Category: Politics

Minivan News spends 15 Minutes with a Black Friday Detainees. For the safety of the interviewee, Minivan News has not published their name

Q1) You were involved in the 12-13th August pro-democracy demonstration. How did it feel participating in one of the few demonstrations in recent Maldivian history?

Exhilarating. That night, you felt things would have to change. With the government seeing so many people demonstrating, steps would have to be taken. But there were also anxieties that as soon as the crowd thinned out the government would break it up. So getting the crowd to stay there was very important. In the morning when it started to get hot it was a problem. If we could just have maintained the numbers until evening the government may not have been able to break it up.

Seeing all those people talking about the abuses they had gone through, asking for freedoms of expression, asking for changes and demanding accountability. That was the main thing. Everyone was smiling, thinking its amazing what’s happening here. There were even old women, young women, women wearing Buruga, men, children, everyone.

People from all walks of life were there, not just the elite. People I would never have expected to be there were there. We all felt part of something that was very big and monumental. It felt like we were making history. Never before had so many people, not asking, but telling the government that it needed to change and reform. As a people, Maldivians had been suppressed for so long, now they were responding to that suppression.

Q2) President Gayoom and Dr Shaheed have stated that there were incidents of violence at the demonstration. Did you witness any of these?

No, there was no violence, not from the crowd. Every time someone got angry, others would calm him or her down, sit them down and get them to speak to get it off their chest.

We did hear the story of the policeman being stabbed. We also heard about people being paid by Ablo Yameen and Ablo Shaheed to create violence to give an excuse for breaking up the demonstration and saying afterwards it was violent. I saw a group of young men armed with sticks and iron rods when I was going home. I heard that these people were paid by the government to cause trouble.

The government was waiting for violence so they could move in. As long as the rally was peaceful the government could not do anything about it, or at least it would have been more difficult to justify. Two days prior to this demonstration people silently gathered at the tetrapod monument in Male’. As no one said anything at this meeting and of course there was no violence the government couldn’t do anything. Ablo Yameen was paying people then to provoke the crowd but people just sat silently. That scared the government. This time they wanted to attack the people. They made sure they had an excuse.

At the time of the break-up, the crowd were waiting for answers to the demands the people made of the government. People gave a list of cabinet members who they wanted to resign and demanded President Gayoom’s resignation too. Moosa Jaleel told us to wait and he would come back with an answer to our demands. The government answered with the riot police.

Q3) Dr Shaheed has said that some of the detainees will be tried for inciting public hatred and acts of violence at the demonstration. What are your thoughts on this?

Nobody said anything that incited violence. I don’t know where the government is coming from on this. The rally was peaceful for over 12 hours. The only violence committed was by those paid by the government.

If asking for the resignation of President Gayoom is inciting people to violence then we did it but that is a ridiculous position for the government to take.

Sheik Fareed said that we were all equal and shouldn’t fear anyone but God. He talked about the youth drug problem. He said that the addicts are not criminals but victims. Zuhaira [Umar] talked about how government officials misused property and she read a statement from Anni [Mohamed Nasheed]. But at no point did anyone ask the crowd to do anything violent. In fact, people who spoke were asking the crowd to remain peaceful. Nobody wanted violence as they knew that if the demonstration turned violent it wouldn’t serve any purpose, the government would just break it up.

Naushad Waheed talked about his torture in prison. People who were there, at some point in their lives, their families, friends, someone would have been the victim of torture and ill treatment. People were asking for justice.

Q4) President Gayoom is adamant that there is no institutionalised torture in the Maldives. Do your experiences in jail over the last two months support his claim?

There was psychological torture, there was physical torture. Even though people treated me better than other prisoners, it was still really bad. You didn’t know what they might do to you.

We didn’t resist arrest but as soon as we were blindfolded and handcuffed the police started hitting us. The entire time we were at the NSS Headquarters in Male’ we were blindfolded and handcuffed. Initially we had our legs cuffed too. Some people had their hands cuffed behind their backs and their feet cuffed and were made to lie on their front. They were like that for nine hours.

We could see flashes as the NSS took photos of us. They were also really rude to us. The most frightening point for me was the boat ride from Male’ to Girifushi. You’re in open sea, blindfolded and handcuffed, with cops who hate you and are threatening to throw you overboard. I had nightmares about being thrown overboard for days afterwards.

Once we arrived at Girifushi we were kept blindfolded and handcuffed and made to sit outside on a chair. We were hit, beaten up, hit on our spines, people were made to lie on their backs and the police walked over them. Men had their genitals pulled. Women were sexually abused and threatened. The cuffs weren’t even taken off for prayers. We were called names the entire time. When they pulled the men’s genitals they said “Abdulla Hameed, Abdulla Hameed isthiufaa (resign)”. There was so much anger in the police. They took it very personally.

If we moved at all we were hit. I tried to cross my legs and was hit because of it. The guards would say “open your mouth” but as we were blindfolded we didn’t know what they would do. I asked them why and they said “Do you want water or not?” So I opened my mouth and they poured water in.

Fifteen hours after having arrived at Girifushi, our blindfolds were taken off. Eight days later our handcuffs were removed. We only had mats to sleep on. Lying with your hands cuffed with no pillow is difficult. You get pains all over you back, your neck and shoulders. You can sleep for half an hour or so but then you wake up because of the pains in you shoulders. You try and shift positions to get more comfortable but there really aren’t many positions to can lie in with your hands cuffed.

After our transfer to Dhoonidoo we were better treated. But at one point we heard the warden yelling at the top of his voice. A prisoner was refusing to go into his cell because he had asthma and would like a more open cell. The warden screamed: “We’re not the ones who have let go of our dignity and respect and come to jail. What do you want? An A/C room?” He then told the guards to get the prisoner into the cell any way they could and that he wasn’t going to take responsibility for any physical abuse encountered. It was quite a shock to us.

You find that your mind regresses in prison. You don’t have any coherent thoughts. There is no reading material, we were forbidden from have writing materials. There’s nothing for you to do. You’re in this tiny cell. You watch what the lizards are up to, what the ants are doing, you watch the hens. Two months seems like a long time but every day was the same. I was there for two months but I feel I’m still in August.

You wondered what they are going to do with you. There is nothing to charge us with. Nobody felt like they had done anything wrong. All the prisoners were so supportive of each other. They would never let your spirit go down. We felt part of a group who were on the same wavelength. Everyone was still chanting in jail for Maumoon’s resignation. The guards didn’t stop us.

Q5) When you were in prison, did you hear about what the MDP was doing to get you out?

We heard that the EU fact-finding mission had come and spoken to Ibra and Miryam Manike. We heard that the European Parliament had voted to impose sanctions on the Maldives – an aid ban and a travel ban on government officials. We also knew that the US Ambassador and Amnesty International had come. We knew that there had been a lot of international pressure on the Maldives.

Q6) How did that make you feel?

Very hopeful. Hopeful that there would be some changes to the system. With international pressure the government would be forced into making changes. It wasn’t so much for our own release that we were hopeful. With so much attention and the international community, finding out that the Maldives is not paradise but hell for the people who live there, we hoped that there would be political reform. At the same time, we felt that being in jail was achieving something, that we had a purpose. That lifted our spirits.

With all the international attention, the government was forced to look into the conditions of our treatment and there was a President’s commission into jail welfare. A month after that, we were given mattresses instead of reed mats to sleep on.

The international visits also led to medical care being provided to us. We got to visit a doctor, although there were unable to deal with any specialist complaints. However, there were some detainees, Ibra for instance, who were denied being able to go to Male’ for medical treatment. Ibra had a fractured hip. Just before the US Ambassador came, Ibra was sent to the hospital in Male’. Female guards were also brought to Dhoonidoo for the first time.

Most of the guards were really young. They understood that we were prisoners who were different but they didn’t really understand. But when the international diplomats started visiting us, the guards – and the warden in particular – got intimidated and started giving us better food so we wouldn’t tell the diplomats what the real conditions had been like. Of course, we told them what had been happening anyway.

The warden of Dhoonidoo kept trying to justify what he was doing. He was telling us that he was trying to fight to get us reading material. He was nervous. I think he realised he was probably abusing the next government. But he was very transparent, after all, this was the warden who had instructed his guards to get the asthma prisoner into their cell any way they could.

The guards would tell us that they’re not the NSS anymore, that they are the police. We said the name may have changed but the people haven’t. The guards were also frightened of being exposed.

Q7) If there was another pro-democracy protest in the Maldives would you be afraid to go, given what happened to you after the last one?

No. Things won’t change unless you are there at these protests. Things won’t change if you withdraw your support because of fear. Most of the detainees would go if there was another protest.

I don’t think anything will change in the Maldives without more protests. The more people that come out, the higher the chances of change. All these years Gayoom has been living under the illusion that he has 99% support in the Maldives. I think seeing all those people come out in August came as quite a shock. I think it really scared him.

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A protest is underway in London today to highlight the continuing repression of human and civil rights in Maldives. Protestors will focus on the plight and deteriorating health of about twenty pro-democracy detainees who are into a fourth day of a hunger-strike.

No actions or words would be used to distract tourists from visiting the Maldives, the U.K based NGO Friends of Maldives, who organized the protest said in a statement.

Participants and activists would distribute thousands of leaflets that include articles, photographs and graphics on the human and civil rights violations prevalent in Maldives.

Over fifty activists will oversee the peaceful demonstration, being staged to garner international attention to the Maldives government’s blatant and brutal stifling of dissent and opposition.

Prominent dissenters have been jailed and tortured, amidst growing concern that many are forcefully being with-held from contesting forthcoming general elections for which the application deadline is November 15th. Other high-profile opposition figures are actively being intimidated from running in the elections, polling for which is slotted for the 31st December, Friends of Maldives said.

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Following a three-week visit to the Maldives to assess the political climate in the archipelago the Washington-based National Democratic Institute (NDI) has called upon Maldivian President Gayyoom to “take concrete and prompt action” on democratic reforms above and beyond what the leader promised in June 2004.

A four-man delegation traveled throughout the Maldives at the invitation of the government and with funding from the United National Development Programme in October and met with a wide group of government representatives, pro-democracy activists, business and religious leaders and members of the Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP).

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The result of the last presidential election proved that we are a divided country. There is no glossing over this fact. But those who wanted to build a new, modern and democratic Maldives just edged out those who wished to remain in an old, stagnant country rooted in autocratic values.

The deposed ruling elite out did not go quietly. Unable to accept the change, they fought back. Perhaps it was a belief that the government, facing tough times due to the economy, could be toppled on the streets.

Opportunity knocks

Now, just over a year on, it is clear that we need a new way of thinking. There is a role for constructive opposition in any democratic system of governance. Some ascribe the Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party’s (DRP) behaviour to posturing in the lead up to their congress. Now, their congress is over and a new leadership is in place.

DRP Leader Thasmeen Ali and his team no longer need to pander to the bitter activists in his party. He should recognise that in order to mount a successful challenge for the presidency in 2013, he will have to shake off the ‘activist’ label that his party has inherited through their actions of the last year. The party needs to appear mature and able to contribute substantially to national development during this presidential term – even if another party is in power.

Similarly, the government also needs to recognise that even with their new recruits it does not have an absolute majority in parliament. There needs to be give-and-take for things to be achieved. President Mohamed Nasheed has already indicated in a recent radio address that his government stood ready to work with other political parties in the interest of the nation. Now is the time to follow through on this promise.

Bipartisan politics

The opening of parliament tomorrow presents a unique opportunity for all parties and factions within the Majlis to enact important and necessary legislation. Indeed, readers will recall that the most commonly heard statement on the campaign trail during the parliamentary elections was that successful candidates would work to implement the government’s manifesto programme.

MDP candidates argued that they should be elected to ensure that the government’s programme was implemented successfully. Opposition candidates said that they should be elected to ensure that the government did not deviate from their pledges. There was a broad recognition and acceptance of the merits of the pledges.

We cannot afford a repeat of the “do nothing parliament” that graced our television screens and blocked the airwaves during the last session. MPs pursued petty and vindictive agendas such as the motion of no confidence against the foreign minister. The public expects much more from their elected representatives. And it is high time that MPs woke up to this reality.

As parliament begins its sitting for this year, it faces two important bills. One needs to be passed because the constitution says so. The other is critical to ensure that the country remains fiscally solvent.

The first is the decentralisation bill. It is a constitutionally required piece of legislation and the stipulated deadline has already passed. Effective local government has always been a big demand in the islands. This is a demand that needs to be met early on in the parliamentary session.

Parliamentarians should not allow a petty debate over semantics (‘provinces’ or ‘atolls’) stand between the people and their ability to take on municipal functions at the island level, and local development programmes through economically viable units at the sub national level.

The other important item on the Majlis agenda is reform of the tax system. One of the governing party’s central pledges was to lower the cost of living. Regressive taxation, through customs duties should be replaced with a proper and efficient taxation system. Furthermore, the steep decline in government revenue last year needs to be reversed.

This is why it is of paramount importance that the business profit tax is introduced as soon as possible and an ad valorem tax for the tourism sector ensures that resorts are taxed per bed night on a percentage basis rather than the flat $8 that is currently the case. This reform is both more equitable and will see the fruits of the country’s largest industry passed onto the people.

No more distractions

Of course politicians need to work together on other issues. Malevolent political agendas outside of parliament also need to be put aside. The distraction of the regulation to allow foreigners to purchase alcohol in city hotels (in addition to resorts as is currently the case), is a case in point, and has cast a shadow over the country.

The hysteria that has been whipped up over an issue that would not really affect Maldivians’ lives, and actually go to improve it through the curb on alcohol by restricting the 800 “bars” in Malé, is nothing more than political posturing by those with a political, rather than religious, agenda. But the government’s position that it would not push ahead with the regulation if people did not wish for it was probably the sensible thing to do given the circumstances.

There is also the distraction of public sector restructuring. The Civil Service Commission (CSC) has been used as a political tool. It has been acting like a labour union and not been fulfilling its constitutional mandate. The Commission needs to be reappointed before August 2010 according to the constitution, and hopefully this will happen sooner rather than later so that the country can put this sorry episode behind it. A genuinely independent CSC needs to be appointed to guide public sector employees through these hard times.

Though there are signs that the economy will pick up this year, tough times are still not ever. Redundancies and wage cuts will inevitably hurt people. This is an opportunity for all in the political sphere to work together to ensure that the effects are mitigated. Job creation in the productive sectors of the economy is needed. The social protection system needs to work to ensure that no one falls through the net.

In short, it is time for politicians to put nation first – at least until 2013.

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