Tag: maldives

Egyptian army shows signs of supporting protesters against Mubarak

Journalist Robert Fisk writes from Cairo in the UK’s Independent newspaper that tank crews deployed to contain riots had begun to show solidarity with the demonstrators.

“Their crews, in battledress and smiling and in some cases clapping their hands, made no attempt to wipe off the graffiti that the crowds had spray-painted on their tanks. “Mubarak Out – Get Out”, and “Your regime is over, Mubarak” have now been plastered on almost every Egyptian tank on the streets of Cairo. On one of the tanks circling Freedom Square was a senior member of the Muslim Brotherhood, Mohamed Beltagi.

“Earlier, I had walked beside a convoy of tanks near the suburb of Garden City as crowds scrambled on to the machines to hand oranges to the crews, applauding them as Egyptian patriots.

“However crazed Mubarak’s choice of vice-president and his gradual appointment of a powerless new government of cronies, the streets of Cairo proved what the United States and EU leaders have simply failed to grasp. It is over.”

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Eco film festival concludes in Male’

An environment-themed film festival was concluded yesterday after screening three days worth of films and documentaries from around the world for local audiences in Male’.

The Safe Planet Film Festival was held in collaboration between a number of parties including the Ministry of Housing and Environment and Indian environmental NGO Terre Policy. the festival showcased a number of films concerning environmental issues ranging in length from 30 second shorts to hour-long documentaries at the capital’s Olympus Theatre.

Other event organisers included the High Commission of India, the Maldives National Broadcasting Corporation (MNBC) and the Maldives Entertainment Company.

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Maldives inaugurates Italian university outpost

The Italy-based University of Milano-Bococca has inaugurated an outpost specialising in marine research in Magoodhoo, Faafu Atoll.

The site, which was opened yesterday by President Mohamed Nasheed, is said to reflect government aims to offer wider educational opportunities for pupils and students in the country.

Speaking at the launch, Nasheed claimed that beyond opening up opportunities for international students to study marine life in one of the world’s “most spectacular tropical ecosystems”, the outpost would also allow Maldivian students to benefit from international-standard educational facilities without leaving the country.

The University of Milano-Bicocca was established back in 1998 and offers students a number of courses ranging from disciplines such as economics and sociology to mathematics, physics and natural sciences.

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Arabs: The masters of their fate

Just two weeks ago, the authoritarian regime of Hosni Mubarak seemed as firm and immovable as the great timeless pyramids that symbolise his country of Egypt.

Today, the whole world is watching in suspended disbelief as tens of thousands of Egyptians openly defy Mubarak’s security forces – ignoring curfews, braving tear gas shells and water cannons, and tearing down giant posters of the powerful dictator that ruled over them for 30 years.

In parts of Cairo, law enforcement has melted away before the protestors, and the army has been called in to wrest back government control as Mubarak faces the largest public uprising since the Egyptian monarchy was overthrown in 1952.

Meanwhile, a sudden clamour for freedom is also posing serious challenges to despotic regimes elsewhere in the Arab world.

This unlikely revolution began with a humble Tunisian fruit-seller, Muhammad Al Bouazizi who, in desperation after policemen took away his wooden cart, doused himself in petrol and struck a match that would ultimately set the whole Arab world ablaze.

In the ensuing outrage, citizens rose up in revolt in Tunisia leading to an ignominious end to the 23 year old autocratic regime of President Zine Al Abidine Ben Ali.

The Tunisian president fled to Saudi Arabia with his family and close colleagues, where a Royal palace in Jeddah has reportedly been opened up to accommodate them.

A fascinating phenomena observed in this revolution is the manner in which a suppressed nation, long accustomed to arbitrary apprehensions and torture, could suddenly be overwhelmed by a single incident of tragedy – one moment of injustice that sent tremors throughout the population, leaving them seemingly immune to both pain and fear, as they took on a powerful, oppressive machinery.

The story is one that is intensely familiar to Maldivians. In 2003 the beating to death of Evan Naseem, an inmate of the Maafushi prison, sparked the first widespread riots in Male’.

As the unrest spread across the country, President Gayoom imposed a State of Emergency for the first time. However, it did little to bottle the popular grassroots revolution that successfully led to a new democratic constitution being adopted in 2008.

Egypt, on the other hand, has officially been in a State of Emergency since 1967, except for a brief 18-month period in 1980 and 1981; the Emergency was last extended by 2 years in May 2010.

Over 17,000 people are detained under the Emergency law in Egypt, and an estimated 30,000 political prisoners exist in the country. The Islamist Muslim Brotherhood, by far the most popular organised opposition party, has been branded a terrorist organization and remains banned in Egypt.

Surprisingly, even the Muslim Brotherhood appears to be struggling to catch up with the current mass protests that remain largely leaderless, but unabated in strength despite a death toll approaching 90.

For five whole days after the protests first started, no senior state official made a public appearance – an indication that the government was grappling with a response to the quickly unfolding revolution on the streets.

When Mubarak finally addressed the public in a pre-dawn speech aired on National television, it was with an air of hubris that characterises the 82 year old despot – he refused to budge, and sought to shift the blame to his nominal government cabinet, which he promised to replace by Saturday.

These actions are unlikely to satisfy the Egyptian protestors, and there might be more confrontation as Egypt prepares to flex its military muscle.

Another country living in a state of Emergency since 1992 is Tunisia’s giant neighbour, Algeria. In the aftermath of Tunisia’s successful revolution, protests have broken out all over Algeria – the largest uprising in two decades in a country that has witnessed a series of smaller protests in recent years.

Thousands of demonstrators have also poured out onto the streets of Sana’a in Yemen, the poorest of all Arab countries, where half the population lives under $2 a day, that nevertheless spends 40 percent of its state budget on maintaining its military force – the second largest in the Arabian peninsula after Saudi Arabia. President Ali Abdullah Saleh of Yemen has been in power for 32 years; he also controls and heads the powerful military.

Indeed, the military has often been referred to as the backbone of Middle Eastern dictatorships. It has been the final instrument of power for several despots – notably illustrated by the fact that all four Egyptian Presidents since the overthrow of the monarchy have been military figures.

Hosni Mubarak’s grip on power may now depend entirely on the loyalty of the Egyptian military – the tenth largest in the world – of which he is the Commander-in-Chief.

It would be a loyalty well-earned, for Mubarak has spent generously on his armed forces; of the $1.55 billion aid granted by the US in 2010, $1.3 billion was spent on the military. Egypt is the second largest recipient of US military aid after Israel.

A leaked cable from the US Embassy in Cairo, nevertheless, suggests that the Egyptian military has gotten weak and fractious over the years.

While many analysts had deemed it unlikely for the military to side with the protestors, it is noted that the military prevented police from firing on demonstrators on Saturday – and soldiers could be seen publicly fraternising with demonstrators at the Ramses square in Cairo. The decision of the military could indeed decide the course of events in Egypt.

A loyal armed force helped the Iranian government crush the largest mass demonstrations since the Islamic revolution, in 2009. The pro-democracy movement, also known as the Green movement, threw up some vivid images of protestors trampling over posters of Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Club-wielding basij, a volunteer militia owing allegiance to the Ayatollah and the Revolutionary Guard, raided University campuses and broke up crowds while armed forces shot civilians in the street. Eighteen months later, the Iranian resistance appears to have been overcome.

On the other hand, intervention from the military saved the Tunisian revolution. The military refused to obey President Ben Ali’s orders to fire upon protestors, and reportedly even deployed army helicopters to protect demonstrators from government snipers positioned on rooftops. General Rachid Ammar, the head of the Tunisian military, also declined to occupy the newly vacant seat of power.

Winds of change are already blowing through the streets of a jubilant Tunisia, as the caretaker government has released hundreds of political prisoners, and vowed to lift restrictions on Islamist and Communist parties that were banned under the former regime.

It might be premature to say if this marks the beginning of a domino effect reminiscent of the serial collapse of the Communist regimes in Eastern Europe. Tunisia might very well be the Arabia’s answer to Poland, whose example led to a series of revolutions across Hungary, Czechoslovakia, Bulgaria and Romania, ultimately leading to the collapse of a once mighty Soviet empire.

The shared nature of Arab grievances and their mutual solidarity was strongly visible. Thousands of protestors in Amman, the capital of Jordan, were heard chanting “Egyptian nation, our beloved, your redemption is near!”

Protestors in Cairo carried Tunisian flags, a symbol of hope for a region that has for decades been plagued by corrupt, autocratic and oppressive regimes propped up and armed by rich Western interests; a region where many citizens have never experienced political freedoms.

Speaking to BBC radio, an Egyptian blogger reiterated that “All they’re asking for is for their voices to be heard, for their dignity to be respected and to have a humane life, and to have political freedom.”

Egypt, being the region’s foremost cultural, intellectual and political hub, will likely set an example for people in other countries like neighboring Libya, whose citizens have been living under the dictatorial rule of Muammar Al-Gaddafi for 42 years.

In the words of Victor Hugo, ‘One can resist the invasion of armies, but one cannot withstand an idea who time has arrived’.

Clearly, the time for change has arrived for Tunisia, and hope exists that Egypt, Algeria, Yemen and other Middle Eastern dictatorships will be dismantled and see the power returned to the people.

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Police urge peaceful rhetoric from MPs amidst local election violence

Police are urging caution within the rhetoric used by the country’s politicians amidst concerns that numerous “small” clashes between followers of the ruling Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) and opposition Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP) in recent days could escalate into major violence.

Police Sub-Inspector Ahmed Shiyam said that a number of violent clashes between apparent supporters of the MDP and DRP had been brought under control by police recently, including confrontations on Kaandehdhoo in Gaafu Dhaalu Atoll yesterday following the arrival of former president Maumoon Abdul Gayoom.

Gayoom, who is also the honorary leader of the DRP, was said to not have been caught up in the confrontations, according to party representatives.

However, the attacks have led to claims from prominent DRP MPs such as Ahmed Mahloof that a small number of their counterparts within the MDP deliberately incited their own supporters to injure opposition party members. Mahloof claimed that there was also video evidence to prove support his claims, although the MDP has denied any of its members were involved in encouraging the violence.

Sub-Inspector Shiyam said that no arrests had been made following the clashes on Kaandehdhoo, which lasted “a few hours”, and that injuries recorded as a result of the confrontations were not thought to have been serious, however he said that similar violence in recent days had affected power supplies on some islands.

Shiyam said that the police service was not blaming any individual political party for the apparent outbursts, but conceded there had been a number of cases of violent confrontations, particularly between MDP and DRP supporters of late ahead of next month’s local council elections.

“We would call on the leaders of political parties to ensure they have control of their people,” he said. “They have to be aware that small clashes can turn into big confrontations.”

Upon arriving on Kaandehdhoo yesterday along with Gayoom and former DRP Deputy Leader Umar Naseer, Mahloof claimed that around 200 MDP supporters had shown up to protest alongside supporters of the opposition party.

“We understand that MDP supporters want to come out and raise their voices, but we cannot accept violence,” he said. “They [MDP supporters] attacked Umar Naseer and I have two broken fingers.”

Mahloof claimed that the trouble started when Gayoom had arrived on the island as part of his campaign strategy for the upcoming local council elections, before MDP supporters began to move towards where the former president was staying.

This movement was thought to have led to confrontations between rival supporters, sparking the violence that followed.

“Mr Gayoom himself didn’t see anything,” he said.

Mahloof alleged that MDP MPs Mohamed Qasam and Mohamed Nazim were involved in directly inciting the violence that took place on the island and that he had video proof to support his claims and would be consulting police over the issue.

“We are saddened to say that the MPs arrived with a group of thugs,” he claimed. “These are people who should try and do things in a democratic way.”

Ultimately, Mahloof said that although clashes between supporters had begun before Gayoom’s arrival on the island, the DRP were not a violent party and he himself did not want to encourage any further attacks from its supporters in the run up to the local council elections and beyond.

However, he suggested that there was only so much some supporters may be willing to take.

“We hope that the MDP leaders and the president will discourage supporters from again planning to attack us,” Mahloof claimed. “There are so many people who would be willing to die for Mr Gayoom.”

Allegations that MDP MPs were directly involved in the violent confrontations were strongly denied by party spokesperson Ahmed Haleem, who claimed that he was certain that Gasam and Nazim would not have supported attacking opposition members.

“They are going to talk with supporters and try to encourage non-violence within the party,” he said. “They are responsible MPs.”

Haleem claimed that the DRP was itself always trying to “put the finger of blame” on the MDP to try and insinuate there was violence within the party.

However, the MDP spokesperson alleged that it was the development of factions within the DRP between supporters of current leader Ahmed Thasmeen Ali and former head Gayoom that was leading to a number of violent confrontations during the election campaign.

“The DRP have been responsible for violent acts against Thasmeen from within Gayoom’s faction of the party,” he claimed. “The MDP is not a party of violence.”

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Letter on Addu City

It makes me sick to the stomach that, aside from the prevailing Male’-Supremacist attitude of most residents in the capital, people take the “case” of Addu’s possibility of gaining a ‘city’ status to score political points [http://www.meedhoolive.com/?p=8763] in an otherwise non-issue.

Sure, our Constitution and laws are problematic, not least thanks to the “opposition” Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party and its shady allies which formulated them. Now, no thanks to Maumoon’s feudal system, we have inherited a “labyrinth of bureaucracy” which is hindering efficient governance and making sure Maumoon’s ominous 30-year agenda — of keeping ordinary Maldivians poor and ignorant so that his cronies can siphon away our riches — is alive and continuing, much to the horror of ordinary Maldivians.

While most Maldivians are OK with turning a blind eye on more grievous problems like child abuse, why can’t for once in this instance, people like Jumhooree (Republican) Party’s Ibrahim Muttalib, who is also a Member of Parliament, keep his mouth shut when we know that making Addu a city is for the benefit of one of our Maldivian communities who have suffered several decades of economic neglect. Addu’s potential itself should suffice it to gain ‘city’ status because that is exactly what it is going to become in the next three years.

When politicians like Muttalib try to make an issue where there is none – just because the Maumoon regime inspired laws allow so many bureaucratic hurdles – I get really pissed off. I have yet to hear Muttalib ever condemn publicly child abuse and domestic violence — when he was so vocal against “alcohol”.

So who cares whether Addu gaining a city status is done through the Maumoon-laid “correct” bureaucratic networks when all Addu people need is to do what needs to be rightfully done (it’s as simple as that) so that they could get on with their lives.

If I was President Nasheed, I would give no concern to these little irritations like Muttalib and just get on with it. If Muttalib is against Maldives’ reform, then go away from public life. What are you doing here in the first place?

Hilath Rasheed, Male’ City

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JSC seeks to gag Velezinee with new secrecy regulations

The Judicial Service Commission (JSC) has appointed a special three-member team to decide on the best course of action against JSC member Aishath Velezinee, for removing official documents from the Commission’s premises.

The JSC, which is yet to adopt a Standards of Procedure a year after the 26 January 2010 deadline, earlier this month passed new secrecy regulations that make it an offence for members to reveal any Commission business to the public without prior authorisation.

The regulations were passed at a meeting on 17 January at which Velezinee was not present, and the agenda of which, seen by Minivan News, did not indicate any plans or proposals for new secrecy restrictions.

On 24 January, days after passing the new regulations, the JSC set up a special committee comprising Vice Chair Afraasheem Ali, Member Abdullahi Didi, and Deputy Legal Representative Abdul Faththah to discuss how best to apply the new regulations against Velezinee, who it alleges removed a documents file from the presmises on that day.

It is the first time in the history of the new democratic government that a member of an independent Commission, set up by the 2008 Constitution, is being subjected to an internal investigation.

The unprecedented move by JSC is made all the more surprising by the inclusion among the three special investigators a member of the Commission’s staff.

It is rare, if not unknown, for a junior staff member to be placed in a position of deciding disciplinary action against a state official they have been appointed to serve.

Velezinee, an outspoken critic of the JSC’s refusal to adopt a Standards of Procedure as required by the Constitution, earlier this month accused several fellow members of corruption and treason.

She has published a large cache of JSC documents, including audio recordings of Commission meetings, on her personal website as evidence, she says, to support her accusations.

Velezinee also runs a Facebook page dedicated to Article 285 of the Constitution, which regularly carries electronic copies of various official documents from the Commission.

She maintains that the JSC, unlike other independent Commissions set up by the Constitution, should conduct its business publicly. She has lobbied for media access to JSC meetings, a proposal that has not met with unanimous support from other members.

She has also called for an open inquiry into her allegations against the JSC, and has repeatedly challenged Commission Member Abdulla Shahid to respond to her charges of treason against him.

According to Velezinee, Shahid, also Speaker of the Majlis, while straddling two of the democracy’s three separated powers, is gradually executing plans – through the JSC and the Majlis – to take over the third.

Shahid, who has defended himself in the media against other allegations of corruption such as those related to the privatisation of Male’ International Airport, has remained silent on the charges made by Velezinee.

Speaker Shahid is currently travelling the country on a political campaign with opposition Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP) leader MP Ahmed Thasmeen Ali, and could not be contacted for comment.

Notably, the JSC’s investigation into Velezinee’s decision to remove Commission documents does not make any reference to her publication of JSC internal documents on the internet.

If the JSC were to refer to Velezinee’s publication of the documents, it would be forced to acknowledge her accusations against Speaker Shahid, and itself.

According to a JSC internal memo, also made public by Velezinee, the three investigators will focus their deliberations on what course of action to take against her for removing the documents.

What an offending member does with the documents is not up for regulation or deliberation, as of yet.

Meanwhile, as the JSC considers disciplinary action against one of its own for retrospective infringement of newly-passed secrecy regulations, the Anti Corruption Commission and the police are investigating the JSC.

It is also currently facing allegations of bias in its recent High Court appointments made by two failed candidates, a Civil Court judge and a Family Court judge.

The case is now at the Supreme Court. JSC Chair Justice Adam Mohamed Abdulla, who is on the Supreme Court bench, is yet to recuse himself from the case despite the possibility of a conflict of interest.

This is the second time in less than six months that the JSC has had to face allegations of bias in a court of law. Earlier this month, the Civil Court threw out a professional negligence case against the JSC where it stood accused of not performing its Constitutional duty to investigate judiciary misconduct.

Judge Mariyam Nihayath dismissed the case on a technicality – slovenly time keeping by the plaintiff – but not before the JSC admitted it did not have a standard system in place for dealing with complaints of judicial misconduct.

It also became known during the hearings that the JSC received and failed to investigate over 100 complaints received last year.

The International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) visited Male’ on a fact finding mission related to the independence of the country’s judiciary last year. Although the mission was reported as having been completed in September last, its findings are yet to be made public.

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Island security not a concern despite resort robbery, say police

Police have confirmed that a safe containing thousands of rufiyaa was taken during a burglary at the Kihaadhuffaru resort in Baa Atoll on Tuesday, but insist that security at other lucrative tourist destinations in the country should not be a concern for staff and visitors.

Police Sub-Inspector Ahmed Shiyam said that a safe containing around Rf5,000 (US$390) had been stolen from an office area at the resort and that “no serious injuries” had been reported by staff caught up in the theft.

Shiyam added that investigations were continuing into the incident and that it was currently working to corroborate “different reports” it had received regarding Tuesday’s theft.

A spokesperson for Kihaadhuffaru said they were also unable to reveal details about the incident at present, though confirmed a burglary had taken place.

Haveeru today reported that a group of masked men brandishing “machetes and swords” had arrived on the island resort by dingy during the early hours of Tuesday, before threatening members of staff and stealing the contents of a safe on the site, citing an unnamed source.

“The masked men tied the hands of the male receptionist with a cable tie and kept him inside after taping his mouth and whole body,” the paper reported.

Shiyam said that he was unable to confirm the details of the report, but added that no guests were thought to have been attacked or robbed by the intruders on Tuesday, with only the resort’s safe taken during the heist.

Although Shiyam said that the police were remaining vigilant concerning any follow up robberies, the sub-inspector said that he did not believe resorts would need to review existing security measures in light of the Kihaadhuffaru theft.

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MDP “destroying the sanctity” of Adhaalath, claims religious party

The political Adhaalath Party led by State Islamic Minister Sheikh Hussein Rasheed has accused the ruling Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) of “attempting to destroy the sanctity of the Party” by misleading the public over its work.

”Although the Adhaalath Party is an institute in the current government, [it] is a party that supports justice and rights, and has expressed its opinions under the responsibility of integrity,” the group said in a statement. “Even if we were not an institute of the government, we will always keep our work to this policy.”

The party statement claimed that it was very concerned that some MDP officials were trying to misrepresent its work as the ideas of just a few specific individuals rather than an entire party in a manner that could damage the “sanctity and honour” of the party.

“Adhaalath Party will never just follow the decision of individuals, we will always follow the decision of the party’s discussion committee,” the party stated. ”All the opinions the Adhaalath Party has expressed and all the work it has conducted was done according to the decision of our discussion committee.”

Officials of the religious party have also advised politicians to avoid personal confrontations and stick to political discourse instead.

Unnamed government officials recently described scholars like Sheikh Ibrahim Fareed and the vice leader of the Adhaalath Party’s religious council, Sheikh Ilyas Hussein, as “hate preachers” in an interview with India-based magazine The Week.

The party has claimed that senior officials of the current government, including former Foreign Minister Dr Ahmed Shaheed and Home Minister Hassan Afeef, made false allegations against a number of the country’s religious leaders, including the vice leader of the Adhaalath Party’s religious council, Sheikh Ilyas Hussein.

Minivan News attempted to contact MDP’s parliamentary group spokesperson and MP Alhan Fahmy, who was unavailable for comment at time of going to press.

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