Tag: Addu jail

Government to shut down temporary jail at Gan

The government will shut down the temporary jail at the Maldives National Defense Force (MNDF) base on Gan in Addu atoll.

The Gan jail was set up to accommodate prisoners after inmates at Maafushi jail started a fire and damaged several buildings last year. The arrangement came under criticism following complaints that prisoners were being kept in ‘cages’ and denied human rights, including contact with their families and basic necessities such as soap and clothes. In addition, the Human Rights Commission of the Maldives (HRCM) expressed concern that the jail was using military personnel to handle the civilian prisoners.

Press secretary for the president’s office Mohamed Zuhair said all inmates will be transferred from Gan to jails in Male’ atoll ”within the week”.

He said that some of the inmates would be getting parole while others would get to participate in rehabilitation programs.

”We have decided to shut down the jail for many reasons,” Zuhair said. ”As the government said, it was only a temporary jail.”

However Director General of the Department of Penitentiary and Rehabilitation Service (DPRS) Mohamed Rasheed said the department ”has not formally announced the closing of Gan jail” and that it was still operating.

”There are some inmates who have been transferred to Male’ for house arrest,” he said. ”They are people who have reasons, such as medical treatment.”

He refused to divulge further information, stating that “we cannot give full details about the jail and inmates.”

State Minister for Home Affairs Ahmed Adil said the home ministry could not add anything to what the DPRS had said, but noted only 39 inmates were left at the Gan jail.

HRCM spokesman Mohamed Rilwan said the commission had not officially received any information about the jail’s closure, and was not sure of the reasons as to why the government had decided to close it.

The organisation has previously visited the jail and expressed concern that inmates may have been treated “like prisoners of war” rather than civilian prisoners by the jail’s military staff.

“We have no problem with the MNDF guarding the perimeter [of the prison], but direct contact with the inmates should be by civil authorities. MNDF personnel will treat the inmates like prisoners-of-war, not criminals,” said HRCM President Ahmed Saleem at the time.

Saleem added that the prisoners were at the temporary prison because some inmates set fire to the Maafushi jail, and “there wasn’t enough space there. We don’t want to release them, but they need to be treated humanely.”

Brigadier General Ibrahim Mohamed Didi, in charge of the Gan MNDF base, responded to criticism of the jail by acknowledging that “this is a military training base, not a proper jail. We can’t provide facilities to the inmates for things such as family visits. As for matters such as toilets, we are doing the best we can, but they have to remember this is a military base and we can’t give them five star service.”

He noted that “the reason they are here is because they burnt the jail [at Maafushi], and a place was needed to keep them temporarily. This place was chosen,” he said.

A follow-up report on the jail is due to be published by HRCM soon.

Likes(0)Dislikes(0)

Prisoners at Gan “living in cages”

Prisoners in the Seenu Gan temporary jail, run by the MNDF, are being deprived of basic human rights according to an anonymous source claiming familiarity with the matter.

“[Inmates] are kept in small cages, four per block, they have to urinate in small water bottles, and if they want to use the toilet they are blindfolded, handcuffed and escorted by two guards,” the source told Minivan News.

Around 40 inmates were transfered to the temporary jail last October, after a fire caused by the inmates led to congestion in Maafushi jail.

When the prisoners were first transferred to the MNDF-run prison in Gan they were kept blindfolded and restrained for 72 hours, the source claimed.

“They have been here for three months now. It’s difficult to contact the outside world, and it was a long time before their families even heard from them. Inmates are being deprived of even the most basic necessities, even little things like soap, toothpaste and clothes are scarce. They feel they are not being given their rights.”

Contact with the outside world was minimal, “and they can’t see their parents, wives or children.”

The prisoners had previously gone on a hunger strike in protest at their treatment, the source claimed, and in response four were allegedly taken into a nearby wood and tied up for three days.

In addition, the source said the proximity to a military base meant the prisoners “hear gunshots all the time and can’t sleep at night.”

A prison cage at Gan
A prison cage at Gan

Most of the 40 inmates transferred to the prison were serving time for “small” convictions, “around five years”, the source claimed, and felt they should be treated as civilian rather than military prisoners as their court sentences had dictated.

Response

Minivan News attempted to contact the Department of Penitentiary and Rehabilitation Services (DPRS) to confirm the allegations but was referred to the MNDF.

Brigadier General Ibrahim Mohamed Didi, in charge of the Gan MNDF base, said “the reason they are here is because they burnt the jail [at Maafushi], and a place was needed to keep them temporarily. This place was chosen,” he said.

“This is a military training base, not a proper jail. We can’t provide facilities to the inmates for things such as family visits. As for matters such as toilets, we are doing the best we can, but they have to remember this is a military base and we can’t give them five star service.”

Asked how he felt about being given the prisoners to look after, Didi said “it is not an issue of us being burdened with prisoners. That there was no place for the prisoners after the jail was burned is a national issue, and the government asked us to look after them.”

Didi said the prisoners were monitored by the military “to ensure there isn’t any violence going on. We also have to keep in mind the safety of the people of Addu and international airport. The Human Rights Commission of the Maldives (HRCM) recently came and did a report.”

Ahmed Saleem, president of the HRCM said the organisation had been made aware of a problem at Gan jail.

“We have recently received reports of this as well, and we are investigating the case,” he said.

“We have no problem with the MNDF guarding the perimeter [of the prison], but direct contact with the inmates should be by civil authorities. MNDF personnel will treat the inmates like prisoners-of-war, not criminals.”

Saleem added that the prisoners were at the temporary prison because some inmates set fire to the Maafushi jail, and “there wasn’t enough space there. We don’t want to release them, but they needed to be treated humanely.”

Treatment of prisoners in the Maldives had changed over the last few years, he said, “and the police have a very positive policy now. But there are always going to be individuals [involved in mistreatment].”

Fathmath Afiya from the Society for Women Against Drugs (SWAD) said “we have received information about this as well,  and recently sent a letter to the parliament asking that the conditions in the Gan jail be improved.”

Likes(0)Dislikes(0)