Tag: maldives

Seventy-eight year-old man arrested for abusing 12 year old disabled girl

A 78 year-old man has been arrested for allegedly abusing a 12 year-old disabled girl last Friday on the island of Inguraidhoo in Raa Atoll.

Police Sub-Inspector Ahmed Shiyam confirmed that an elderly man was arrested in connection with a child abuse case in Inguraidhoo.

”We can’t provide further information regarding the case,” he said.

An islander familiar with the matter alleged that the girl’s mother sold her to the old man, “because the girl is a disabled girl and she cannot even attend to school,” he said.

”The islanders say that her mother gave her to the old man for some amount of money. Both of them were taken to Inguraidhoo police station, and police have now released her mother.”

He said the old man was not a man from the island but said he used to visit Inguraidhoo.

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Millions of rufiya and a 100 foot fiberglass fishing boat to join JP: leaked letters allege corruption

Letters sent by MDP MPs to President Mohamed Nasheed containing allegations of corruption against Jumhoree Party(JP) leader MP Gasim Ibrahim have been leaked to the press.

Gasim is currently under house arrest, charged with bribery and treason.

The documents are addressed to the President and signed by ruling Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) MPs  Mohamed Nazim, Ahmed Easa, Mohamed Gasam, Mohamed Rasheed, Mohamed Shifaz and Ilyas Labeeb.

In one of the letters, Madaveli MP Mohamed Nazim claims that Gasim offered him a 100 foot fibereglass fishing boat and Rf4 million to join the JP, adding that the offer was unlawful and could be considered attempted bribery.

In his letter Kedhikolhudhoo MP Ahmed Easa alleges that Gasim offered him Rf5 million to defect from MDP to the JP.

The letter from Mohamed Gasam, MP for Thinadhoo, claims Gasim had offered him “many rewards” to recruit him away from MDP.

In a letter signed by Hulhu-Meedhoo MP Ilyas Labeeb, the writer mentions that Gasim offered him Rf5 million to buy and construct a house in Hulhumale’.

Press Secretary for the President’s Office, Mohamed Zuhair, said that he could not confirm whether the letters were genuine, or that the letters were the same as those received by the president.

‘’Similar complaints were forwarded to president by several MPs,’’ said Zuhair. ‘’I cannot confirm whether the [leaked] letters are the actual letters.’’

Zuhair said that police were currently investigating the allegations of corruption against the opposition leaders.

Spokesperson for the MDP parliamentary group, Baarah MP Mohamed Shifaz, one of the MPs whose name was on one of the leaked letters, revealed that the leaked letter in his name was an edited version of the letter he actually wrote.

Shifaz said that the middle paragraph of the leaked document in his name was edited.

‘’I did not mention any amount of money Gasim offered me,” Shifaz said. “I wrote that he had offered me different amounts on different occasions.”

‘’I did send a letter to president last month, because of a rumor that circulating in those days that I was about to join the JP,” he said. “It dragged me into a situation where MPs almost lost confidence in me, and I thought the president might feel the same way. So I sent him a letter to make him confident that I would not leave MDP.”

MDP’s Council adopted a resolution late last month to terminate its coalition agreement with JP.

Gasim did not respond to Minivan News at time of press.

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Maldives leading winner in 2010 World Travel Awards for Indian Ocean region

Maldives is named as a winner in many categories of the Indian Ocean section of the 2010 World Travel Awards, based on voting by thousands of travel agents.

Cocoa Island won the award for the Indian Ocean’s leading boutique hotel, and Maldives is the leading cruise and honeymoon destination, Baros won the leading hotel award, and Conrad Maldives Rangali Hotel is the leading resort.

W Retreat and Spa is the leading spa resort, and Vermillion International Travel won the award for leading travel agency.

Adaaran Prestige Resorts won the leading water villa group category and Baros Residence is the leading villa.

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Maldives opens Consulate in Salisbury

A Maldives consulate has been inaugurated in Salisbury, UK.

The High Commissioner for the Maldives, Dr Farah Faizal, and MP for Salisbury John Glen were present at the inauguration along with a delegation from the High Commission in London including Deputy High Commissioner Naushad Waheed, Political Affairs Officer Sarah Mahir and Attache Ahmed Imran.

John Glen the MP for Salisbury maintains close links to the Maldives and has visited the Maldives with the Westminster Foundation for Democracy and the UK Conservative Party.

Salisbury was used as a base by political refugees from the Maldives between 2003-2008, where activists – including the current President – lobbied the UK government, UN, Commonwealth and Human Rights NGOs. ‘Minivan Radio’ was also broadcast on shortwave from Salisbury to the Maldives.

Opening of Salisbury Consulate
Opening of the Salisbury Consulate

President Nasheed sent a message to the inauguration, stating that “When I left the Maldives and became a political refugee, it was Salisbury that provided me, and fellow Maldivians, refuge. For over a year, Salisbury was the home of the Maldivian democracy struggle. It is such a beautiful town and the people were so hospitable to us Maldivians. Salisbury will always have a special place in our hearts.”

Friends of Maldives (FoM) founder David Hardingham was appointed as Honorary Consul of the Maldives in Salisbury in 2009. The former government had blacklisted Hardingham after alleging he was both a Christian missionary and part of an extremist islamic conspiracy to bomb important building in Male’.

Hardingham said he saw his role as Honorary Consul “to maintain strong links between the people of Maldives and Salisbury and to improve and promote good relations between the Maldives and the UK and to support the work of the High Commission in London.”

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Indian Ocean’s internal waves photographed

An image showing internal and surface waves on the Indian Ocean near the Andaman islands has been published by NASA’s Earth Observatory website.

“When tides drag the ocean over a shallow barrier such as a ridge on the ocean floor, it creates waves in the lower, denser layer of water,” Earth Observatory explains. “These waves, internal waves, can be tens of kilometers long and can last several hours.”

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Comment: Toothless Civil Society

When a people’s liberties are suspended whenever there is an emergency, there is a word for that: dictatorship. There is a line between democracy and dictatorship – and over the course of the last week we came dangerously close to stepping over it.

Not necessarily because of the President’s actions, the incarcerations, or the now common place parliamentary upheaval, but because those who should have spoken out remained silent.

Yes, you in the civil society need to raise your voices. Raise your voices to demand explanations, protest abuses, and safeguard the right to criticise a sitting government.

Instead of raised voices, however, we have only heard silence. And this started from the moment this affair began. The President’s office holds a press conference where the entire cabinet resigns, the President asserts his supreme authority to find justice, and what does the media say? Do they question the legitimacy of the action? Do they ask what this will mean for the peace in this nation? Or even whether the government expects demonstrations in retaliation and how the President (now the only civilian authority over the police and army) will respond?

No. They stay silent. Well, practically silent. The hardest hitting question was “does this mean your government is a failure?”

Really? Good job guys.

But who can blame the fledgling media groups in this nation. Unaccustomed to true democracy, they are not the ones who are directly tasked with protecting and asserting our democratic rights and ensuring this transition from autocracy to democracy actually works out. Who does this benevolent task fall to?

Civil Society

Organisations such as Transparency International, Democracy House, Open Society Association, and the newly renamed Maldivian Democracy Network all claim to safe guard democracy.

To work for its betterment – and yet civil society remained silent. Even Jamiyathul Salaf, who seem to have religious edicts about everything, stayed silent.

We have seen allegations of corruption first leveled by the executive branch against the legislative branch and then visa versa. We have not only seen wire-tapping where private conversations were recorded without warrants and outside of due process, but also seen them leaked to the public, indicating that civilian/partisan individuals had access to them.

We are witnessing a power struggle between executive and legislative branches with neither side realizing that they are both part of one government. And we see a judiciary that is caught in the middle and being accused of being susceptible to political influence.

We see the army working side by side with the police in the capital, outside of their mandate. We see all the things that would be any democracy fighter’s dream. The perfect excuse for a civil society group to put their two cents in, allowing them to claim they are meeting their own mandates. But instead we have silence and even some amount of fear.

The Fray

Civil society seems to be afraid of jumping into the fray. Of being labeled as being inclined towards one political party or another. Instead they give no comment and it is not hard for one to come up with excuses for why they should not comment at all.

Firstly, everyone must realise that this is a highly charged political atmosphere where any statement at all will be seen as aligning with one group or another.

Secondly, no formal charges have been brought against the three Members of Parliament (MPs) who have been detained. Instead, all that we have seen is allegations being flung about – none of which are easy to comment on.

And finally the questions: can’t there be levels to democracy? Where we move gradually towards it? After all, have any laws actually been broken?

The Other Side

The argument could be made however, that one cannot wait to evaluate. That civil society organizations are supposed to have principles and ideals that they adhere to above all others. And unlike political parties who can take time to organize, reflect, and adjust their values – civil society act on the basis of whether their values have been violated or not.

Does the MNDF’s involvement in everything that transpired adhere to their values? Was it okay for the MNDF to send a letter explaining why MPs could not go to Parliament in clear violation of their constitutional rights?

Was there any risk assessment that was done? And is there any level of alertness that we should be on? Do they have any questions about people’s conversations being tapped? Who else is being targeted? How does this feud between the executive and legislative affect the people? And who is responsible for failed policies?

My point is not that the executive branch has acted inappropriately, but rather that they have not been sufficiently grilled by the right people. My point is that civil society is an important part of our democratic transition, and right now they are slacking off.

I’m sure the government could post adequate answers to the questions posed, but my point is that the questions need to be asked in the first place from the right actors.

One Government

And it is also about more than just the executive branch. The civil society is responsible for explaining and helping us to define our government’s role. They are also responsible for reminding us that both legislative and executive branches are part of one government and that the failure of one aspect will make all of it fail.

We are in desperate need of this reminding. I walked out onto my balcony day before yesterday to watch protesters with underwear on their heads, supporting the arrest of our Deputy Speaker of Parliament – Ahmed Nazim.

These are protests that the nation believes is sanctioned by the executive branch. And they had underwear on their heads.

Forget the man for a second, and realize that Nazim is the Deputy Speaker of Parliament. He is third in the line of succession for the Presidency. And while it would be a black mark on our country’s record to have him in this position if he is in fact guilty of all that is accused of him, we cannot assume guilt. We cannot disrespect the office the people of this nation gave him. And we cannot forgo all measures of dignity and justice.

We are one government and should all be held accountable. And you, civil society, need to step up your game and live up to your values. Democracy’s survival is in your hands, and if it fails you will share the blame.

http://www.jswaheed.com

All comment pieces are the sole view of the author and do not reflect the editorial policy of Minivan News. If you would like to write an opinion piece, please send proposals to [email protected]

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‘Fat lies’ in leaked letters supporting bribery allegations: Yameen

People’s Alliance party leader Abdulla Yameen Abdul Gayoom says letters published on a Dhivehi language website contain “fat lies” and that he had never asked a MDP Majlis member to join his political party, reports Haveeru.

Seven letters were sent recently to President Nasheed by MDP Majlis members claiming Yameen and Jumhooree party leader Ibrahim Gasim had tried to bribe them. The letters in PDF format published on the website are two letters signed by Hulhumeedhoo Majlis member Ilyas Labeeb, and five letters signed individually by Madaveli member Mohamed Nazim, Kedhikulhudhoo member Ahmed Eesa, Thinadhoo member Mohamed Gasam, Machangoalhi-South member Mohamed Rasheed and Baarashu member Mohamed Shifaz.

At the end of last month, letters were presented as evidence by the police at the High Court as evidence supporting charges of treason and bribery against Yameen and Gasim, but Haveeru ‘could not confirm if the letters are the same’. The letters on the website claim that Yameen and Gasim offered ‘rewards’ if the MDP Majlis members join the opposition People’s Alliance and Jumhooree Party, according to Haveeru. Mohamed Gasam confirmed the credibility of his letter and said it was sent to the President because of offers he had been receiving from Gasim since February.

Ilyas Labeeb told Haveeru he had not seen the leaked letters, but when the contents of the two letters signed with his name were read out, he confirmed that he had written a letter “to that effect”.  President’s Office press secretary Mohamed Zuhair told Haveeru he could not confirm the credibility of the letters. “I have also seen the letters,” said Zuhair. “I cannot say whether the [leaked] letters were the letters sent by the MPs [to the President], since the investigation is underway.”

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Disabled Maldivians helped by Special Needs bill

A law to protect the rights of intellectually disabled Maldivians, and provide them with financial assistance, has been ratified by President Nasheed.

The Special Needs bill, passed by the Majlis on 22 June, contains “principles and procedures” to provide “protection and financial assistance to people with special needs,” according to the President’s Office website.

The bill was originally passed by the Majlis on 21 December 2009 but was returned by the President for reconsideration of articles that, in his opinion, contravened international standards and the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

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Majlis amendments against Constitution and convention: President Nasheed

Under the Constitution and conventions, the President has the power to seek nominations to the Civil Service Commission and submit nominations to the Majlis, said President Nasheed in his weekly radio address. Making nominations for the commission to the Majlis was not its legal role, said the President, and he was returning amendments to the Civil Service Act to the Majlis for reconsideration.

The power of the President to seek and receive nominations to the commission, and select applicants, is removed under an amendment to Article 13 of the Act passed by the Majlis on 22 June. This power would be taken by the Majlis, and the President would have to appoint whoever they selected. The President would not have power of approval, unlike the power of approval given to the Majlis under the original Act.

A secret ballot would be used by the Majlis to appoint the chairperson and deputy chairperson of the commission under an amendment to Article 17 of the Act.

The Majlis would have the power to dismiss members of the commission if their actions are “inappropriate”, or if they are unable or incapable of fulfilling their duties in the view of the Majlis, according to an amendment to Article 15 of the Civil Service Act.

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