Former Deputy Commissioner of Police Mohamed Rishwan has denied findings of a Police Integrity Commission (PIC) investigation that he ordered police officers to forcibly cut the hair of several persons that were arrested during a special operation, conducted in July last year when he was in police force.
In a press statement issued to the media, Rishwan said that he had never committed a criminal offence during his time as Deputy Commissioner, and that he had only sought to be accountable for the actions of police as he was in charge of the operations conducted across the country.
Rishwan said he had served the nation for 18 years and that he had a right to defend his status and protect his reputation.
Rishwan denied giving the order to cut the hair of the detained suspects and insisted that he had cooperated with the investigation into the incident after he had learned of it.
The PIC launched an investigation into allegations made by several persons that were arrested during the special operation that they were mistreated and their hair was forcibly cut without their consent.
After the investigation, the commission publicised the investigation report which said that Rishwan was the person bearing responsibility for the action, as he had confessed to the PIC that he gave orders to cut the hair of arrested persons.
The PIC also alleged that Rishwan had violated the Police Act and said that the case had now been sent to the Prosecutor General to press criminal charges against Rishwan.
Rishwan resigned from his position in July this year. Speaking to local media about the decision at the time, Rishwan said his resignation was based solely on wanting to spend more time with his family.
Back in February, Rishwan was reported to have been temporarily suspended from his duties after allegedly failing to follow orders regarding a dispute over taking control of the Thulusdhoo Atoll Council’s office without a court warrant.
In July last year, police and the Maldives National Defense Force (MNDF) arrested almost 60 people, including children, in a joint special operation launched to curb the rise in gang violence.
Many arrested at the time claimed that their mobile phones and personal belongings were confiscated and not returned when they were released.
Almost everyone arrested in the operation was released without any charges.
A number of those arrested claimed they were mistreated and abused in custody, including being forced to remove their clothes, blindfolded and beaten.
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what is wrong with cutting a paatey's long unruly hair? huh? They use their own image as a terror weopon to terrorize other peace loving people so the police shall have every right to shave their heads, clip their finger nails and cleanse them with fire hydrants if they cannot be bothered about taking a shower once in a while.
awlaki! its human rights! just because a partey has long hair doesnt give the right to police to shave off his hair. how about this. why dont we do shave all mullas beard then?
@aa: paateys and mullas are very different! Paateys are wild and they need to be tamed!
Human rights is a Utopian concept we can do without for the time being. We are not non EU or NATO or anywhere near that. we are poor struggling country which is rightly terrorized by these paatey gangs, so we shall do something to contain this problem posed by paateys first. If we are arrogant and must act our high-ideals parts then we will never be free of this scourge of paatey's terrorism.
agreeing 100% with awlaki.
Just because some MDP activists got their hairs cut doesn't mean we have to take this guy down.
getting their hairs cut is the least punishment
@awlaki: paateys look intimidating and d mullahs dont? haha!! id take a junkie over an extremist mullah any day! u maldivians n ur double standards! also kudos to ur statement sayin dat 'human rights is a utopian concept we can do without for the time being'...i am really starting to doubt the maldivian education system...ah well, yet another child left behind! pick up a book once in a while instead of following d herd! 'baa baa' indeed!
This multi-party system has violated human rights of many good citizens in this country
@peeved
dunno how much you follow local news. but here in maldives nobody seems to benefit from so called 'human rights' except paateys. me being another child left behind would you care to enlighten me is this how it aught to be? That only paateys shall have rights and we the mullahs none? Make use of as many books as you can, but do enlighten me!
paateys or mullahs, doesnt matter...human rights are named so coz it applies to all humans...maybe it only benefits them coz most of the time its their rights that are violated...the govt is too scared of the mullahs to try anythin anyways...untouchables..and if the mullahs do not believe in human rights, y should they benefit from it anyway? they can always rely on islam for protection yes? also, having long hair and uncut nails is not a violation of any law and therefore does not give the police a free pass to 'groom' them...i understand that even the Prophet Mohamed had long hair.
how would ur society feel about the police asking ur women to remove their hijabs? they certainly intimidate me! also note that these people were not convicted of any crime and yet were beaten n mistreated...nobody's appearance should be a cause for such treatment. not in ur religion and not under ur laws.
What is important is not the letter of the law. Its the spirit. You can go on endless debates on any issue and the issue will remain unsolved. so to eradicate the paateys terror we need not give them human rights. Mexico is becoming a failed state precisely because of this. If they go after the drug cartels Rajapaksa style,then they will have eradicated their drug problem.
We shall do same like here. I think when Rajapaksa comes to SAARC meeting we shall send commisioner of police to get some hints on how to deal with paateys from him!
I know this man pretty well.....u can call him a hard core cop...non of the accusations in this article are surprising because even though i did not see, i can say hes capable of such doings.
I am only disapointed because even though he was loyal to his duties and government and the amount of atrocities he committed against the pple hu get arrested, he resigned due to a case of hair cut????
Oh blankly, no high ranking official in army or police have so far resigned on any other cause other than "spending more time with family" which is now a slogan meaning "resigned with pride before it was lost completely"...
Heard about habar shaukath? The leaves dont fall far from the tree.
In the end. He was an example army commander...but a bad policeman.He shouldnt have accepted that post when he knew all he wanted was green n black dye on his face.
I still respect this man. I called him SIR once
@ John P. I agree with your statement upto a point but Maybe Mr. Rajapaksa is nt the answer. I live in LK. I heard the cries in LK
@ peeved. M not sure how many books you have gone through but do catch up on some books about muslim culture, life style and beleifs. Now if you bark at me saying that being a mulla is vot i mean, den I would say you start learning english first.
Mullas r extremists like any other religion has who think of difrent prophet guidelines as musts.
Now if you read a democracy book side by side with muslim culture, blief and guidelines, then u will see that democracy does not lead muslims neither mislead if taken properly. however, it is a safe passage to freedom from the muslim ways for those who want it, under the name "human rights" which guides basic human wants and protects the bad and the good.
Which ever religion you are from (with respect)or bliefs you hold, take for example; circumcision.. now its a medical must for boys for various reason....we muslims have been doing that for years and years...as directed by our religion.do a lil browsing and let me know when and why non muslims started this....so u see, there are truths you or no one can step back from. no we also have our dark past...regrettable times. But if you read about both the books, theres a lot of copy pasting done on the human rights book from the quran and muslim books.
So my point is, I dont beleive that democracy is the answer to our guidelines. Maybe one day we will make one which would suit our modern lifestyle as well as the pple who wish to be let aside.
@maxed: u seem to have misunderstood...i am very well aware of what islam dictates...i am only arguing with the point that the mullahs n the paateys should be treated differently...also i do not categorize mullahs in with the muslims...islam for me is a respectable n peaceful religion which supports human rights and abhors extremism...although pls do not get me started on the issue of circumcision...its the muslim women who bear the brunt of a draconian culture...i suggest u browse on that...the book is right...but whether the followers of the book understand it n act accordingly is another matter...
Hehe...@ Peeved.
HUman rights...in the eyes of the law...all human beings are equal.
Democracy- Innocent until proven guilty so untill then, no bearded man is a mullah and no hair grown man with rings or not is a partey.
So please dont talk about treating diferent since ur such a supporter of Democracy dear. About women., in islam, its not a must for women. I think u STUMBLED UPON the wrong book or web page...do check man. LOL
whoa whoa! nobody has to stumble upon anything to learn of the mistreatment of women in islamic culture...ure opening a can of worms there my man...about female circumcision,most of muslim africa would disagree with u as they believe its derived from sunnah...u hv deviated from my point here. for a people who follow a religion that preaches equality, and practices democracy, u all sure do hold on to the stereotyping culture that has become a norm in the maldivian society..my point is...enough of the double standards!
FAREED cant answer 4 questions in one year ! ! ! ! doesn't say much for the "force"
Great article but it didn't have everthnyigI didn't find the kitchen sink!