Tag: 100 days

“The old posters fade, but we do not forget,” says Rilwan’s family

Family members and friends of missing Minivan News journalist Ahmed Rilwan have papered the walls of the Hulhumalé ferry terminal in Malé today (November 16) with new posters to mark 100 days since the journalist disappeared.

“The old posters fade, but we do not forget,” Rilwan’s sister Fathimath Shehenaz told reporters.

Rilwan was last seen on the Hulhumalé ferry in the early hours of August 8. He is believed to have been abducted at knifepoint at 2 am outside his apartment in Hulhumalé.

The posters of newspaper Haveeru’s August 22 front page carried the question ‘Was it Rilwan who was abducted in Hulhumalé?’ Family members and friends stenciled #PoliceMvFail over the posters.

“Today is the 100th day since he disappeared. But the state, the Maldives Police Services in particular, are yet to answer if it was Rilwan who was abducted in Hulhumalé,” Shehenaz said.

Police had arrested four people over the case in October. One suspect was held in police custody for five weeks, but the Criminal Court transferred him to house arrest this morning.

In a statement today, Rilwan’s mother Aminath Easa condemned the state’s failure to investigate her son’s disappearance and said, “the Maldivian state has failed to bring to justice the perpetrators of this heinous crime.”

“We do not believe the government has protected individuals right to life as per Article 21 of the constitution,” the statement continued.

Detailing the state’s failings in investigating the case, the statement noted:

  • The President of Maldives Abdulla Yameen has refused to comment on the case
  • There is no apparent progress in the Maldives Police Service’s investigation
  • The state has failed to investigate threats of violence and murder against journalists and non-governmental organisations who sought to uncover the truth behind the disappearance
  • Home Minister Umar Naseer’s contradictory statements on the case appear to show the state’s disregard for the case
  • The Majlis threw out a 5000 strong signature petition calling on the parliament to hold law enforcement agencies accountable

The state is obliged to investigate Rilwan’s disappearance and find him, the statement continued, arguing a family must not be reduced to begging the state’s institutions for answers.

“We, Rilwan’s family, will continue to remind the state of its responsibilities and will continue to do all we can to find him.”

Human rights NGO Maldivian Democracy Network released a report in September implicating radicalised gangs in Rilwan’s disappearance.

Discounting theories of voluntary disappearance and suicide, the investigation – conducted by Glasgow-based Athena Intelligence and Security – concludes the disappearance is likely to have been an abduction.

The report confirmed evidence of possible “hostile surveillance” at the terminal conducted by two known affiliates of Malé based Kuda Henveiru gang.

Former president and opposition leader Mohamed Nasheed in a tweet today said the police “are incapable of finding Rilwan because it has been taken hostage by gangs associated with ISIS [Islamic State in Iraq and Syria].”

Home Minister Umar Naseer has previously acknowledged involvement of criminal gangs in the case.

Rilwan’s family on October 29 accused the police of negligence and have filed a complaint with the Police Integrity Commission (PIC).

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EC awaiting budget from Finance Ministry for parliamentary polls

A budget of MVR25 million (US$1.6 million) allocated for conducting the parliamentary elections on March 22 has not been released in full to the Elections Commission (EC), commission members told MPs on the government oversight committee today.

At today’s meeting of the oversight committee – held upon request by three opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) MPs – EC President Fuwad Thowfeek explained that the commission had to make individual requests to the Finance Ministry to pay bills and settle other expenses incurred in preparations for the polls.

“We have to do this in a very unorganised, unsystematic way,” Thowfeek said, adding that in the past the commission could “limit and plan expenses” as it was working with the full budget.

An official from the Finance Ministry told Minivan News last week that there would not be any restrictions in releasing funds if the ministry was convinced the money was required for election preparations.

While Finance Minister Abdulla Jihad was currently out of the country, Acting Minister Mohamed Saeed informed the committee that he was unable to attend today’s meeting.

Committee Chairman MDP MP Ali Waheed read out a letter from the Finance Ministry assuring MPs that the necessary funds will be provided to the commission.

Additional funds required for the polls had not yet been released because the EC has not exhausted its budget for 2014, the letter signed by Permanent Secretary Ismail Ali Manik stated.

It added that the ministry would settle bills forwarded by the EC.

Pending

Thowfeek however informed MPs that in addition to funds earmarked for political parties and employees’ wages, the commission had MVR9 million (US$583,68) left in its 2014 budget.

The total amount owed for pending bills exceeded MVR9 million, EC member Ali Mohamed Manik noted, adding that the amount was insufficient for conducting an election.

Manik said the commission did not have the funds to hire 10 temporary staff to man its 1414 number, whilst it was also unable to hire speedboats from private businesses as they were no longer willing to raise the credit limit.

The EC found itself without enough petty cash to buy water on some days, Manik added.

Thowfeek meanwhile revealed that  in January a Singaporean hotel sued the Maldives High Commission over unpaid bills.

The hotel bill for election officials sent to Singapore for last year’s presidential election was later settled by the Finance Ministry, he said.

Moreover, Island Aviation refused to transport election officials and ballot boxes for January’s local council elections due to outstanding payments, Thowfeek said.

“So we had to scramble and call the Finance Ministry,” he said, adding that EC staff found it “very difficult” to contact senior officials from the ministry.

The EC’s work was “stalled” in such cases, Thowfeek said: “For example, when we couldn’t send ballot boxes to islands, we had to tell finance [ministry] and they gave an instruction to Island Aviation to raise the credit limit,” he said.

On schedule

Asked by MDP MP Visam Ali if there was any guarantee that the polls could take place on March 22, Thowfeek said the EC’s preparations were presently on schedule.

“However, the suspicion or fear is that while we are working without money at hand and in the hope that the funds will be provided, the certainty that we want for our institution is a bit low,” he said.

Thowfeek told Minivan News last week that the EC has so far been able to manage expenditures with cooperation from the ministry.

“Now we are using the office budget mostly. But the Finance Ministry is releasing funds as we spend,” he said.

EC Secretary General Asim Abdul Sattar meanwhile said today that the Finance Ministry had not replied to four letters from the commission concerning its expenses.

However, Finance Minister Jihad had given verbal assurances to commission members that funds will be made available, Asim said.

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Ministry of Environment and Energy reveals hundred-day roadmap and energy data publication

Ministry of Environment and Energy has launched a road map for the first hundred days of President Abdulla Yameen’s administration, joining several other government institutions that revealed similar plans.

Environment and energy minister Thoriq Ibrahim said the implementation of some projects related to waste management, land erosion, water, sanitation and energy and preparatory works for more projects will commence within the first 100-days.

He said an effort will be made to strengthen the legal framework and it’s enforcement. To achieve this goal, implementation of waste regulation and emissions standard regulation will begin while the Environment Police is also expected to start working within this period.

According to the ministry, the Environment Police Unit formed through a memorandum of understanding with Maldives Police Service will investigate violation of environment and biodiversity laws.

The “Maldives Energy Outlook for Inhabited Islands 2013”, a compilation of electricity data of Maldives’ inhabited islands was also revealed at the ceremony held to announce the road-map. While this is the first publication of energy statistics, the ministry plans to publish this data annually in the future.

In a foreword to the document the minister highlighted the importance of having a consolidated national energy database and regular publication of such information at island and national level.

The publication states that 481,577metric ton of fuel was imported to meet energy demands of the country in 2012; out of which 10,019metric ton was cooking gas, 337,531metric ton was diesel, 38,008metric ton was petrol and 96,019metric ton was aviation gas. And 39 percent of the diesel imported was used to generate electricity in inhabited islands, making it the biggest consumer of imported fuel. It states that 49.4 percent (247.17 Gwh/year) of electricity generated in the country are consumed in the congested capital Male’ City.

Maldives Energy Outlook for Inhabited Islands 2013 is available for download here.

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Inmates to work on Thilafushi road construction

Fifty inmates are to start work on a road construction project on industrial Thilafushi Island on Saturday as part of a re-integration program, the Ministry of Home Affairs has said.

Speaking at a Monday night event on President Abdulla Yameen Abdul Gayoom’s policies on youth development, Home Minister Umar Naseer said 70 percent of Maldivian prisoners fit into the youth demographic.

“There is no country in the world where detainees are not made to work. This administration’s aim is to make detainees in our jails work in various government projects. To bring them out of their current situation,” the Home Minister said.

When criminals remain in detention without work, society is deprived of major youth contribution, and forces the government to employ foreign laborers, Naseer said. Further, the state spends a high amount on prisoner care, while families of prisoners are driven to financially difficult situations, he said.

While the labour program is voluntary, detainees will be selected based on their disciplinary records while in prison and suitability for the work. They will be paid a stipend; half of which will be taken for development of the detention centers, and detainees will be given the choice to either save the remaining earnings or to send it to their families.

Naseer predicted that by the end of 2014, 400 out of 730 detainees will be working on some project, thereby preparing them for reintegration into society.

In order to prepare detainees for such work, vocational training programs will be introduced in Maafushi Island prison in the near future, he also said. The program will desensitize them to work environments, and hone a number of skills.

“Through these trainings we will be able to create electricians, air conditioning unit repairmen, and many other skilled workers. Our hope is that someday, society will benefit from services by those currently in our prisons,” he said.

DPRS to oversee detainee workers

According to the Home Ministry, the Department of Penitentiary and Rehabilitation Services (DPRS) are to oversee the program.

State Minister for Home Affairs Hussain Manik Dhon Manik said DPRS guards will keep watch over inmates and emphasized that special focus would be given to ensure that detainees do not have any opportunity to smuggle in illegal drugs or other contraband into the prisons.

“We will not be negligent in any aspect of guarding detainees. We will not allow any illegal acts to be carried out even in their work environments,” he asserted.

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