Maldives defers decision on UPR recommendations for judicial reform

The Maldives has deferred accepting or rejecting recommendations put forth at the UN human rights council on judicial reform and protection of human rights defenders, pending “national level consultation”.

Of the 258 recommendations from UN member states, the government accepted 132 and rejected 49 due to constitutional constraints. The Maldives said it will examine the remaining 77 recommendations and “provide responses in due time” before the 30th session of the Human Rights Council in September or October 2015.

The recommendations under review include calls to ensure the impartiality and independence of the judiciary, reform the Judicial Service Commission, and provide training to judges.

The “politicised” judiciary came under fire from countries across the world during last week’s UPR session, which took place amidst heightened international scrutiny and political turbulence triggered by the imprisonment of former president Mohamed Nasheed.

The UK recommended steps to “ensure the administration of justice is fully consistent with international human rights standards and seek international technical assistance.”

“Strengthen the independence of the judiciary by reforming the Judicial Services Commission’s process for selecting and appointing judges,” recommended the US.

Canada advised the formation of an independent bar association while several countries recommended steps to ensure the separation of powers.

Ireland recommended providing “adequate training for judges, including human rights training, to ensure all judicial proceedings conform to international fair trial standards”.

New Zealand recommended accepting “a follow up visit by the Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers and accept the outstanding request of a visit by the Special Rapporteur on the situations of human rights defenders.”

The Netherlands advised fully implementing the special rapporteurs’ recommendations, including a constitutional review of the composition of the JSC.

Responding to criticism of the judiciary at the working group session, foreign minister Dunya Maumoon said the Maldives is training and building capacity of judges and has formulated a judicial sector strategic action plan to increase effectiveness, efficiency and public confidence.

The 49 recommendations Maldives rejected include allowing freedom of religion, ensuring the rights of homosexuals, banning the death penalty, and decriminalising consensual sexual relations.

The rejected recommendations also included removing a requirement that prevents non-Muslims from being members of the Human Rights Commission of Maldives (HRCM).

The Maldives constitutional assembly had declared Islam to be the state religion and the basis of all laws enacted in the country, and requires judges to refer to Islamic law, legal secretary Aishath Bisham said last week.

Other rejected recommendations included calls from Norway and Canada to release ex-president Nasheed and other “political prisoners.”

The US also called for an end to “politically-motivated prosecutions and court proceedings” against HRCM members and Nasheed, who was “convicted and imprisoned without minimum fair trial guarantees”.

Human rights defenders

Several countries also recommended taking steps to ensure the safety of human rights defenders, civil society actors and journalists against attacks and reprisals, calling for investigation and prosecution of individuals behind threats and intimidation.

The independence of the HRCM should also be assured, its members protected from reprisals, and the HRCM law brought in line with Paris Principles, reads the recommendations under review.

During the review, many countries expressed alarm over the Supreme Court’s suo moto case against the human rights watchdog over its UPR submission.

Denmark meanwhile noted that the Maldives’ initial report to the UN Committee against Torture is overdue since 2005.

“Bring an end to arbitrary detentions, particularly on the grounds of political opinion; investigate allegations of torture and ill treatment in prisons and bring those responsible to justice,” recommended France.

Other recommendations included ratification of the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families, the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance, and the optional protocol of the Convention on the Rights of the Child.

Germany and Portugal recommended the Maldives accede to Convention relating to the Status of Refugees, the Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons, and the Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness.

Other countries recommended signing the UNESCO Convention against Discrimination in Education and the Protocol to the Convention Against Transnational Organised Crime.

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Foreign minister ‘misled’ UN on Nasheed trial

The office of former president Mohamed Nasheed has accused foreign minister Dunya Maumoon of “deliberately misleading” the UN Human Rights Council regarding the opposition leader’s terrorism trial.

During the Maldives’ Universal Period Review in Geneva on May 6, Dunya claimed that Nasheed chose not to appeal his 13-year sentence and that due process concerns regarding the trial were procedural and not substantive.

Criticism of Nasheed’s trial had “mainly focused on the process and not the merits,” she said.

But Nasheed’s office contends he was deliberately denied the right to appeal after the criminal court failed to provide necessary documentation within the ten day appeal period specified by the Supreme Court.

“The Maldives’ criminal court refused to release the transcript of the trial — information vital to the launch of an appeal — until 11 days after conviction, thus deliberately preventing Nasheed’s legal team from appealing,” reads a statement released yesterday.

It added that Nasheed’s lawyers informed the court of their intent to appeal four days after the conviction on March 13.

“The lawyers repeatedly asked the criminal court for the trial transcript, but the court refused to release it until the window for appeal had closed. When the transcript was finally released, it had been doctored and was full of irregularities,” the statement continued.

President Abdulla Yameen and other senior government officials have repeatedly advised Nasheed to appeal. Prosecutor general Muhthaz Muhsin told Minivan News last week that the High Court could accept an appeal despite the expiration of the 10-day period.

“I personally think this case has a high possibility of being accepted at the high court since Nasheed is a former president, since it is related to a judge and since it is a terrorism charge,” he said.

But Nasheed’s lawyers say the Supreme Court, in the same ruling that had shortened the 90 day appeal period to ten days, had removed the High Court’s discretionary powers.

The apex court in January had voided Article 42  of the Judicature Act which set out appeal deadlines and gave judges discretionary powers in accepting late appeals. The 90–180 day appeal period obstructed justice, the Supreme Court said. A new 10-day appeal period was set out, but the apex court was silent on procedures for late appeals.

Nasheed’s lawyer, Hisaan Hussain, told the press today there was no “legal basis” for the government’s stance.

She suggested the government was encouraging Nasheed to appeal because it could determine the outcome through its undue influence over the judiciary.

“The government is saying in the same breath that it does not meddle in court cases but that there is still the opportunity to appeal despite the 10-day period elapsing,” she said.

Nasheed wanted to appeal, but was effectively deprived of the right to appeal due to the criminal court’s “deliberate” refusal to release the transcripts until the 11th day after sentencing, she said.

The legal team reiterated calls for president Yameen to exercise powers under clemency laws to pardon and release Nasheed.

Lawyer Hassan Latheef claimed 10 countries had called for Nasheed’s release during the UPR session, warning that the Maldives could face international sanctions if the government does not comply.

Nasheed was found guilty on terrorism charges relating to the detention of criminal court chief judge Abdulla Mohamed in January 2012.

Amnesty called the conviction a “travesty of justice” while the UN human rights chief said Nasheed was sentenced after a “hasty and apparently unfair trial” and noted “flagrant irregularities.”

The special rapporteur noted “serious due process violations” such as denial of the opportunity to present defence witnesses, which led her to believe “the outcome of the trial may have been pre-determined.”

The European parliament meanwhile adopted a resolution condemning the “serious irregularities” of the trial while US secretary of state John Kerry said during a visit to Sri Lanka that Nasheed was “imprisoned without due process”.

“This is an injustice that needs to be addressed soon,” he said.

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Home minister vows to keep ex president in jail

Home minister Umar Naseer has vowed to keep ex-president Mohamed Nasheed in prison despite growing calls for his release by the international community.

“We will not free Nasheed. This government will not free him. I repeat it,” Naseer said in an interview on pro-government private broadcaster Dhi-TV on Thursday.

Nasheed is serving a 13-year jail term on terrorism charges relating to the arrest of a judge during his tenure. Foreign governments, international bodies including the UN and Amnesty International have criticized the trial for lack of due process.

The EU parliament in April passed a resolution calling for Nasheed’s immediate release and have urged member states to warn tourists on Maldives’ human rights record on their travel websites.

However, Naseer said the government “will not back down an inch” even if the main opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) is backed by 50 foreign governments. He went on to describe the MDP as a “lie factory.”

“There is no way will we hand the country to MDP. We will not back down an inch even if they come with 50 countries behind them,” he said.

“The government is built upon a very strong foundation. There is no way we will budge.”

Naseer said the MDP had planned to torch several buildings during a mass antigovernment protest on May Day. Nearly 200 people, including opposition leaders, were arrested when violent clashes erupted between the police and protesters.

Approximately 20,000 people had taken to the streets on May 1 over Nasheed and ex-defence minister Mohamed Nazim’s imprisonment.

Although the opposition has criticized the police for excessive force and brutality during the protest, Naseer congratulated the police force, saying they are the “most professional” force in the region.

He said the police had ten years of experience in controlling protests and condemned protesters for beating two police officers.

“MDP can only deceive others [the international community], not Maldivians,” he said.

The home minister once again denied allegations he had made of president Abdulla Yameen’s involvement in the brutal murder of MP Dr Afrasheem Ali in 2012.

Naseer had contested against Yameen during the Progressive Party of the Maldives’ (PPM) presidential primaries of 2013. When he lost, he held a public rally accusing Yameen of corruption, vote-rigging, illicit connections with criminal gangs, and said he saw a suspect in Afrasheem’s murder meeting with Yameen.

Naseer was expelled from the PPM when he refused to apologize for his remarks. He joined the Jumhooree Party (JP), and was given a cabinet portfolio after Yameen won the second round of polls with JP’s backing. The party left the ruling coalition in January.

“I said I saw a suspect in Afrasheem’s murder, after he was released, at the PPM office seeking a meeting with president Yameen. I did not say there is any connection between president Yameen and Afrasheem’s murder,” he said.

Naseer on Thursday said he had made the comments because of the “rivalry in the campaign,” and said the investigation does not suggest the president was involved in the murder at all.

In recent months, several defectors from the ruling coalition, including MP Ahmed Mahloof, have claimed president Yameen will know the truth behind Afrasheem’s murder.

In December 2012, then-police chief Abdulla Riyaz had said that Dr Afrasheem’s murder was politically motivated with a local gang offered MVR4 million (US$260,000) to carry it out.

The late moderate religious scholar and Progressive Party of Maldives MP was brutally stabbed to death on October 1, 2013 in a murder that shocked the nation.

Riyaz, now a JP MP, was summoned to the police last week when he said he would reveal details of Afrasheem’s murder “when the time comes” in an interview with a local TV station.

Hussain Humam, the chief suspect in the murder and the only person convicted of the crime so far, has alleged president Yameen and tourism minister Ahmed Adeeb’s involvement in the killing.

However, Adeeb accused the opposition of orchestrating Humam’s remarks in a “character assassination” attempt. Humam had said at the first hearing of his appeal at the High Court last month that president Yameen and Adeeb “will know best” the details of the murder.

Former president Maumoon Abdul Gayoom meanwhile told reporters that president Yameen should sue opposition politicians alleging his involvement in the murder for defamation and strongly condemned the insinuations.

 

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50 May Day detainees released, but may face charges

The police have released some 50 of the 175 people held in custody over a mass antigovernment protest on May Day, but it is not yet clear if they will be charged.

According to a police spokesperson, the 50 were arrested from the protest on suspicion of obstructing police duty and disobedience to order. The Prosecutor General will decide whether to file charges, he said.

The penalty for obstructing police duty for a first time offender is a MVR3,000 fine, lawyers have said. According to the main opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP), over 90 percent of the detainees do not have criminal records.

Some 193 people were arrested from the May Day demonstration after violent clashes erupted between protesters and police at dusk. The arrests are the largest number detained from a single protest in a decade.

The criminal court had granted a blanket 15-day extension of detention for 175 protesters, while 19 were released after police failed to present them at court in the 24 hours required by law.

The opposition had been protesting against the jailing of ex-president Mohamed Nasheed and former defence minister Mohamed Nazim, and government’s authoritarianism.

Speaking to Minivan News, MDP vice president Mohamed Shifaz said the 50 were released because the police could not handle the vast number of detainees.

“The Dhoonidhoo detention center does not have the capacity to hold so many people; they cannot provide enough water from their water plant, this is why they were released,” Shifaz said.

The MDP has alleged the detainees were kept in inhumane conditions at the Dhoonidhoo detention center. Lawyers say they have not had access to detainees, and say many are being held in overcrowded cells with no ventilation.

Police have also failed to provide medication at prescribed times and many are still wearing the same clothes from when they were arrested, lawyers said.

The police have dismissed the opposition’s allegations as “baldfaced lies,” insisting that cells at the Dhoonidhoo detention centre are up to standards.

The MDP has also alleged police severely beat several detainees at the time of arrest, including three of the nine suspects arrested over the assault of two police officers.

Video footage shows protesters tripping and kicking a Specialist Operations (SO) officer and one man hitting the policeman over the head with his baton.

Lawyers said the three were beaten at the police headquarters and police officers had threatened to kill them. The Human Rights Commission of the Maldives (HRCM) is investigating.

The MDP’s chairperson Ali Waheed, Adhaalath Party president Sheikh Imran Abdulla, and deputy leader of the Jumhooree Party Ameen Ibrahim remain in police custody. Imran was arrested at 11:00pm on May 1, while Waheed and Ameen were arrested in the early hours of May 2, under court warrants for intimidation.

 

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Half of Maldives resort workers sign petition for US$600 minimum wage

Approximately half of the Maldivians working in the tourism sector have signed a petition demanding that the government set a minimum wage of US$600 for resort workers.

Some 5,300 out of 11,426 Maldivians employed in the multi-billion dollar industry have signed the petition launched in April by the the Tourism Employees Association of the Maldives (TEAM).

The petition was circulated in 77 of the Maldives’ 108 operating resorts.

The Maldives does not have a policy on minimum wage and setting one will require an amendment to the Employment Act.

“Only three to seven percent of all tourism revenue is spent on employee wages. The average resort worker only earns US$ 250 per month,” said TEAM’s vice president Ahmed Saleem.

The tourism worker’s organization says setting a minimum wage of US$600 will be easy, claiming a resort “has the capability to earn enough revenue to pay off all wages in one night alone.”

“We know how much resorts earn. We know how much taxes resorts pay to the government. We also know how much is paid in wages, and that is very little compared to the rest,” said secretary general Mauroof Zakir.

The petition also asks the government to set an eighty percent quota for Maldivians in the tourism industry policy. Current laws require 50 percent of resort employees to be local, but the rule is not widely enforced.

Preliminary figure from the 2014 census indicated that foreign employees amount to 59 percent of all tourism employees, with 16,342 expatriate workers.

“Over US$358 million is transferred out of the country as wages for migrant workers annually,” said Mauroof.

He said implementing the quota would help achieve the current government’s pledge of creating 94,000 new employment opportunities within its five year term.

The petition also wants president Abdulla Yameen to honor a pledge to make shares in resorts available to their rank-and-file employees, a rarity in the country where resorts are owned by private companies controlled by a few individuals.

In February 2014, President Yameen said that by the end of the year, a number of resorts would be floating a portion of their shares to the public, and urged Maldivian employees to become shareholders.

The petition also demanded the government to pass a Trade Union Act through the parliament.

Deputy tourism minister Hussain Lirar said that the government will consider the petition.

“The industry consists of a lot of stakeholders, not only TEAM. We will have to hold discussion with all of them before implementing new regulations,” he said.

Tourism Minister Ahmed Adeeb said he could only comment on the petition once he sees its demands.

Meanwhile, TEAM members today said the organization will hold a rally on May 30, where “resort workers will come to Malé and present the petition to the relevant authorities.”

The petition is going to be submitted to the president, the vice president, the parliament, the tourism ministry, the economic ministry, the attorney general’s office and the youth ministry.

“We are willing to negotiate with the government, but if the government does not heed our demands we will use constitutional rights to strike as a means of protest,” said Mauroof.

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Sniffer dogs locate drugs at Maafushi jail

The police drug enforcement department and the Maldives correctional services conducted a joint operation in Maafushi jail yesterday using sniffer dogs to locate drugs.

Tuesday’s 14-hour operation was the first time dogs were used to search a Maldivian prison.

Superintendent Ahmed Shifan, head of the drug enforcement department, told the press today that the dogs located 25 rubber packets containing hash oil and five packets containing heroin.

A large number of mobile phones, SIM cards and chargers was also confiscated from the cells, Shifan said.

He added that police are working with the correctional service to prevent the entry of drugs and phones to the high security prison. Prison guards have previously been caught smuggling drugs for inmates.

The correctional services had also confiscated 200 packets of illicit narcotics during a search operation in November last year.

Home minister Umar Naseer brought in 16 puppies from the Netherlands in March to tackle the Maldives’ entrenched drug abuse and trafficking problem.

The dog squad or ‘K9 unit’ reportedly cost the government US$40,000. Custom-made kennels have been established at the airport, and the government has brought in British and Dutch trainers to train police officers on working with the dogs.

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Environment ministry launches waste management campaign

The ministry of environment and energy has launched a waste management campaign today to raise awareness among the public.

The ‘Saafu Raajje’ campaign aims to “promote public education and awareness on proper waste management and reduction of waste being thrown out on to the streets, parks and other public places and on to the sea,” the environment ministry said.

The ministry is organising a clean up event at the Usfasgandu area in Malé on Saturday at 7am.

Environment minister Thoriq Ibrahim launched the campaign at a ceremony held at the Hotel Jen in Malé.

In his remarks at the function, Thoriq said individuals have a responsibility to keep the Maldives’ fabled natural environment clean. The lack of a proper waste management system was one of the biggest challenges facing the country’s environment, he said.

Work is underway on establishing island waste management centres in 44 islands across the country, Thoriq said.

The environment ministry meanwhile sent out mass text messages today with an appeal to keep public spaces clean and free of garbage.

 

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Over MVR6m needed to provide water to 97 islands

The disaster management centre estimates that about MVR6.5 million (US$421,530) will be spent this year to provide clean water to 97 islands due to persisting shortages.

Deputy minister of defence Fathmath Thasneem told the press today that 97 islands have reported water shortages so far this year and the centre has delivered supplies to 76 islands.

The centre is able to provide water within two weeks upon request, she said.

The centre is presently filling community water tanks in eight islands and trying to provide supplies to five other islands, she added.

Thasneem appealed for islands to report shortages before supplies run out and advised communities to boil the supplied water before drinking as health problems have arisen.

The centre provided supplies to 77 islands last year.

Since its inception in 2004 after the Indian Ocean tsunami, which contaminated groundwater in several islands, the centre has been providing water to about 80 of the Maldives’ 188 inhabited islands each dry season for the last ten years.

While islands communities relied on groundwater in the past, consumption in most islands has increased above the rate at which groundwater is naturally replenished, according to the environment ministry, forcing communities to rely on rainwater.

In 2005, the government provided islands with large numbers of storage tanks to store rainwater.

However, with low average rainfall during the dry season, numerous islands are left in a drought every year, forced to rely on the disaster centre for drinking water.

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Commonwealth human rights NGO calls for police brutality investigation

The Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (CHRI) has called on the government to investigation allegations of police brutality and arbitrary arrest of protesters from Friday’s anti-government demonstration.

The international human rights NGO expressed concern with reports of police using disproportionate force against protesters during a crackdown on the 20,000-strong opposition protest. Nearly 200 protesters were arrested and 175 remain in police custody.

The main opposition Maldivian Democratic Party has also alleged the police severely beat three men arrested on suspicion of assaulting a police officer at the protest and threatened to kill them.

“The reports once again point to serious concerns regarding police excesses. Freedom of assembly is a fundamental tenet of participatory democracy and it is the duty of the government as well as the police to take measures to ensure people are able to exercise their right in a peaceful and meaningful manner,” said CHRI Director Maja Daruwala.

“Any action of the police in dealing with public gatherings must be strictly according to procedure established by law and must be held accountable. Allegations of excessive use of force must be investigated independently. Only then will Maldives move towards policing that is fair, non- discriminatory, lawful and efficient.”

The CHRI is an NGO with a Special Consultative Status with the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations.

Police have denied the allegations of torture. A police media official told Minivan News yesterday that lawyers for the detainees have not submitted complaints to the police. The human rights watchdog said it is investigating three cases of apparent brutality.

The CHRI also said high number of arrests raises questions over the legality of police action, as freedom of assembly is a fundamental right guaranteed by the constitution while the 2013 peaceful of assembly law assures protestors will not be detained or prosecuted for taking part in a demonstration.

The law also includes procedural safeguards on the dispersal of unruly or violent public gatherings with the use of force, the CHRI noted, including a requirement for police to issue at least three warnings.

The law states that the use of force must be legitimate, reasonable and proportional to the situation.

The NGO called for independent investigations by the police and human rights watchdog bodies to determine the legality of police action on May 1, including “a review of the grounds on which such large numbers have been arrested and detained”.

If investigations determine that excessive force was used, the CHRI said junior officers in charge of dispersing protesters as well as senior officers with supervisory responsibilities must face civil or criminal charges.

“CHRI calls for an end to police impunity that once again lies at the heart of deepening public distrust and urges the Government to provide accountable and just policing befitting a constitutional democracy,” reads the NGOs statement.

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