The Department of Penitentiary and Rehabilitation Services (DPRS) has reportedly decided to place cellular jammers in all the country’s jails to prevent inmates from communicating with the outside using mobile phones.
The DPRS announced that it would be purchasing cellular jammers in the edition of the government gazette dated 18th April.
Minister for Home Affairs Mohamed Shihab said he did not want to give any information about the cellular jammers as it was “the concern of the DPRS.”
DPRS Director General Mohamed Rasheed said he also would not give any information on the cellular jammers.
”It’s not good for us to tell you how many guns and bullets the police have,” he said. ”You also should know it is not very good to [publish] all the information on the armed forces and their work.”
However, Press Secretary for the President Mohamed Zuhair confirmed that the government was trying to establish cellular jammer in all the jails.
Zuhair said that it would make the jail security level more advanced.
”Many times we have noticed inmates receiving assistance from people outside,” he said. ”They have connection with people outside.”
He said after the cellular jammer was installed a land line would provided for the inmates’ use, ”so they can reach their family and relatives in a regulated manner.”
He told Minivan News that several jail officers were being investigated on suspicion of helping inmates to bring mobile phones and drugs into cells in Male’ prison.
“Three inmates and several jail officers we suspect [to be involved] have been moved to Dhoonidhu [prison] for investigation,” he said.
Inmates in Male’ Prison last week damaged their cells after jail officers seized mobile phones and other contraband.
Family members have claimed that inmates in Maafushi jail were badly beaten by jail officers in a prison riot on Sunday morning at around 12:15 am, after they were allegedly asked to go out to the prison yard and kneel on the ground.
A person familiar with the case told Minivan News that the riot was sparked when jail officers entered Unit 7 while everyone was sleeping.
”An Emergency Support Group (ESG) squad and the Maldives Police Service Serious and Organised Crime Unit, both in full riot kit, arrived in the middle of the night and demanded the inmates to go out to the yard and kneel down,” he said.
He said when the “barely awake” inmates refused to go outside ”they started confronting the inmates and beating them with their batons, and [the inmates] tried to defend themselves,” he said. ”It was shocking that they suddenly appeared like that in the middle of the night.”
He said claims by the Department of Penitentary and Rehabilitation Service (DPRS) that the inmates attempted to kidnap a jail officer were “all untrue.”
”It’s true that earlier three inmates in unit 8 jumped over the wall intending to jump into unit 7,” he said, ”but jail officers outside saw them and rang the loudest emergency siren.”
He said the three inmates ran back to their cell in fear.
”That was at the same time President Mohamed Nasheed had just left Maafushi after attending a ceremony held to open a water plant,” he said. ”If the jail officers came to take [the offenders] they could have just called their names and taken them, that’s how they always do it.”
He said that at least 15 of the inmates were badly injured in the riot, “but only three of them were taken to Male’,” he said. ”There are still six seriously injured inmates left in isolation cells in Unit 2, without medical treatment.”
He claimed that one of the inmates in Unit 2 had broken his arm, another had a swollen left eye and many others had bruises on them.
Injured inmate
”There is another man [in isolation] with internal bleeding – he was beaten up because he was the brother of another inmate who confronted jail officers,” the source alleged.
“He has first degree lung cancer and doctors have banned him from being imprisoned in any area where fresh air is not available. The Home Ministry would know about that.”
He claimed that jail officers “often complain that the current government does not provide them new shoes and uniforms like the former government.”
”They have a culture of torturing people,” he claimed. ”They want to have extreme power over inmates, so they pretend they do not have any control over the inmates, that’s what they want to show.”
Another person familiar with the case told Minivan News that the inmates in Unit 7 and Unit 8 were having an argument over a matter that started on Saturday afternoon and went on until that evening.
He confirmed that the three men in Unit 8 climbed over the wall intending to enter Unit 7.
“The jail officers on duty saw them and inmates returned back to Unit 8,” he said. ”But the officers rang the loudest siren, which can be heard throughout the whole island, to make it into a big issue.”
He said the jail officers entered Unit 9 that day around 6:30pm and left.
”Inmates in Unit 9 are very disciplined and well behaved,” he said. ”Jail officers went there and questioned them for about half an hour and left.”
He said that jail officers entered Unit 7 at midnight and demanded they go out to the yard and kneel down.
”It was alright to take those three,” he said, ”but they wanted all the inmates to kneel in the yard.”
The source said the riot last Saturday was a part of “a permanent war between inmates and the ESG.”
”The ESG force was established in 2007 and on their first day after training they beat up many inmates for no reason, shouting ‘We now have the power in Maafushi jail.”’
Head injury
He claimed that three inmates were brought to Male’ yesterday morning and admitted to Indira Gandhi Memorial Hospital (IGMH).
“But there are still inmates injured who have not received any medical treatment,” he claimed.
”The inmates have wives and kids at home waiting for them; a few are moved to Male’ and put under house arrest for rehabilitation and medication, but they are not really ill inmates. Inmates who really need medication are still inside here in the cells.”
The source also claimed rehabilitation and house arrest were drawn randomly by the DPRS ”like a lucky draw.”
He said many of the jail officers complained the current government was not providing them any services, either.
”They used to provoke the depressed inmates to [do bad things], saying things like: ‘Don’t wait like that, do something.’ The should be called the DRP-S,” he said.
He further claimed that neither rehabilitation or advice were given to prisoners.
”They only know how to beat [the inmates] up. That’s the only service they get [in prison],” he said.
The mother of an inmate hospitalised in IGMH told Minivan News that she received the information about the case on Sunday.
”I went to the Human Right Commission of the Maldives (HRCM) and told hem about the incident,” she said. “They called the DPRS who said my son was not injured.”
After contacting many government officials her son was brought to Male’ for treatment yesterday morning at 10:00 am.
”I was there when he arrived, his leg was damaged and he could not even walk,” she said. ”I called the DPRS and asked them to come and see for themselves whether if my son was injured.”
The mother of another inmate told Minivan News that her son’s arm was broken and he had been also was hit in the chest with a baton.
”Last night he had difficulties breathing, and still he has internal bleeding,” she said.
Miniavn News attended IGMH today to ascertain whether inmates had been injured and hospitalised as claimed, and confirmed the presence of three, in wards 7 and 10.
However the journalist was asked to leave by the police, despite DPRS staff outside previously agreeing that the inmates could be interviewed. ”It was is not visiting time and DPRS has requested you leave,” Minivan News was told. Minivan News observed that police and DRPS officers had removed their name tags.
Human Rights Commission of the Maldives yesterday released a press release after interviewing inmates and jail officers.
Inmate claims he was injured by a baton
HRCM’s report said that no one was seriously injured during the riot, and further claimed that the DPRS jail officers did not have control over the inmates.
”After the survey we conducted we noticed that DPRS officers had no control over the jail and the government had not provided the jail officers enough equipment,” HRCM said.
“The jail does not have any equipment to use in case of fire and there was no security equipment to control inmates out of control,” the statement said.
Press Secretary for the President, Mohamed Zuhair and Director General of DPRS Mohamed Raheed did not respond to Minivan News at time of press.
State Minister for Home Affairs Ahmed Adil said three inmates in Maafushi jail had tried to kidnap a jail officer who entered the cell to serve food to them.
Adil said that 15 jail officers were also injured during the riot.
”The DPRS did not enter the unit all of a sudden at midnight, ” he said. ”[Officers] tried to apprehend and isolate the inmates who tried to kidnap the jail officer.”
He said the inmates then confronted the jail officers.
”They threw stones at the jail officers,” he said, ”they threw anything their hands touched.”
Adil confirmed that six inmates were brought to Male’ for medical treatment.
”One of the inmates had a fracture in his arm and doctors said they needed to operate,” he said, ”but when doctors brought him inside the surgery room they noticed he was drunk and not in a good condition to be operated on, so he was sent away to be brought back later.”
Several jail officers are being investigated on suspicion of helping inmates to bring mobile phones and drugs into cells in Male’ prison, according to State Minister for Home Affairs Ahmed Adil.
“Three inmates and several jail officers we suspect [to be involved] have been moved to Dhoonidhu [prison] for investigation,” Adil said.
Inmates in Male’ Prison last week damaged their cells after jail officers seized mobile phones and other contraband. Adil said the trouble started after inmates refused to hand over a mobile phone.
”Jail officers found a mobile phone inside a cell, and they checked other cells,” Adil said. ”Officers then discovered drugs in another cell.”
Adil said that after the officers took the mobile phone inmates started to protest.
”They broke the flush tanks in the toilet and damaged other jail property,” he said, adding that the inmates were eventually controlled with the help of police.
He refuted a report published in Haveeru that claimed the protest was started after a “delay in financial transactions between a family and the Department of Penitentiary and Rehabilitation Service (DPRS)”.
Police sub Inspector Ahmed Shiyam said the DPRS requested help from police to control the inmates during the incident.
Nobody was injured during the riot, he noted.
Director of the DRPS Saudh Abdul Kareem meanwhile refused to comment on the incident, claiming that Minivan News “causes me trouble by always disturbing me to clarify cases.”
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.
The People’s Alliance (PA) has claimed the government was aware of a possible protest in Maafushi jail over prison conditions, but did not take any action.
Last year on 13 October inmates set fire on some of the cells and caused serious damage to the jail. Two staff jail were badly injured during the protest, along with several inmates.
Because of the damage to the jail caused by the inmates parts of the jail were no longer usable, and after the incident some of the inmates were transferred to a makeshift ‘cage’ prison at Maldives National Defence Force (MNDF) base at Gan in Addu atoll. The temporary arrangement recently drew criticism for its use of military personnel to handle civilian prisoners.
PA MP Abdul Azeez Jamal Abubakur claimed the government was aware of the situation at Maafushi jail after it was sent a letter by Human Rights Commission of the Maldives (HRCM), warning of a possible incident, but chose to ignore it.
”I’m saying this based on a report published by HRCM,” he said, claiming the letter was sent on 30 December following a visit to the jail by the commission.
”We cannot do anything more than inform people about these things,” he said, adding that he was not sure why the government had ignored the warning.
”It seems as though there are people more powerful than the president in this government,” he said.
Zuhair said the government had been watching the jails very closely, and ”if we had received information that such a thing was going to happen, would you believe we would wait without taking any action?” he replied.
”These are just people trying to gain fame in politics,” he said.
Jamal said he does not believe Zuhair, saying “he would not know what he is talking about.”
President of HRCM Ahmed Saleem said Jamal’s claims might be in a report, “but I cannot say whether they are true or not.”
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
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.”
The Department of Penitentiary and Rehabilitation Services (DPRS) has launched a rehabilitation program for the recently released inmates who were serving time for minor drug offences.
A special ceremony was held today to launch the program which was attended by many of the parents and participants of the program.
The State Minster for Home Affairs, Ahmed Adhil, said this was the first phase in a program designed to reintegrate the former inmates back into society.
“As part of the program we will instill religious spirit, change attitudes and behaviours, teach them how to solve everyday problems and prepare them to move back into society,” he claimed.
The first part of the program started today, with a lecture on religious spirit and education by Sheik Mohamed Rasheed Ibrahim Rasheed of Madrasathul Arabiyya.
The program is set to run for a minimum of three months, but the ministry has said it will try and extend it to six.
“We realise that some families are considering taking their sons overseas for treatment at their own cost, and as a ministry we will do all we can to make this possible,” Adhil continued.
“A huge responsibility has been bestowed on the parents. Without them we could not have started this program.”
Adhil also said that all participants would be subject to random drug tests.
Director General of the DPRS Mohamed Rasheed told the former inmates that “no matter what we say, it’s the parents who will influence you the most, that is why we have sent you back to them.”
Rasheed also highlighted that the program had been heavily criticised by many opposing groups, and that it was important for all participating members not to let themselves and the DPRS down.
Public outcry was sparked when news of the rehabilitation program was made public, with many linking it to a recent crime wave.
“No one we have brought to Male’ has yet been accused of any crimes,” said Rasheed. “It is important for the public not to point fingers until police formally charge someone.”
One of the most difficult obstacles the participants will face is acceptance back into society, he said.
“Many employers will not give people like this a second chance, and this is something we have to change – there can be no discrimination.”
There are currently 62 former inmates enrolled in this program, with more than 150 still awaiting clearance.
“The current criteria to be accepted into this program is that the offender must have no pending files at the prosecutor general’s office, and must have been in possession of three grams or less of narcotics when arrested,” said Adhil.
Speaking on the public concern about the inmates being in Male’, Adhil noted that “we are keeping close tabs on all the participants, and once a day, every day, we check to see if they are home.”
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