Tag: maldives

Proposal to lower legal age of juveniles to 16 may contradict UN convention, warns HRCM

The Human Rights Commission of the Maldives (HRCM) has met with opposition Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP) MP Ahmed Mahlouf after he presented an amendment to the law on protection of the rights of children redefining all persons above the age of 16 to adults.

Currently the legal age of children is all persons above the age of 18.

”In yesterday’s meeting the commission discussed the challenges that we may face in protecting and upholding the rights of children,” the HRCM said in a statement. ”The commission highlighted the importance of providing many of the rights mentioned in the law on protection of the rights of children to all persons below the age of 18.”

HRCM also requested that all persons below the ago of 18 should have all the rights mentioned in the UNICEF’s Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC).

Mahlouf presented an amendment to parliament to designate only persons under the age of 16 years as juveniles last week, lowering the age limit by two years.

”The purpose of changing the age is due to the significant increase in involvement of minors in crimes sinister in nature, and they cannot be sentenced to the full extent as they are considered minors,” said Mahlouf. ”Although they are considered as minors, they are sometimes very dangerous.”

Mahlouf said he has noted that children of the age 16-18 are more likely to be engaged in criminal activities because many finished their ordinary level education at the age of 16, and most of them did not prefer further studies which was leading them to the wrong path.

Speaking at a DRP rally Mahlouf said according to information he gathered to draft the bill, more than 600 young people have committed or have assisted committing assaults.

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MDP MPs refusing to accept committee allowance

Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) MPs are coming forward to declare they would not accept a Rf20,000 committee allowance on top of their salaries, if approved by parliament in the controversial MP Privileges Bill.

The MPs came forward in support of the party’s Chairperson MP Mariya Ahmed Didi, who yesterday withdrew her resolution to cut the allowance after the MDP Parliamentary Group voted in its favour.

“I was not at that meeting but I bowed to the party’s rules and took it out,” Mariya told Minivan News yesterday, adding that she had informed parliament that she did not wish to receive the allowance herself.

MDP’s internal branches were today criticising their parliamentary group following the decision.

Official website of MDP today carried a statement that MDP MPs Eva Abdulla, Hamid Abdul Gafoor, Ilyas Labeeb, Mohamed Gasam, Mohamed Nazim and Ibrahim Rasheed had also announced that they did not support the committee allowance and would not accept it.

Following Mariya’s withdrawal of the resolution opposition Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP) MP Ahmed Mahlouf resubmitted it.

“I was the first one to raise it before Mariya, but the Speaker [DRP MP] Abdulla Shahid went with Mariya’s changes, perhaps because of the factional fight [the opposition] is having. When Mariya withdrew it I resubmitted it.” Mahlouf said yesterday.

Increasing MP salaries by Rf 20,000 would be a huge blow to parliament’s credibility, Mahlouf said, “as the public do not believe we are working to their expectations.” he said.

MDP MP Ahmed Easa also said he did not support the committee allowance, but he said the MPs who did support the committee allowance “have reasonable points.”

”It’s true what they say, MPs have so much to do with their salary each month. People can’t even imagine how many calls a MP receives each day asking for help,” Easa explained. ”Anyone in trouble from a area will run to their MP first, MPs have to lend money for people in need of medication, even for reasons such as people coming to get money to pay the school fees of their children.”

Easa also explained that most of the MPs were not from Male’, which forces them to live in rented apartments.

”As everyone knows, a standard apartment’s rent in Male’ will be Rf10000-20000 (US$750-US$1500), and what about all the phone calls that MPs have to make, that costs an additional Rf5000 (US$375) each month, and what about their family, wife and kids?” he asked, claiming that MPs “have to spend most of their salary on society.”

”As for me, there has never been a month that I have saved any amount of money in my bank account. I am ready to provide any document necessary to prove it,” he said.

However, Easa said due to the economic condition of the Maldives it was not wise to increase the salaries of MPs or any other institution of the government.

”The government’s recurrent expenditure may rise over 80 percent next year which means there will be only 20 percent of the budget to spend on development,” Easa said.

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Criminal Court extends detention of MP Adil to 15 days

The Criminal Court last night extended the detention of Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) MP for Maradhoo Area Hassan Adhil to 15 days, following his arrest yesterday on charges of child molestation.

The Criminal Court asked police to hold Adhil in detention at a location determined by the Home Ministry, after a closed hearing to which journalists were denied access.

Police Sub-Inspector Ahmed Shiyam confirmed that Adhil’s detention was extended and that the MP was in police custody.

Yesterday morning an arrest warrant was issued by the Criminal Court for the arrest of the former opposition-aligned Dhivehi Qaumee Party (DQP) MP, who jumped to the ruling MDP in September last year.

Following the signing, Adhil claimed he had switched parties “not by anyone, I took this step because of the pulse of the people.”

”I believe that the government is conducting many development projects at a high speed, and I signed with MDP for the development of my area at the request of [my constituents].”

Leader of the DQP Hassan Saeed declined to comment on Adhil’s decision at the time.

Report of the investigation of the MP appeared in newspaper Haveeru last month, which based the story on a source within the Human Rights Commission of the Maldives (HRCM). However HCRM President Maryam Azra denied knowledge of the investigation and the story was removed from Haveeru’s website.

MDP Chairperson Mariya Ahmed Didi told Minivan News yesterday that if Adhil was found guilty “then of course the party should [take action]. The party does not condone such acts. But we should only speculate after the court has come to a verdict.”

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Laamu Atoll Council goes to court to reclaim assets

Laamu Atoll Council has filed a case in the Civil Court against the government in a bid to reclaim the council’s assets, after it was requested by the National Office to hand over the assets to other authorities.

President of the Council Ibrahim Naseer told Haveeru that the council had not yet handed over the assets,

“The Decentralisation Act stipulates that the assets, formerly under the Atoll Office, would be transferred to the council,” he claimed.

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Maldives climbs to fourth in “Seven Wonders” competition

The Maldives has climbed to fourth place in a competition to be named as one of a “New Seven Wonders of Nature” after having fallen down the rankings in January this year.

The Maldives Tourism Promotion Board (MTPB) said it had been working at international travel shows and other events to try and boost its standing in the competition, whose finalists are expected to be announced on November 11 this year by Switzerland-based organiser New Open World Corporation, according to Haveeru.

Along with the Maldives, 28 destinations are competing within the competition, which organisers claim is 90 percent based on international voting and 10 percent on responses from within the host nations themselves.

Back in January, the MTPB had said that the country had fallen to fifth place in the competition after having been previously placed third.

According to the event organisers, the “New Seven Wonders” programme is operated under two distinct arms as both a Foundation and a commercial operation.

Along with the not-for-profit New7Wonders Foundation, the group has claimed to have transferred its commercial operations to its licensing group, New Open World Corporation, which it has said is needed to cover costs.

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President appoints members of Maldives Broadcasting Commission

President Mohamed Nasheed has appointed members to the Maldives Broadcasting Commission following their approval by parliament.

Members appointed were: Badhuru Naseer, Aishath Hana, Mohamed Shaheeb, Mariyam Shauqy, Ibrahim Ashraf, Moomina Adam and Abdulla Shujau.

Letters of appointment were presented at a ceremony held yesterday, during which the President emphasised the important of the media to governance and development, and urged the commission to take no action that would constrain media freedom.

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Dhiraagu announces usage limits for billed data services

Telecoms provider Dhiraagu has said it will be introducing usage-limits for its postpaid billed services after customer feedback highlighted concerns over smart phone owners using “excessive data” amounts.

In a statement issued today, the company claimed that it will be issuing usage limits as well as sending SMS alerts detailing when certain amounts of a monthly data allocation had been used by each of its customers.

The limits being set by Dhiraagu will be based on each customer’s previous individual usage as well as their payment history, the company has claimed.

A spokesperson for the company was unavailable to detail which specific services the limitations will apply to at the time of going to press.

“This is an initiative based on feedback from customers and will facilitate customers to better understand and control their usage levels,” Dhiraagu said in a statement.  “Customers will also have the option to change their usage limit in discussion with Dhiraagu, should they wish to do so.”

According to the company, the new usage limit scheme is anticipated to be fully implemented as of June 2011, by which point contracted customers will receive an individually set usage-limit.  This limit will be accompanied by SMS alerts indicating when customers have used 70 and then 85 percent of their total data allowance.

Dhiraagu said that customers will also be able to check the balance of an individual bill as well as their usage limits by sending an SMS to 727 or calling 123 on their phones.

Rival telecoms group Wataniya was unable to respond to Minivan News at the time of going to press over whether it has considered implementing similar usage measures for its data services.

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Court warrant issued for arrest of MDP MP Adil on child molestation charges

The Criminal Court has today issued a court warrant for the arrest of Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) MP Hassan Adil.

A police spokesperson confirmed that court warrant was issued and for charges of child molestation, but declined to provide further information.

When asked about Adil’s future in the party should he be found guilty, MDP Chairperson Mariya Ahmed Didi told Minivan News that if Adil was found guilty “then of course the party should [take action]. The party does not condone such acts. But we should only speculate after the court has come to a verdict.”

She referred Minivan News to Parliamentary Group Leader ‘Reeko’ Moosa Manik, however his phone was switched off at time of press. MDP Parliamentary group’s former spokesperson MP Ahmed Shifaz said that he had heard about the incident but declined to comment on the matter.

Last month local newspaper Haveeru published an article reporting that police and the Human Rights Commission of the Maldives (HRCM) were conducting a joint investigation regarding child molestation allegations against a MP, which was later removed from the newspaper’s website.

HRCM President Maryam Azra told Minivan News at the time that she did not know whether the commission was investigating the case.

”We are trying to find out who it was that has told Haveeru so,” she said at the time.

Azra did not respond to Minivan News today at time of press.

Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP) MP Ahmed Nihan said he had no information on the issue.

Over the past year there has been an increase in reports of child abuse, including by high-profile individuals in the Maldives. Prominent Quran reciter Hussein Thaufeeq, who appears every day on TV and teaches Quran to children, was recently arrested on numerous child molestation charges.

Adil, a former member of the opposition-aligned Dhivehi Qaumee Party (DQP), did not appear in parliament today.

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Four Maldivians questioned for allegedly committing bestiality with a goat

Police have questioned four men from the island of Makunudhoo in Haa Dhaalu Atoll following allegations the men had sex with a goat.

Sub-Inspector Ahmed Shiyam confirmed police had questioned the men, but said no arrests had been made.

President of Makunudhoo Island Council Mohamed Rilwan said that all four of the men were aged between 19 and 21.

Two of the men were from Makunudhoo while the other two were originally from the neighboring island of Neykurendhu, he said.

‘’Lately the owner of the goat had been suspicious that something was wrong because he was finding things such as condoms on his farm where he keeps 50 goats,’’ said Rilwan.

‘’Early one morning when he went to the farm he saw two goats outside the fence and thought it was odd because there was no way a goat could have climbed over the fence.”

Rilwan said the owner then counted the goats and realised one goat was missing, and started searching for it.

‘’He found the goat near the beach, it was laid down on a cardboard paper. He observed that it could not walk properly and that its sexual organs were injured,’’ he said. ‘’He then reported the matter to the concerned authorities.’’

Rilwan said  more than five goats on the farm had been subjected to similar assaults.

‘’The owner has noted that he has frequently seen this group of four men near the farm. They have been selecting healthy muscular goats to do this,’’ he said.

Local newspaper Haveeru reported that the goat found on the beach had now died.

Haveeru also reported that the deceased animal was a billy-goat, however Rilwan told Minivan News that it was a nanny goat.

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