The Islamic Foundation of the Maldives (IFM) today launched a new television channel said to be exclusively geared towards religious programming, local media has reported.
The channel, known as MVTV, is planned to be broadcast on a daily basis between 2:00pm and midnight across the country on both the Maldives’ digital terrestrial network and satellite services.
Speaking to Sun Online, Ibrahim Mohamed, who heads the station’s production and broadcasting, claimed that the channel would make use of sheikhs “not active in politics” to provide religious information to viewers.
MVTV is available presently on channel 155 of the Medianet service, according to the report.
Correction: The headline to this story incorrectly stated that the Islamic Ministry was launching the religious television station. The station is being started by the Islamic Foundation of the Maldives, which is unaffiliated with the government. Minivan News regrets the error and apologises for any confusion.
Sri Lanka-based supporters of the Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) have announced plans to protest outside the Maldives High Commission in the capital of Colombo tomorrow afternoon.
Organisers of the demonstration, which will be held between 4:00pm and 6:00pm outside the High Commission building on Melbourne Avenue, have claimed that hundreds of Maldivian expatriates and MDP supporters are expected to be in attendance.
The demonstration will focus on condemning the government of President Dr Mohamed Waheed Hassan, which the party contends came to power in a “coup”, for not facilitating early elections this year, as well as drawing attention to alleged examples of brutality conducted by police and military under the present administration.
The protest will also reportedly “express solidarity with friendly nations” and organisations like the Commonwealth.
The intergovernmental organisation, along with the EU, has called for elections to be held before the end of 2012 as a means to restore political stability to the country.
The Commonwealth had also asserted pressure on the Maldives government to reconstitute the Commission of National Inquiry (CNI) set up by President Waheed to probe the circumstances behind February’s controversial transfer of power.
Tomorrow’s protest comes one month on from a similar demonstration held by the MDP in Colombo. Local media at the time reported that a “few dozen” demonstrators had been in attendance during the previous High Commission protest.
Chaandhanee Magu is normally one of the busiest streets of Male’, the tourism hub of one of the world’s smallest and most congested capital cities.
Yet at 11:30pm on the night of Saturday July 14, an eerie silence fell on the street, save for the distant, tinny, looped sounds of the opposition Maldivian Democratic Party’s (MDP) protest anthem “Chis Chis Kolliyas”, and the synchronised thumping of police shields hitting tarmac.
The protests, or “MDP mayhem” as they have been reported in some local media outlets, reflect seven consecutive days of anti-government demonstrations by opposition party supporters.
Amidst widespread allegations in both local and international media of police brutality, attacks by protesters on police and reporters, and numerous arrests – as midnight approached yesterday, the demonstrations – much like the country’s wider political landscape – were at a stand-off.
Police reports
According to provisional police reports, nine people were arrested during the night’s protests. Two of those arrested have already been released. Police Spokesperson Sub-Inspector Hassan Haneef confirmed that one officer had sustained a minor injury during clashes, but insisted that there had been no use of hoses or rubber bullets. Demonstrators have meanwhile complained of the arbitrary use of pepper spray and mistreatment of female protesters by security services.
Front lines
For the anti-government protesters and police gathered at either end of Chaandhanee Magu last night, the street represents the current front line of political dissatisfaction that has followed the controversial transfer of power in February.
Chaandhanee Magu, usually a gauntlet of brightly coloured souvenir shops for tourist and resort visitors to traverse, was last night lined by members of the press and photographers, all waiting for an escalation in clashes between the two sides.
For a brief period leading up to midnight, almost a dozen or so police officers stood back from the barriers in an apparently restrained and hands-off approach. Meanwhile, anti-government figures standing behind the temporary barricades tried themselves to bring a sense of order to the mocking chants and heckling of the country’s security forces.
Despite the ongoing tension and traces of pepper spray in the air, the atmosphere verged between noisy and almost playful to sudden bouts of cat and mouse baiting of police by anti-government figures in the crowd.
Later that evening, when the semblance of self-enforced order broke down into the sporadic confrontations that have been the hallmark of the week’s protests, a handful of protesters were quick to have their say to foreign-looking media as they made their way past barriers set up by police.
“They are a coup government. This is a coup police,” said an animated middle-aged man making his way down towards police stationed at the junction of Republican Square down from Chaandhanee Magu. “We are completely unarmed here.”
Unarmed in a conventional way, perhaps. Throughout the evening Minivan News observed isolated cases of small bottles filled with water and shoes being thrown from the crowd at officers. On one occasion, a sandal narrowly missed several journalists clustered behind the barriers.
Provocation?
Either in playful defiance, or an attempt at provocation, some protesters in between chanting and singing were seen kicking over and hauling away temporary barriers, before security forces responded by entering the crowd to return the symbolic if ineffective structures.
The occasional charges by police into the crowd lead to chaos, with demonstrators screaming and photographers sometimes being caught in the fray as officers sought to breach the protest lines. During one such charge, a handful of protesters were taken behind police lines, the barriers were replaced, and the songs and chanting then continued as if nothing had happened.
Despite a willingness among some protesters to remove the barriers, other figures in the crowd appealed for caution, calling for order on the opposition’s front lines.
A local man dressed as an “alternative” police chief, decked out in his own bespoke yellow uniform, issued orders to the crowd over a megaphone, mocking police whilst chastising one protester for attempting to kick over a barrier.
Among the throng of younger and middle-aged protesters is Naeema, a mature yet highly-animated protester in her sixties wearing a cowboy hat, who surged past the barricades brandishing an MDP flag and shouting at police, to the mirth of the gathered crowd.
Several figures from the former government at points arrived to survey the scene, but the biggest reception at the barricades is for the country’s former President Mohamed Nasheed – now leader of the political opposition.
At the stroke of midnight Nasheed, who was reportedly pepper sprayed earlier in the evening after police attempted to drive back the gathered crowds, returned to the protest, creating a swell of excitement and applause from his supporters.
In an act of either statesmanly defiance – or perhaps awareness of calls from senior government politicians for his arrest – the former president stood silently just behind the barriers set up by police, as supporters attempt to incite a response.
“You can see how he energises the crowd I think,” observed a a young woman upon Nasheed’s arrival at the barriers.
As the “excitement” led to temporary barriers again pushed away back into the crowd, protesters began to push forward down Chaandhanee Magu towards the gathered police forces further down the road.
Nasheed nonetheless remained behind the metaphorical police banner, aware of the potential for arrest – a line, politically, he seems unwilling to cross.
With Republican Square part of a so-called “Green Zone” due to its close proximity to politically sensitive areas of the capital – including the President’s Office and military headquarters – stationed officers carried plastic shields that were used to push the gathered crowd back down Chaandhanee Magu.
As the crows increased, the dozen or so police on duty bolstered their numbers in order to drive back and split protesters at the junction. At the same time, military forces were seen preparing a water hose to disperse protesters – a measure not used that night.
With more riot police, the crowd was forced back along Chaandhanee Magu, Fareedhee Magu and Medhuziyaaraiy Magu by shield-carrying officers to a cacophony of howls and screams.
Government condemnation
The government today released a statement condemning “acts of violence carried out by opposition activists”.
According to the President’s Office, party activists led by former President Nasheed were charged with continuing to “harass” government officials and law enforcement officers.
“Similarly in the early hours of July 12 2012, MDP activists torched a newly built police station in Noonu Atoll Holhudhoo. A number of journalists have been injured by activists, including a television presenter from private broadcaster DhiTV,” the statement read.
President Mohamed Waheed Hassan said that efforts were underway to restore “restore peace and calm” to the Maldives.
“Those responsible for these cowardly acts will be brought to justice. We urge the leadership of the MDP to call an end to these violent acts being carried out by their activists and participate in resolving disagreements through the correct mechanisms,” the President said.
“Targeted intimidation”
The MDP meanwhile moved to condemn what it alleged was the “targeted intimidation of women protesters” by the government, amidst what it claimed were “five months of ongoing peaceful protests”.
The party, issuing an official statement, pointed to a number of arrests of prominent female party activists, including the MDP Youth Wing President Aminath Shauna this weekend, as proof of efforts by the government to deny the rights of protesters in the country.
“The MDP have previously highlighted and expressed concern over the current regime’s steps to narrow constitutional rights through their representatives in the legislature, and through collusion with a judiciary which is far from independent,” the party claimed in a statement.
MDP MP and spokesperson Hamid Abdul Ghafoor said the authorities practised a skewed justice.
“Not one single police officer has been charged or prosecuted in connection with the widespread police brutality in the country since Feb 7 [this year],” he said. “Over 700 protesters have been arbitrarily detained, and many of them tortured and sexually abused.”
As allegation and counter allegations continue to pass between the country’s two opposing forces, by 3:00pm this afternoon barricades were again being set up by security forces across the “Green Zone”.
Traffic meanwhile continued to pass by Chaandhanee Magu. Come tonight, the barriers will no doubt be back, as will the songs and chanting – all as if nothing has happened.
Ousted President Mohamed Nasheed has offered to apologise to former President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom for accusing him of masterminding the change of government, were the leader of 30 years to agree to participate in the the All Party Talks.
Gayoom this week accused Nasheed of continuously making baseless comments about him in both the local and the international community, particularly that the former President had masterminded a coup d’état on February 7.
“With such a person, I do not wish to sit down and negotiate,” Gayoom said.
In an official statement on Sunday, Nasheed argued that his allegations were based on public statements made by Gayoom and those closely affiliated with him politically, including his family members – many of whom now hold senior positions in government.
Gayoom had called for Nasheed’s government to be brought down prior to departing for Malaysia in January, a month before Nasheed resigned amid a police mutiny.
“President Gayyoom stated that it was time to bring an end to the government entrusted upon me in my capacity as President of Maldives, and that the instigation of the enterprise was already overdue,” Nasheed said.
Vice President of the Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM) Umar Naseer had stated on many occasions that he had personally staged and directed the coup from ‘the command centre’, noted Nasheed.
“Naseer also met with my Vice President, Mohamed Waheed Hassan Manik (now President) prior to the coup, along with all parties affiliated with the 23rd December coalition, and implored Dr Waheed to take over the post of the President of the Republic on the sole condition that having usurped the presidency, he would refuse to resign from his post,” Nasheed said.
Naseer, in an interview given to the SBS dateline program “Mutiny in Maldives” in February, explained in English what happened from the perspective of the opposition demonstrators on February 7.
“We had a small command centre where we do all the protests. I command from the centre and give instructions to my people. On the protesters’ side, we were informing and educating the police and army through our speeches and television programs,” Naseer said at the time.
Nasheed also highlighted that statements from MPs now aligned with the government, including PPM MP Ilham Ahmed and Dhivehi Qaumee Party (DQP) MP Riyaz Rasheed, had expressed gratitude to Gayoom and his family following the toppling of Nasheed’s government.
“Subsequent to my resignation under duress on the 7thof February, Ilham Mohamed, the Honorable Member for the Gemenafushi Constituency and Vice President of the PPM, and Riyaz Rasheed, the Honorable Member for the Vilufushi Constituency, stated in an interview on the day of the coup that all thanks for the accomplishment of ‘this enterprise’, referring to the staging of the coup and overthrow of the government, were owed to President Gayoom and his family,” Nasheed said.
The former opposition parliamentarians had attested that President Gayoom’s son, Farish Maumoon, was instrumental throughout that entire night to the operation which accomplished “the enterprise”.
Nasheed also noted that Gayoom’s daughter and family members, being “part and parcel to the current coup government”, had “attained high offices within it.”
Nasheed contested that Gayoom had never denied that he had committed these actions on behalf of the political party to which he belonged, nor had he condemned any of the “aforementioned actions”.
“Nevertheless, in a predicament such as we are, and whilst the people of Maldives are overtly distressed by what has transpired after the coup, I have come to know that President Gayoom has said that he would sit with me for dialogue in the event I apologise for stating that it was he who instigated this coup,” Nasheed said.
Nasheed said he “firmly believed” that the powers of the Maldivian state were vested with the Maldivian people and should remain as such.
“Given that not for a single moment would I wish for someone unelected by the people of Maldives to entertain himself as leader to them, I believe now is the time for all parties to come forth in support of the best interest of the nation and its citizens, and as such, if President Gayoom indeed was not party to the coup, I have decided to apologise to President Gayyoom for the fact that I said he was behind this coup,” Nasheed concluded.
Nasheed also thanked facilitator of All Party Talks, Ahmed Mujuthaba, for “all the efforts” exerted by him to ensure that the negotiations succeeded.
Mujuthaba last week announced that a series of “high level” discussions will be held between President Dr Mohamed Waheed Hassan and the leaders of the largest political parties, to try and relieve growing political tension in the Maldives after the failure of talks in June.
Gayoom’s “humble refusal”
In a rally held yesterday by the PPM in Addu City, Gayoom publicly spoke vigorously condemned his successor, claiming that Nasheed had a habit of defaming him to both the local and international community.
Gayoom said that he had “humbly refused” a request from United States Ambassador to Sri Lanka and the Maldives, Patricia Butenis, to take part in the All Party Talks along with Nasheed.
He dismissed Nasheed’s claims that the controversial transfer of power was a coup d’état, but commended the acts of the mutinying police and military officials.
Following Gayoom’s statement, MDP Spokesperson MP Imthiyaz Fahmy said that it was disappointing to see Gayyoom refusing to take part in the All Party Talks.
“With the country fallen into this grave state, it is saddening to see Gayoom refusing to take part in the All Party Talks, a negotiation that is highly related to the public interest of the country,” Imthiyaz said, and called on the former President to prioritise the country before his own personal interest.
Imthiyaz said the MDP was ready to come to the negotiation table, a sentiment matched by former MP and MDP Legal affairs committee member Ibrahim ‘Ibra’ Ismail.
“I was once the President of the MDP. Nasheed was the Chairperson then. We both were harassed and tortured during Gayoom’s regime because we were opposed to his rule,” Ibra said. “But even then we were both prepared to talk to Gayoom and his government on issues that concerned the national interest,” he recalled.
Government demands “sincerity” from Nasheed
President’s Office Spokesperson Abbas Adil Riza said he doubted the sincerity of Nasheed’s “official apology”.
“Nasheed needs to show his sincerity and his commitment to the talks. If things are to materialise from the All Party Talks, [Nasheed] needs to win back trust and support from leaders of the other political parties,” he said.
Riza claimed that several political parties had expressed concerns following the ongoing protests by the MDP, alleging that Nasheed was behind the ongoing political “violence” and that this would affect the talks.
“All the political parties have raised concerns with the government regarding the ongoing political violence in the country. Nasheed should stop taking his supporters to the street and bring an end to the ongoing violent protests in order to win back the trust and support of other political parties,” Riza suggested.
The last round of All Party Talks collapsed after parties aligned with the government presented the ousted Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) with a list of 30 demands.
The list included calls that the MDP “stop practicing black magic and sorcery”, “stop the use of sexual and erotic tools”, and “not walk in groups of more than 10”.
Riza said PPM council members had informed him they would come to a decision regarding Nasheed’s apology after a party council meeting, but said several were not in support of sitting down to negotiate with Nasheed.
“Some of them have said that they are not necessarily against talking to the MDP, but that it has to be someone else from the party and not Nasheed,” he added.
“The first thing on the agenda [of the talks] is to stop the ongoing political violence in the country. So there has to be peace to begin talks,” he said.
The Maldivian Democratic Party’s (MDP) protests in Malé escalated into violence over the weekend, with police and protesters sustaining injuries, arrests of demonstrators, intimidation of reporters, attacks on police, torching of police vehicles and vandalism of several businesses.
The MDP has vowed to continue street protests from July 8 until President Dr Mohamed Waheed’s administration is brought to an end. The party alleges President Mohamed Nasheed was deposed in a coup d’état on February 7 and has called for early elections.
Police arrested more than 65 protesters over the weekend, including the MDP Youth Wing President Aminath Shauna on Friday evening, and President Nasheed’s former legal advisor Hisaan Hussein on Saturday evening.
Shauna was released by the Supreme Court on Saturday at 9:00pm, after Chief Criminal Court Judge Abdulla Mohamed ruled that she not take part in protests for 21 days.
On Thursday night Minivan News observed dozens of policemen with riot gear and batons charging at protesters gathered at the junction of Chaandhanee and Fareedhee streets at approximately 1:00am. Protesters had heckled police and refused repeated police orders to disperse from the area. Some had also thrown empty water bottles at police.
A Minivan News reporter was among the crowd that ran before the police into the Sultan Park near the protest area. Pavement stones were flying in the park, but it was not clear who was throwing them. The crowd then gathered at the Chaandhanee and Majeedhee Magu junction afterwards. Minivan News saw a truck full of policemen driving through the streets at high speed, and individual policemen threatening and taunting protesters.
In a statement on Friday, police said MDP’s protests on Thursday night had turned into “riots” with protesters attacking law enforcement officers with chilli-infused water and pavement stones. A police officer was diagnosed with retrograde amnesia after being hit on the head, police claim.
The MDP have meanwhile accused President Waheed’s administration of systematically undermining civil and political rights, stating that police had “baton-charged demonstrators, used pepper spray and reportedly fired rubber bullets at unarmed protesters.”
Those arrested also included two disabled women, the MDP said.
“Demonstrators were always within demonstrating area set by regulation when police violently dispersed the crowd,” the MDP claimed. Police also attacked and beat President Nasheed’s former Human Rights Ambassador Mohamed “Go-go” Latheef and Malé Mayor “Maizan” Ali Manik, the party claimed.
The protest continues at the Chaandhanee Magu and Fareedhee Magu junction at the time of press.
Zero tolerance, say police
In a statement on Friday, police claimed protesters had attacked nine law enforcement officers “while a group of MDP activists brutally beating other security personnel and hitting his head has sent the officer into a retrograde amnesia.”
According to police, officers repeatedly asked the protesters to disperse from the area after midnight, but protesters threw glass pebbles and heavy lead balls at the police. The police were then forced to show “zero tolerance” to control the “atrocity” against them, the statement read.
Protesters attacked police media personnel, beat and threw a 45-year old man into the sea, broke the window panes of two shops, snatched seven mobile-radio sets and attacked several police officers, the police claimed.
In the attacks on the police, several police vehicles were damaged and one was set on fire, police added.
“The mob went on savaging the Male’ City streets, attacked another police officer and damaged his police motor bike near Masjid-Al-Zikra, a mosque in Majeedhee magu close to the junction. The mob also throwing pave stones to a police vehicle broke its window panes near the Le’cute’ shop, and a few yards east to the central junction on Majeedhee Magu scorched another motor bike,” the statement read.
Commissioner of Police Abdulla Riyaz on Twitter on Friday said he had instructed the Operation Commander to take necessary action to minimise injuries to police officers. Police Spokesperson Hassan Haneef explained Riyaz’s statement to local media Sun Online as meaning an instruction to take action to disperse protests at the first sign of violence.
Meanwhile, the Police Integrity Commission (PIC) on Thursday evening conducted breathalyzer tests on police on duty after protesters alleged police on duty were intoxicated. The test results were negative.
“Rights in full retreat”
The MDP has condemned police attacks on its MPs, journalists and protesters. MDP members have posted photos on social media depicting bruises and bloody cuts allegedly caused by the police.
MDP Spokesperson Hamid Abdul Gafoor said “civil and political rights are in full retreat. The police are responsible for daily human rights violations but nobody is ever prosecuted for these crimes – impunity has become the norm.”
The MDP has condemned the arrest of its Youth Wing President Aminath Shauna, and claims the arrest was “highly targeted.”
Police have denied any political motive behind Shauna’s arrest and said she was charged with obstruction of police duty.
Shauna’s arrest has meanwhile sparked international media attention with an online petition and a Twitter campaign calling for her release. A professor at Westminster College in the US state of Missouri has asked President Barack Obama to seek Shauna’s release. Shauna graduated from Westminster College in 2008.
“I fear for her safety and her life. I call on President Obama to demand her immediate release from prison and to grant her political asylum in the United States. She is the victim of political repression,” Professor of Political Science John Langton told newspapers the Fulton Sun and the Kansas City Star.
Criminal Court Judge Abdulla Mohamed released Shauna at 9:00 pm on Saturday evening on the condition that she does not take part in protests for 21 days.
Reporters attacked
Reporters of private television station Raajje TV, which broadcasts live coverage of MDP protests, told Minivan News they had to stop coverage after receiving death threats at around 4:00am on Friday.
Cameraman Ibrahim Riyaz said police had been verbally abusive towards him and journalist Zaidhullah Shabeen all night.
“When protesters set fire to the motorbike, a police officer came looking for us. Then we heard other police officers in riot gear say, ‘let’s beat them, destroy them and the station,’” he said.
Raajje TV reports its cameraman Mohamed Shanoon fell unconscious after being baton-charged and suffered a collarbone injury on Wednesday night.
The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has expressed concern over attacks on journalists from police and protesters. Private television station DhiTV’s presenter Mohamed Ameeth was mobbed by protesters on Wednesday evening.
Friday
Violence was relatively low on Friday night. Nineteen people were arrested, and police said they had dispersed protesters at 2:00am “without the use of force.”
However, protesters told Minivan News police in trucks had driven at them at high speeds causing protesters to scatter.
“We were afraid they would run us over,” protester Ahmed Yasmin said.
A social network strategy launched this week to promote the Maldives has been labelled a “travel-related farce” by media sources including Conde-Nast Traveller, while publications such as the Daily Telegraph newspaper report that the focus has been “hijacked” by anti-government protesters.
The scheme, launched on Thursday, was devised to have the country’s recently reintroduced “Sunny Side of Life” slogan become an online trend among Twitter users by playing up the destination as an unparalleled tourism paradise and honeymoon getaway.
However, global news reports soon emerged that “pro-democracy campaigners” were sabotaging the focus by using the “#SunnySideOfLife” hashtag to draw attention to alleged human rights abuses reportedly committed during the last few months by the government of President Mohamed Waheed.
“For example, the majority of the site’s users are using the term to post tweets such as ‘#SunnySideOfLife: Pristine white sandy beaches, crystal clear lagoons filled with blood of its citizens who are fighting for democracy’,” the Daily News of New York reported on Thursday.
Tourism authorities in the country have recently targeted the increased use of social media sites like Facebook to more effectively promote the destination. The promotion plan was adopted on the back of fears that global headlines following the controversial transfer of power in February have had a detrimental impact on the destination’s reputation.
Industry view
Contacted by Minivan News about the implications the week’s global media coverage might have on future social media promotions in the country – as well the more encouraging developments of the “Sunny Side of Life” Twitter campaign – Tourism Minister Ahmed Adheeb said he was about to board a plane and unable to respond at the time of press.
Speaking before embarking on his flight, Adheeb added that the question of a future direction of social media to promote the destination was something that “required thought”, but he could not elaborate further at the time. Calls to Deputy Tourism Minister Mohamed Maleeh Jamal went unanswered.
However, on the official Visit Maldives Twitter Page, the focus remained on encouraging guests at properties such as Bandos Island Resort and Spa to make use of the Twitter to play up the Maldives’ reputation internationally.
In addressing the coverage of the Twitter promotion, the opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) claimed that it was presently between “a rock and a hard place” in terms of balancing the economic need for preserving tourism in the country, whilst asking tourists to boycott the destination to pressure the government for early elections this year.
President Waheed, who maintains that he was constitutionally sworn into office on February 7 following the resignation of his predecessor Mohamed Nasheed, said that the earliest elections can be held under the constitution is July 2013. Political bodies and organisations including the EU and Commonwealth have recommended that early elections be held this year to bring political stability back to the country.
The MDP alleges that the elected government of former President Mohamed Nasheed was removed from office on February 7 by a “coup d’etat” sponsored by mutinous sections of the police and military. It claims the action was additionally financed by certain prominent local tourist tycoons, who control significant amounts of the nation’s wealth.
Earlier this month, former President Mohamed Nasheed told the UK-based Financial Times newspaper that he was calling for a blanket boycott of tourism in the country, earning criticism from a number of resort operators that employ a significant amount of local people alongside foreigners at their properties.
Though the opposition party claims to have no direct affiliation with the Twitter stunt, MDP spokesperson Hamid Abdul Ghafoor said the focus indicated young people were adopting a “grass roots” approach to highlight concerns about the present government’s legitimacy.
“There would appear to be no needed for a boycott of tourism with Twitter campaigns like this,” he claimed. “Whose bright idea was this? We are seeing the Maldivian youth raising their voices about democracy.”
Ghafoor contended that with such a high-profile focus seemingly now raising the issue of alleged human rights abuses around the world – the concept of needing a tourism boycott, as previously advocated by Nasheed, was a “lot less relevant”.
He pointed to his own observation of some Chinese tourists this week, who during a visit to Male’, asked local people about the reason for successive days of protests. These protests have at times escalated to violent clashes between anti-government protesters and police.
These clashes have led to allegations and reports of attacks on members of the media both reportedly by police and anti-government protesters, while certain reporters were also criticised for reportedly involving themselves in protests.
“Inevitable”
Fellow MDP MP Imthiyaz Fahmy added that it was “inevitable” that by turning to popular services like Twitter to promote the destination, the government would open itself up to allegations about police brutality and reported human rights abuses.
“This is not an MDP thing, but people here know very well what is going on and the role of some resort owners in sponsoring this ‘coup’,” he claimed.
Fahmy claimed that despite former President Nasheed’s recent calls for a boycott, the MDP at present was “undecided” if the party would support a blanket boycott or calls to avoid certain tourism properties in the country.
“We all know that some of the country’s richest people are behind the coup,” he said. “We need a focus that will help the Maldives bring about early elections.”
Despite the party’s claims, UK-based NGO Friends of the Maldives, which had previously been associated with a targeted travel advisory asking tourists steer clear of resorts owned by figures alleged to have a direct roll with brining the present government to power, warned against blanket action.
Friends of Maldives – established in the UK in 2003 during the autocratic rule of former President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom to focus on human rights issues in the country – raised concerns against seemingly penalising the entire tourist industry in the Daily Telegraph newspaper.
“A boycott is a last resort and I don’t think it has reached that stage,” Friends of Maldives founder, David Hardingham told the paper. “It’s easy for people like us to tell tourists not to visit, but it is the people of the Maldives who will suffer – and they are the ones who must decide whether it’s worth it. Any campaign for a boycott needs to be a grass-roots one.”
However, Friends of Maldives said it continued to reject the legitimacy of the present government of President Mohamed Waheed Hassan, which the Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) linked to Mohamed Nasheed has since alleged came to power in February through a “coup d’etat”.
“Jumper”
As of the time of going to press, the official Visit Maldives Twitter service’s last tweet – posted 18 hours ago – read: “Did you know that #Maldives was mentioned in 2008 Jumper movie …#SunnySideofLifehttp://www.imdb.com/title/tt048909 …”
A Maldivian government delegation sought to defend the Maldives’ human rights record and commitment to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) before the UN Human Rights Committee (UNHRC) on Thursday and Friday.
The delegation was headed by Home Minister Dr Mohamed Jameel, former Justice Minister during the 30 year rule of President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom and co-author of a pamphlet entitled ‘President Nasheed’s devious plot to destroy the Islamic faith of Maldivians’, published in January 2012. The publication was released at a time when the home minister’s 2300 member Dhivehi Qaumee Party (DQP) was in opposition.
Dr Jameel was accompanied by State Minister for Foreign Affairs, Dunya Maumoon – Gayoom’s daughter – as well as the Maldives’ Permanent Representative in Geneva, Iruthisham Adam.
Adam and Dr Jameel first read out a prepared statement from the government in response to a list of issues raised by the UNHRC. The delegation then faced questions from the panel, and were given the opportunity to respond.
Dr Jameel began by briefly outlining the current political situation in the Maldives, noting that the country had seen “significant changes” in 2012, which had “clear implications for rights protected under the Covenant.”
He explained to the panel that President Mohamed Waheed had ascended to the presidency according to the constitution following the resignation of President Mohamed Nasheed on February 7, emphasising that this elevation was “not a change of government, but a continuation of the democratic government.”
He acknowledged “disagreement over the nature and sequence of events that led to Nasheed’s resignation”, noting that this had “led Nasheed and his supporters to question the legitimacy of the new government” and “perpetrate the political tensions in the country.”
The government wished to accommodate peaceful protests, he said, but added that “Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) activists harass fellow citizens at odd hours of the day, conducting political demonstrations late at night without notifying authorities.”
“The government opposes acts of violence, but these protests are violent in nature,” he claimed. “Despite this police have used minimum force and shown maximum restraint.”
The UNHRC panel began by observing that the government’s list of issues had been generated in 2011, “and as the delegation has conceded, there have been dramatic developments since then.”
The panel noted that the statement given by the government had noted that the provisions of the covenant were not treated as law in the Maldives unless incorporated, noting that this “could give the impression that the covenant did not have the status of law, whereas it has the status of international law.”
While Ambassador Adam had claimed that the Covenant was “adequately domesticated” in the Constitution, “we cannot say it has been adequately domesticated when the grounds for discrimination do not include language and religion,” the panel stated.
The panel also raised the “sweeping provision” in the Constitution that no law could be enacted contrary to a tenant of Islam, and what the ramifications of this were for the government’s commitment to the Covenant.
“Forms of torture and ill-treatment included the use of suspension, lengthy use of stocks, being beaten with fists and bars, kicked, blindfolded, handcuffed, the dislocation of joints and breaking of bones, being forced to roll and squat on sharp coral, being drowned or forced into the sea, being put in a water tank, being burned, having bright lights shone in eyes, being left outside for days while tied or handcuffed to a tree, being covered in sugar water or leaves to attract ants and goats, and in one case being tied to a crocodile’s cage. Sexual assault and humiliation was also routinely used. Many testimonies suggest the only limit to the torture and ill-treatment imposed was the imagination of those whose control they were under,” a UNHRC panel member read.
“Surely this is something that refers to before 2008,” the panel member stated, “but the [present government] has a responsibility to pursue and investigate and bring to justice if these [allegations] are indeed correct. If there is an atmosphere of impunity regarding torture, I would offer that the present situation would not be treated differently by those who would want to violate the office they have, and abuse those under their care, or those going peacefully about their business.”
The panel member also raised the question of judicial flogging, and asked the delegation to identify what crimes were punishable by flogging, and to what extent it was used.
“You say you identify a notion of discrimination because more women are flogged than men, but you don’t say what you intend to do about it,” the panel member stated. “To me the easiest way to do that is to abolish flogging.”
Another panel member questioned the delegation as to whether Dr Waheed had been publicly announced as Vice President before the 2008 Presidential election, whether his name had appeared on the ballot, and asked why the government had retreated from promises of early elections.
“I am aware that at the time of the transfer of government – and I’m not using the word some others would use – there was an undertaking for new elections to be held this year. And that undertaking was withdrawn. I can certainly see why, whatever the constitutional provision, there is a sense that a retesting of the government’s legitimacy might be a good thing,” the panel member stated.
He asked Dr Jameel to clarify a contradiction in his opening statement, in which he claimed that the government was involved in diagloue to generate consensus and that as a result Maldivians had been able to “enjoy their daily lives as normal”, but then went on to describe violent protests “which are making normal life in the capital impossible.”
The panel member also raised the “troubling role of the judiciary at the centre of many of these [recent] developments.”
“The judiciary – which is admittedly in serious need of training and qualifications – is yet seemingly playing a role leading to the falling of governments,” he observed.
One panel member raised the concern of the current push in the Maldives towards the cessation of the practice of the President commuting the death penalty.
Another, identifying himself as from a Muslim country himself, asked whether the universal recognition of rights guaranteed by the ICCPR “ fully coordinated” with the status of religion accorded by the Constitution in the Maldives, and asked about the ramifications this had towards the Maldives’ treatment of women, criminal sanctions, citizenship and freedom of expression.
“We face two trends: the universalist trend which places emphasis on human rights, and the cultural trend, which places the emphasis on Islam. The problem lies in reconciling the two,” he said, asking whether the Maldives was seeking the “modernist” approach of reconciliation.
In response, Dr Jameel said human rights in the Maldives streamlined with Islam “with very few minor exceptions.”
“The general acceptance of Muslim jurists is that Islamic human rights were there long before we subscribed to universal human rights,” he said.
“We declare that there are no apparent contradictions between human rights and what is there in the Maldives constitution.”
Dr Jameel observed that on the subject of religion and language, “As I highlighted, the Maldives as a Muslim country clearly stipulates that the rights enshrined in the constitution should be interpreted in a way that do not contradict Islamic Sharia.”
The Maldives was, he said, a homogenous society that spoke one language, was of one race and one religion, and therefore there was “no debate in society calling for the removal of the provisions [relating to] language or religion, because of the characteristics of the Maldives as a society.”
Dunya noted that “being a Maldivian and being a Muslim have become interlinked and inseparable. There is strong public support for the Maldives being and remaining a 100 percent Muslim country. Indeed if anything, the introduction of democracy have intensified [this perception].”
There were no plans to withdraw the reservation, Dunya said: “This is not dogmatic government policy or preference, but rather a reflection of the deep societal belief that the Maldives always has been and always should be a 100 percent Muslim nation. Laws, like government, should be based on the will of the people.”
On the subject of justice, Dr Jameel emphasised that any citizen could bring their grievances before the judiciary, over which the executive had “little or no influence.”
Regarding the “very useful” REDRESS report containing torture victims testimonies, “I admit we have a history that we need to go back and study to avoid what we have witnessed in the past. That was the reason why the Maldives has always been a very progressive society,” Dr Jameel said, noting the improvement in consecutive constitutions.
In the light “of many unfortunate incidents in the Maldives”, Dr Jameel noted, the Maldives had no period of limitation – and that therefore incidents such as the Addu and Huvadhoo uprising and the 1988 coup would also be open for victims to seek compensation.
“As a government we believe we have an independent judiciary. We leave it to the victims to invoke these instances before a court of law,” Dr Jameel said.
“We are a very poor country. Our budget for this year is in deficit, therefore any question of compensation will put the rights of many others in jeopardy.”
On the subject of the death penalty – which Dr Jameel himself has previously stated the government was prepared to implement – he noted that the Maldives was in the grip of a crime surge “which worries many”.
“For example, this year alone we have had seven murders in a country of 350,000. The country is really struggling to address this surge of crime. It is in the light of these occurrences that this debate has occurred. There is no official government discussion, but there are scattered debates across every section of society,” Dr Jameel said.
On the subject of the transfer of power in February, “if the Commission of National Inquiry (CNI) find any criminal offences that occurred during that period they may draw these to the attention of the relevant institutions, such as the Maldives police services,” Dr Jameel told the panel.
“There are various elements, this includes the judiciary and the Prosecutor General, who can order a probe if it warrants a criminal investigation, and compel police to investigate. HRCM is also mandated to investigate and appear in trials,” he said.
HRCM had already produced a report on the former President Nasheed’s “abduction of the Criminal Court judge”, Dr Jameel noted.
Imams across the Maldives yesterday used their sermons to question the president’s authority to grant clemency for criminals sentenced to death in the country, local media has reported.
The Sun Online news service reported that yesterday’s Friday prayers were used to raise the issue of death sentences in the country, with imams saying that only the heirs of an alleged victim could decide on pardoning a criminal sentenced to be executed.
According to the report, the sermons also stressed that failure to implement the death penalty over fears of human activists or “powerful countries” was not allowed in Islam.
Speaking to Minivan News earlier this month, Chief Justice Ahmed Faiz said that more than 10 people have been sentenced to death in the past decade, out of which, none have been executed by the authorities tasked with the role.
For the past 60 years, the state has been commuting these death sentences to life imprisonment (25 years).
“The Maldives judicial system is constructed in a manner whereby another body is responsible to enforce the punishment once it is decided by the court,” Faiz explained.
“Not only in murder cases, but if all court verdicts on all crimes are properly enforced, we will see the [positive] outcomes of these verdicts,” the Supreme court judge noted.
A motion related to death penalty is currently being reviewed in parliament which, if passed, will make the enforcement of the death penalty mandatory in the event it is upheld by the Supreme Court. This development would bring to an end the current practice of the country’s president commuting such sentences to life imprisonment.
President Doctor Mohamed Waheed Hassan has committed to provide dialysis services to two further regions of the Maldives this year after unveiling a new treatment unit at Hulhumale’ Hospital on Thursday (July 12).
Speaking during the unveiling of the Hulhumale’ Dialysis Unit, which forms part of a focus to expand the availability of healthcare services beyond the capital, the president said plans were in place for providing similar services to two unspecified areas of the country with higher populations, according to the President’s Office website.
The new unit to Hulhumale’ hospital was said to have been provided by “private individuals”, underlining what the President’s Office called a “priority given by the government to provide such services without entirely being dependent on the government budget.”
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