract or letter of appointment.

It was quite difficult for immigration to determine if someone had been trafficked on their arrival “because be don’t have a Bangladeshi speaker”, he noted.

“After they work a for while and gain a grasp of Dhivehi it is sometimes possible to interview them on their departure,” he said.

Local agencies were not always aware the trafficking had taken place, Khaleel explained, as they had just requested the employee from the overseas counterpart.

There were also reports of Bangladeshi workers arriving at the airport and not being met by anyone, in which case they would travel to Male’ where they would meet other labourers, and simply start working.

Controller of Immigration Illyas Hussain told Miadhu yesterday that workers were sometimes forced to work for no pay until they were sold on to another party. The practice was rife in the fisheries and shipping sectors, he noted, calling on recruitment agencies to respect the rights of the workers they imported.

The immigration department would cease issuing visas to expatriate workers without work permits and employment contracts, he added.

The Human Resources Ministry and the Maldives Police Service have meanwhile launched an operation to find and deport illegal workers in the atolls. The ministry estimates there may be 16,000 illegal workers across the country.

Deputy Minister Hussein Ismail told Haveeru earlier this week that the ministry had already received a list of 30 illegal workers in Addu Atoll.

In April a report on the Maldives in the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) review of the Convention on Preventing and Combating Trafficking of Women and Children for Prostitution has highlighted the Maldives as a destination country for human trafficking, “where the primary form of trafficking is forced labour.”

The SAARC report, funded by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and produced by the International Organisation for Migration (IOM), suggested that human trafficking in the Maldives “is presumably is associated with the country’s socio-economic status as the most developed South Asian country, and its reliance on the migration of foreign workers to support sectors such as tourism and construction.”

President of the Human Rights Commission for the Maldives (HRCM), Ahmed Saleem, said at the time that human trafficking was “a modern form of slavery”, and that while the government had acknowledge the existence of the crime “overall efforts to [confront] it are insignificant.”

“The commission is convinced that this is a major human rights issue and that is why we have begun a comprehensive study we hope to complete as soon as possible,” he said.

HRCM said today that the report was several months away from completion, “and had decided to get the facts right before saying anything.”

Speaking yesterday at a seminar organised by the High Commission of Bangladesh in the Maldives, Special Envoy of the President Ibrahim Hussain Zaki said the government needed to strengthen labour laws and protect the rights of expatriate workers in the Maldives, both in and outside the workplace.

He also noted the contributions made by the Bangladesh to the development of the Maldives, and the large number of Bangladeshi workers in the Maldives who were playing “a vital role” in delivering the government’s pledges.

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MP Nasheed proposes resolution to determine ‘laws inconsistent with the constitution’

Independent MP Mohamed Nasheed yesterday proposed a resolution in parliament to determine existing laws “inconsistent” with the country’s constitution.

Proposing the bill, Nasheed said that according to the constitution it was a duty of the executive to assemble a list of articles of the constitution inconsistent with the laws within 30 days of commencement of the constitution, and that it was a duty of MPs to amend those laws within 90 days after the inconsistent articles were presented.

MP Nasheed said the government had done its duty and presented a list of laws inconsistent with the constitution and that he regretted the duty of the MPs was still incomplete.

The constitution was established in August 7, 2008.

”After two months, it will be two years from the date we authenticated the constitution,” MP Nasheed said, ”so there is a duty of the parliament unfulfilled, and that’s why I presented this resolution – to complete one of these duties.”

Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) MP Ahmed Hamza said he supported the resolution presented by MP Nasheed.

”The parliament is the place where have to bow our heads to laws the most,” MP Hamza said, ”therefore, we would have to compete the duties assigned to us under article 299 [of the constitution],”

MP Hamza said that there were many difficulties faced because parliamentarians had failed to complete this task.

”There are some ongoing court trails charged against this constitution,” MP Hamza said. ”Former president [Maumoon Abdul Gayum] has charged some people of my area [Bilehdhoo] over protesting against him during the last presidential elections campaign.”

MP Hamza said that although the parliament had not revoked the laws contradicting articles in the constitution, they would still be void.

”I would like to tell the Police, Prosecutor General’s office, the courts and Anti Corruption Commission that the powers given to them by former laws which are inconsistent with the constitution are all void,” he said.

People’s Alliance (PA) MP Abdul Azeez Jamaal Abubakuru also said he supported the resolution presented by MP Nasheed.

”This resolution should not be debated for long, and all the MPs should accept that this is our duty,” said Jamaal.

”I would like to thank MP Nasheed for presenting this as a resolution and would like to repeat that it is an important issue and should hasten to complete it soon.”

MDP MP and leader of MDP parliamentary group ‘Reeko’ Moosa Manik also said he supported the resolution.

”It is not the responsibility of MDP or the Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party [DRP] to make laws for the country,” Moosa said. ”It is the responsibility of the parliament.”

”We handed this first to a person called the speaker of the parliament – not to run the whole parliament, but to operate and supervise the administrative duties of the parliament,” Moosa said. ”We never thought that this matter would be raised by the former information minister, instead we feel the speaker and deputy speaker of the parliament should have brought this to our attention.”

He suggested that the MPs should work every day until midnight until the duties mentioned in article 299 were completed.

DRP deputy leader and MP Ali Waheed said that his party would “fully co-operate” with the work.

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