Tag: Anti-Torture Act

Home Ministry publishes list of detention centres four days after deadline

The Ministry of Home Affairs has published a list of detention centres four days after a legally-mandated deadline elapsed.

The home minister was required by the the recently passed Anti-torture Act to make public a list of prisons and detention centres where individuals are held in state custody.

The anti-torture law that came into effect on March 22 stipulated that the list must be publicised within 15 days (before April 6).

The document (Dhivehi) released last night (April 10) listed 29 detention centres, including the main prison on Maafushi island, the low-security facility on Himmafushi, the Malé jail, custodial centres in the capital and Dhoonidhoo as well as 18 police stations across the country.

An official from the home ministry told Minivan News yesterday that the delay in publishing the list was due to difficulties obtaining information from other state institutions.

Human Rights Commission of Maldives (HRCM) member Jeehan Mahmoud said it was “disheartening to know that the first violation under this act has been by the state.”

A reminder was sent to the ministry in writing before and after the deadline passed, Jeehan noted.

The HRCM would decide on a course of action following a meeting of the commission’s five members, she added.

Overall responsibility for implementing the new law was entrusted to the HRCM, which was legally empowered to take direct action against offences specified in the legislation.

The Home Ministry was also required to compile a report on the detention centres to be submitted to the HRCM within seven days of publishing the list.

Article 23(g)(3) of the act states that the penalty for failing to submit the report would be imprisonment of between one to three years.

Criminal offences specified in the law are to be investigated by the commission and forwarded to the Prosecutor General’s Office for prosecution.

Jeehan said the commission was monitoring the deadlines and would take action against violations, declining to comment on the possibility of pressing criminal charges against Home Minister Umar Naseer, who is currently overseas.

Opposition Maldivian Democratic Party MP Eva Abdulla – who submitted the bill to parliament – said it was “not surprising that a government controlled by the Gayoom family would be hesitant, even reticent to implement anti-torture legislation.”

Eva stressed that the law should be implemented on schedule in order to address the resurgence of custodial abuse.

“We are very concerned about reports of ill-treatment and physical abuse in the prisons again. The legislation needs to be implemented on schedule to address this and to address the feelings of past victims. Implementation needs to be flawless,” she said.

The HRCM meanwhile noted last month that incidents of torture in detention were on the rise while the UN Human Rights Committee in July 2012 said incidents of torture in the Maldives “appear systematic and systemic” and expressed “grave concern” over the low number of cases that have been investigated.
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Home minister violates Anti-Torture Act

Minister of Home Affairs Umar Naseer has failed to publicise a document as specified in the recently passed Anti-torture Act, thereby violating the articles of the landmark legislation.

The act – which came into force on March 22 this year – states that within 15 days of coming into force (6 April), the minister must publish a complete list of places where people are detained in state custody.

“The deadline for the home minister to make public all places of detention designated as such has passed, and it is disheartening to know that the first violation under this act has been by the state,” Human Rights Commission of Maldives (HRCM) member Jeehan Mahmoud has said.

The ministry has confirmed that it was not published by the deadline, with one official explaining that this was mainly due to issues with obtaining information from other institutions with such centres under their authority.

The official said that the ministry is attempting to publish the list by Sunday (April 13).

Within seven days of publishing the list, the ministry was also required to submit a report to the HRCM with the locations of all detention facilities and details of persons held in those places.

The ministry has assured that the compilation of this report is also currently in progress.

The act gives the HRCM overall responsibility for the implementation of the new law, empowering the commission to prevent all crimes underlined in the act by taking direct action.

Jeehan has said the commission is monitoring the deadlines and will take action against any and all schedules that are disrespected by the state.

According to the commission, a written reminder was sent to ministry as soon as the law came into force and another reminder sent yesterday. The issue will soon be discussed in the commission which will then decide on next course of action.

Criminal charges

Commenting on the issue MP Eva Abdulla, who introduced the bill to the People’s Majlis, said it was “not surprising that a government controlled by the Gayoom family would be hesitant, even reticent to implement anti-torture legislation.”

Eva said that the bill has to be implemented on schedule to address the return of torture to prisons.

“We are very concerned about reports of ill-treatment and physical abuse in the prisons again. The legislation needs to be implemented on schedule to address this and to address the feelings of past victims. Implementation needs to be flawless,” said the recently re-elected MP.

The HRCM noted last month that incidents of torture in detention are now on the rise. Minister Umar, who himself served in the National Security Service (police and military service under President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom) has previously been accused of torture himself – an allegation he has always denied.

Under Article 23 (g)- 2 of the Anti-Torture Act, establishing, running or maintaining a place of detention other than those publicly announced is considered a crime.

Article 23 (g)- 3 states that failure to publish the mandatory report to HRCM is also a crime. The penalty for both is 1 – 3 years
imprisonment. Criminal offenses underlined in the act are to be investigated and forwarded to the Prosecutor General’s Office for prosecution.

The HRCM did not comment on the possibility of criminal charges against the home minister, stating that the commission will address the matter as mandated by the act.

Umar Naseer was unavailable for comment as he is currently abroad.

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Majlis passes landmark Anti-Torture Act, Prisons and Parole Act

The People’s Majlis voted unanimously today to pass the landmark Anti-Torture Act, and the Prisons and Parole Act.

The Anti-Torture Act declares freedom from torture as a fundamental right, penalises torture, ensures respect for human rights of criminal suspects, and prohibits torture in state custody, detention in undisclosed locations, and solitary confinement.

The act further declares any statement obtained through torture to be invalid in a court of law.

Speaking to Minivan News, MP Eva Abdulla said she had proposed the Anti-Torture bill to “ensure we do not carry forward the legacy of torture” inherited from Maldives’ authoritarian past.

The Prisons and Parole Act specifies rules for the management of jails and procedures for incarceration, rehabilitation and parole as well as rights and benefits due to inmates. It also provides for the establishment of an independent Maldives Correction Service to oversee jails.

The Anti-Torture Act passed with the unanimous support of the 53 MPs present and the Prisons and Parole Act passed with the unanimous support of the 54 MPs present at the time of voting.

The UN Human Rights Committee in July 2012 said incidents of torture in the Maldives “appear systematic and systemic” and expressed “grave concern” over the low number of cases that have undergone investigation.

Freedom from torture

Eva said the bill had been formulated based on international human rights conventions the Maldives had signed on to, including the Convention to Eliminate All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), Convention on Rights of the Child (CRC), Convention Against Torture (CAT) and the Optional Protocol to the Convention Against Torture (OPCAT).

The act defines torture as any action committed by a state official, or committed with the orders, consent or knowledge of a state official to cause physical or psychological pain to obtain information or a confession or to inflict punishment or to threaten or humiliate an individual.

The act guarantees freedom from torture as a fundamental right of every individual even in circumstances of war or imminent war.

Physical torture includes but is not limited to beatings, kicking, applying heated rods, inflicting electric shock, restricting daily meals, and forceful feeding of rotting food, another individual’s excrement or substances unfit for human consumption.

Pouring heated oil or acid on a person, waterboarding, rape, forceful removal of teeth or nails and subjecting a person to drops of water at a consistent rate are also noted as methods of torture.

Acts of psychological torture includes – but is not limited to – blindfolding, threatening to harm family members, solitary confinement, long and continuous interrogation, public humiliation, physical abuse of family members in front of detainee, stripping, shaving hair, and branding skin.

Officials who torture people to death or cause insanity, memory loss or infertility will be imprisoned for 25 years.

The act further penalises those who use rape as a method of torture, or cause insanity and loss of memory with a prison sentence between 15 and 20 years.

Imprisonment between 10 and 15 years is set for causing loss of speech, hearing, sight, sense of taste and damage to the backbone.

In prosecution, a person who orders, helps, or assists in committing an act of torture will be treated the same as the individual directly responsible for the act of torture.

The act also affords victims compensation and mandates rehabilitation for perpetrators, torture victims and their families

The act mandates the state declare all detention centers in the Maldives, and submit monthly reports of detainees and inmates at detention centers specifying reasons for detention.

Parole

The Prisons and Parole Act proposed by Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) Rugiyya Ahmed was vetoed three times by former President Dr Mohamed Waheed.

According to MDP MP ‘Reeko’ Moosa Manik the bill was drafted after “thorough research” including visits to jails in Sri Lanka, Australia, and Singapore.

The act mandates the state allow inmates to pray, exercise, food, do laundry, meet family and provide reading and writing materials.

According to the act, subsidiary regulations must be compiled to ensure good food and basic medical services are provided. Jail buildings must have adequate light and ventilation and amenities.

Men, women, and children must be incarcerated separately and the state must ensure proper documentation of all inmates.

The act establishes complaint mechanisms, but also penalises offenses carried out by inmates during their incarceration.

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