The Maldives National Chamber of Commerce and Industries (MNCCI) has signed an agreement with the Centre for Career and Technical Education (CCTE) which will allow the CCTE to develop courses, training programmes, workshops and seminars to develop the retail sector, reports Miadhu.
The agreement was signed at a ceremony held yesterday at MNCCI. It was signed by Ahmed Adheeb Abdul Gafoor on behalf of the MNCCI and Mohamed Siraj Haleem, for the CCTE.
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(0)The Religious Unity Act, proposed by the Islamic Ministry, was discussed at the Cabinet meeting yesterday.
It was noted that some provisions needed to be reviewed and some amendments required before publication in the government gazette.
The Attorney General has been assigned with proposing the necessary amendments.
(0)Dislikes(0)President Mohamed Nasheed departed for Malaysia last night to attend the 6th World Islamic Economic Forum, being held in Kuala Lumpur from 18-20 May.
The forum is expected to attract 2000 participants this year, and will serve as a platform for governments and businesses to meet and discuss trade and economic issues.
The president will address the forum on the issue of climate change at a special plenary session.
He will also meet the Prime Minister of Malaysia and other leaders of Islamic countries.
(0)Dislikes(0)President Mohamed Nasheed sent his condolences to Afghan President Hamid Karzai following the crash of Pamir Airways on Monday.
The air craft crashed into the Hindu Kush mountain range north of Kabul, carrying 48 passengers.
The air plane and passengers are yet to been found.
(0)Dislikes(0)The US State Department has thanked the Maldivian government for agreeing to accept detainees from Guantánamo Bay, but opposition parties are still saying they were not informed of the government’s decision.
Spokesman for the US State Department, Philip Crowley, said yesterday: “The United States welcomes the Government of Maldives reaffirmation that it intends to accept detainees from Guantánamo Bay. The United States is grateful to all countries that have accepted detainees [and] for their willingness to support US efforts to close the Guantánamo Bay detention facility.”
Jeffery Anderson at the US Embassy to the Maldives in Colombo said they embassy could provide no further information on the detainees being transferred to the Maldives.
President Mohamed Nasheed said yesterday: “It was very clear back then that people were arrested [and put] in Guantánamo without proper checks. People were just taken from all over and incarcerated. Today, when the jail is being dismantled, and the Maldives is among the few 100 percent Muslim countries in the world, if we can’t care about them, where is the example we are showing to the international community and other people of the book [Jews and Christians]?”
Press Secretary for the President’s Office, Mohamed Zuhair, said he believed the detainee being transferred was a Palestinian man from the West Bank.
“According to the US Department of State, he is not capable of planning or executing a crime,” Zuhair noted.
He said the man belongs to the Tabligh sect of Islam, and added, “that is not criminal behaviour.”
Zuhair said the man was chosen because he was “the least controversial” prisoner and had not been charged with a crime. “This man will have complete records with him,” he said, adding all consultations about his past were held by the US government.
“He did not have a fair trail,” Zuhair noted. “Actually, he did not have a trial.”
He said the Maldives had chosen to take a former prisoner of the detention centre because the Maldives is “one of many interested in closing Guantánamo Bay and the repatriation of the remaining prisoners.”
Zuhair said bringing a Guantánamo detainee to the Maldives would give the country “prestige” and “honour.”
“The [Maldivian] population is devoutly Muslim and this will translate to more prestige and honour and better sentiment towards the Maldives,” he said. “It will have a positive effect all the way.”
Humanitarian action
State Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ahmed Naseem, said it was still premature to talk about how many detainees will be sent from the controversial prison, who they are or when they will be brought to the Maldives.
“It has not come to that stage yet,” he said, “but we have certain ideas of who [will be brought].”
He added that the prisoners still have to be interviewed and many legalities are still being examined.
“We also need to know why these people were arrested,” Naseem noted, emphasising that “we are not bringing any terrorists to the Maldives.”
“Not everyone who was arrested is a terrorist or a criminal,” he said, referring to the Maldivian national Ibrahim Fauzee, who was taken to Guantánamo in 2002 and brought back to the Maldives in 2005.
“His apartment happened to be formerly occupied by Palestinian terrorists and he was taken by police,” Naseem said, noting that Fauzee was later released with no charges.
Fauzee, who is president of the Maldivian religious NGO the Islamic Foundation, said he did not wish to comment on the issue.
Naseem noted that “everybody knows” there were many wrongful detentions made by the USA after the 9/11 attacks, “similar to arrests during Gayoom’s regime.”
He said the nationality of the detainees did not matter, since this is “a humanitarian issue.”
“A lot of Muslims have been affected by this,” he said, adding that as long as the resettlement was within the Constitution and laws of the country, there should be no problem in resettling former Guantánamo Bay prisoners.
Naseem said the US State Department had carefully chosen several countries around the world and had asked them to take in prisoners who were cleared of charges in their bid to close down the detention centre.
“They [USA] has confidence in the Maldives, in our human rights record, and know the [detainees] will have their rights [here].”
He noted the US “will have an obligation” to take into consideration the living expenses for any detainees sent to the Maldives.
“But those details still have to be worked out,” he added.
Naseem said this is “purely based on human rights” and the only reason it was becoming such a big issue locally was because the opposition Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP) had obtained official papers “and are having a field day with this.”
He added that the decision to resettle the detainees been public knowledge since December last year when President Nasheed announced his intention to bring in detainees during his radio address.
Opposition
The Dhivehi Qaumy Party (DQP) has been especially vocal in its opposition to the resettlement of Guantánamo prisoners.
They wrote in their website: “There is no reason that a small country like the Maldives with limited resources should accept such convicts when a country like America won’t accept them.”
DQP believes the president does not have the Constitutional authority to “transfer convicts” into the country, adding that such an actions would “make expatriates working in the country as well as visiting tourists more unsettled.”
They are planning on filing a case at court and a bill at the next session of Parliament prohibiting the transfer of foreign prisoners to the Maldives.
The party added the government was “not making any effort” to repatriate Maldivians in foreign jails.
DRP MP Ahmed Nihan said he thought the move would be dangerous to the country, claiming, “I do not believe this will make any betterment to the country. It is putting our country in danger.”
He said DRP MP Ali Waheed had sent a letter to the Majlis’ National Security Committee on the issue, but the sitting has been postponed. He said it would hopefully take place in the “coming weeks.”
“We are asking to get more details. No one knows what the government is trying to do,” Nihan said. “We’re totally in a dark place.”
He said his party had an issue with the lack of transparency, noting that they knew nothing about it until “some papers between the President’s Office and some ministries were leaked.”
“The government has already made a binding agreement. Members of the Majlis hope to know about serious matters like this.”
He said resettling Guantánamo convicts in the country is “a serious issue” and could have “serious consequences. If anything happens in the wrong direction, we’re in a serious situation,” he said, referring to the geographic location of the Maldives and the 2008 Mumbai attacks.
“If the government is genuine about this,” he said, “we would already have had negotiations between the government and the Majlis.”
Nihan added that President Nasheed’s remarks to the media yesterday, particularly his dismissal of the opposition’s outcry, was “total rudeness. It was like a comment from George Bush.”
He said he could not speak for his entire party, but said that regardless of whether the government was careful about who they were bringing into the country, “I cannot agree on this.”
History of Guantánamo
Land in Cuba’s Guantánamo Bay in the Oriente Province, the south-east of the island, was rented out by the United States in 1903 to set up a naval base. It was originally used for monitoring illegal migrants trying to enter the United States through Florida and other ports in the Caribbean.
Starting in 2002, prisoners accused of terrorism were sent to a detention centre in the base, after George W. Bush’s administration began capturing “enemy combatants” from around the world following the September 11 2001 attacks.
From its inception the detention centre has been surrounded by accusations of torture and of withholding the rights of prisoners under the Geneva Convention, which would guarantee them a fair trial.
Since 2002, many detainees have been released without charge after years of imprisonment, like Britain’s “Tipton Three,” who were repatriated to England in 2004 after two years of wrongful imprisonment.
In 2009 the White House reported that since 2002, approximately 800 individuals were imprisoned as ‘enemy combatants’ and detained at Guantánamo. Around 500 of those prisoners were either transferred or released, whether to their home countries or to a third country.
Additionally, they note “the Department of Defense has determined that a number of the individuals currently detained at Guantánamo are eligible for such transfer or release.”
In January 2009, US President Barack Obama ordered the closing of the Guantánamo detention centre within a year, and assigned a special task force to “consider policy options for apprehension, detention, trial, transfer or release of detainees.” He also banned the use of “harsh interrogations”.
The order states that all prisoners not eligible for transfer must be prosecuted, or the state must “select lawful means…for the disposition of such individuals.”
On the transfer of prisoners, the president’s order reads: “[The Special Task Force] will also look at rendition and other policies for transferring individuals to third countries to be sure that our policies and practices comply with all obligations and are sufficient to ensure that individuals do not face torture and cruel treatment if transferred.”
Crowley added yesterday that “since 2009, the United States has transferred 59 detainees to 24 different destinations; 35 of these have been transfers to third countries.”
(0)Dislikes(0)Minister for Human Resources and Youth, Hassan Latheef, has agreed to release the Maafaanu football grounds to the Islamic Ministry to host visiting Islamic scholar Zakir Naiks’s sermon.
The decision comes after Latheef said yesterday that the venue requested was ”only for football’,’ and would dishearten the youth who practice football there every day.
Latheef said that the decision was made yesterday ”despite the difficulties.”
”It was very, very difficult to release the land for any purpose other than sport and music,” Latheef said, ”but we have decided to give that land as the Islamic Ministry has requested.”
Latheef said the football ground will be given to the Islamic Ministry for three days.
”This type of land belongs to the Youth Ministry,” he noted. ”We have drafted a law that determines which place can be used for what purpose.”
Spokesperson for the Islamic Ministry, Sheikh Ahmadulla, said that the ministry was writing a letter to the Youth Ministry to confirm the decision.
”We also heard the Youth Minister saying that in a television programme,” Sheikh Ahmadulla said, adding ”we will send a letter to the Youth Ministry asking for the confirmation.”
Press Secretary for the President, Mohamed Zuhair, said that the land was used by youth to play football every day and the minister was concerned about social issues that might be raised due to the restriction of the grounds during the days of the lectures.
”But now they decided to give the land because the Islamic Ministry, after checking several venues, said that the requested football ground was the best,” Zuhair said.
”This is a time where all the Islamic NGO’s are acting in a very competitive spirit, with one NGO trying to hold a bigger event than the other,” Zuhair said. ”It will be very difficult if everyone starts requesting such land for other purposes.”
Zuhair said that there is now another request by a religious NGO to use the Galolhu National Stadium.
(0)Dislikes(0)Religious NGO Foundation of the Maldives has called on the government to amend the new Religious Unity regulations, saying it opposes several articles that are contrary to the ”freedom of expression” given under the article 27 of the constitution.
Other articles could potentially be used as a political tool, the NGO warned in a press release issued today.
Press Secretary for the President Mohamed Zuhair has similarly expressed concern over the new regulations, claiming they contain ambiguities and policy issues.
The Islamic Foundation NGO highlighted several articles in the regulations it believed should be amended prior to publication of the regulations in the government’s gazette, such as the criteria for issuance of preaching licenses.
The Islamic Foundation noted that under the regulations, the preaching license requirement that a person be older than 25 years of age was not a criteria required under the tenets of Islam, and furthermore claimed it was contrary to article 27 of the constitution guaranteeing freedom of expression.
The NGO also raised concern over Article(16)(b)(4), which claims preachers must not have been found guilty in a Sharia Court of having violated any clause of Law 6/94 of Religious Unity Act.
It condemned the articles as ”many religious scholars have been given several punishments under the religious unity Act in recent years for political purposes,” and added that that article 27 of the constitution did not restrict a person’s right to express their opinion even though he had been found guilty in a court of law.
The NGO also expressed concern over Article(19) requiring foreign preachers to respect local norms, claiming it was not necessary for all foreign preachers to understand the traditions and culture of the Maldives.
Article(27), which governs illegal actions while preaching or giving sermons, was also concerning, the Foundation claimed. In particular point (2), which prohibits encouraging violence; inciting people to disputes, hatred and resentment; and any talk that aims to degrade a certain sex and gender in violation of Islamic tenets, and the telecasting and broadcasting of such speeches, could be interpreted in different ways and “used for political purposes”, it said.
The Foundation also criticised Article(27)(4), which bans the promotion of any opinion contrary to religious ruling as unanimously agreed upon by the Fiqh Academy of Maldives, claiming that the Fiqh Academy “was not a committee based on independent scholars.”
”We believe that there should be the freedom for a scholar to express how he thinks on a specific doubtful issue,” the press release said.
On Article(38), concerning punishment as prescribed in Law 6/94 of the existing Religious Unity Act, the Foundation claimed the law narrowed freedom of expression guaranteed by the constitution and said was “not acceptable.”
Moreover, it referred to the constitutions article number 63, article 64 and article 268 and called on the government to amend the mentioned articles of the new religious unity act.
State Islamic Minister Sheikh Mohamed Shaheem Ali Saeed however stated that while the Ministry respected opinions and comments on the new regulations, it had been drafted with the assistance of 11 reputable scholars and widely approved by both government and police.
(0)Dislikes(0)Andrew Cox, new United Nations Resident Coordinator and UNDP Resident Representative, presented his credentials to President Mohamed Nasheed yesterday afternoon.
The meeting focused mainly on the UN programmes being carried out in the Maldives, and in the assistance the UN system could provide to the country in its transition from the Least Developed Countries (LDC) status.
Cox assured the president of the UN’s support to the Maldives through graduation from LDC, and congratulated him on the Maldives recent election for a seat in the UN Human Rights Council.
Cox has worked with the UN system since 1999 in different capacities and several countries around the world. He has worked in Sudan, the USA, Afghanistan and Sierra Leone.
Before working with the UN, he worked with several NGOs in Sierra Leone, the UK, Democratic Republic of the Congo and Côte d’Ivoire.
Cox said that “the UN system is a long time friend and partner to the Maldives. I am personally committed to deepening this partnership and to helping strengthen the capacities of the government, civil society and the people of Maldives in achieving the country’s aspirations and development objectives.”
(0)Dislikes(0)A Bangladeshi national working on a boat belonging to Sony Hardware in Malé died on Sunday afternoon.
The boat, named Assidha, was unloading cargo from Thilafushi at the T-Jetty.
The incident was originally reported to police as an accident between a boat and a crane, but was later discovered that the man was loosening the anchor rope on the boat and his chest hit the bow of the boat.
He was taken to IGMH but died during treatment.
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