Tag: minivan news

EC dismissals: MDP condemns, government coalition commends decision

Following the Supreme Court’s removal of Elections Commission (EC) President Fuwad Thowfeek and Vice President Ahmed Fayaz from their posts, responses have come from across the political spectrum.

While coalition partner Jumhooree Party (JP) leader and tourism tycoon Gasim Ibrahim has spoken in support of the court’s decision, senior members of the opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) have condemned the verdict, with former President Mohamed Nasheed appealing to the public to stage demonstrations.

Meanwhile, the government has announced that it will proceed with setting in place arrangements to ensure that the upcoming Parliamentary elections are held on schedule on March 22.

Verdict must not be challenged: Gasim

Gasim has stated that no one holding any state position should challenge the verdict of the apex court, which he has claimed demonstrated that no one in any state position can act against any decision of the Supreme Court.

Speaking at an event held at the JP’s central campaign office Kunooz on Sunday night, he asserted that the verdict was the direct result of the actions of EC President Fuwad Thowfeek. Fuwad himself had admitted to having acted against the orders of the Supreme Court, he added.

“The reason why I am praising the decision of the Supreme Court is because, in order to maintain national unity and peace, this verdict has demonstrated that no one can act in breach of the rule of law,” Gasim is quoted as saying in local media.

Gasim stated that the final decisions lie with the apex court, and no one – including the parliament – can challenge these decisions. He called upon those displeased with the court’s verdict to “adopt the way of peaceful dialogue instead of taking to the streets and protesting”.

Nasheed calls on citizens to protest

Speaking at a political rally in the island of Dhihdhoo on Sunday night, former President Mohamed Nasheed described the verdict as “unconstitutional” and called on citizens to come out in protest.

He stated that it was the saddest moment in the constitutional history of the Maldives, accusing the apex court of “undermining the constitution which consists of high hopes of the citizens” and of “stripping independent commissions of their powers”.

“Tonight we are seeing the Supreme Court undermine the constitution of the Maldives by leaving the EC powerless and sentencing its president and vice president to jail.”

“It is the parliament that is tasked with oversight of the work of the EC. The constitution very clearly states this. Tonight we have seen [the Supreme Court] attempt to undermine the hopes of a large number of citizens”.

Nasheed stated that the new constitution of the Maldives was set in place and accepted by the people due to the bitter experiences that they had previously known.

“It was because injustice, discrimination, and inequality had settled among us to alarming extent. The Maldivian people wanted to enjoy the country’s richness to its full extent, Maldivians wanted to enjoy the certainty of having human rights safeguarded at its fullest. They wanted justice to be served in the Maldives.”

“If the elections are not held in a free and fair manner, then the resulting government will not be free or fair either,” Nasheed stated, calling on citizens to get strength from one another, to overcome their fears, and to come out in protest against the Supreme Court’s decision.

Nasheed said that the MDP needed to decide whether it will participate in the upcoming parliamentary elections. A meeting of the party’s National Council will take place at 9pm tonight.

Party Chairperson ‘Reeko’ Moosa Manik questioned whether the court had the authority to remove members of the EC, whilst Spokesman Hamid Abdul Ghafoor described the decision as “evidence that we will not see a free and fair election in this country”.

Will take necessary action to implement SC verdict: Government

The government has meanwhile stated that it will take all necessary action to implement the Supreme Court verdict without delay.

“The government will not criticize or challenge this verdict. In the current system of governance, the executive’s role is to implement whatever responsibilities that such an order places on us without further delay. We will proceed to do just that,” President’s Office Spokesman Ibrahim Muaz Ali stated.

The president will work on sending names for the vacant EC posts of the parliament as soon as possible, he said, noting that the court’s verdict ordered the elections to go ahead on schedule.

“The government believes that the parliament should also cooperate in such matters. The sad thing is that this is not the spirit we are seeing from the parliament,” Muaz stated, expressing concern about the delay in parliament in appointing a member to the previously vacated EC position.

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Human Rights Commission receives Juvenile Court summons

The Human Rights Commission of Maldives (HRCM) has been summoned to the Juvenile Court for a report that gave a “negative impression” of the court’s conduct during the sentencing of a 15 year old rape-victim to flogging and house arrest.

Following the release of the confidential report, the Juvenile Court has sent an order to every individual involved from the HRCM, summoning them to a court hearing this Wednesday (March 12) at 1:30pm.

The HRCM stated that they will release an official press statement after the court summons this Wednesday.

On February 26 2013 the Juvenile Court convicted the 15 year old girl on the grounds of fornication and sentenced her to 100 lashes and 8 months house arrest. The case attracted global concern from both local and international organisations, and the charges were later annulled in August of the same year.

Although the sentence was eventually annulled, the case attracted international attention to the Maldives’ juvenile court system and their policies in dealing with victims of sexual abuse.

Speaking with Minivan last year, HRCM member Jeehan Mahmoud said that the sentence represented a “continuous failure” on behalf of the whole state to protect children and other victims of sexual abuse.

The HRCM submitted an investigative report on how the court handled the case, taking into account safeguards, rights, and protections afforded to a victim of child abuse under the Maldivian constitution, Islamic Shariah, and international human rights standards.

Spokesperson for the Juvenile Court Zaima Nasheed explained that some points outlined in the HRCM report were not reflective of how the court conducted its work. She noted that it portrayed a negative impression of the court and tried to exert undue influence on its work.

Zaima added that the HRCM did not hold any discussions or ask for any questions from the Juvenile Court while they were compiling their review.

The Juvenile Court wished to clarify that they sent a letter to the HRCM last month to arrange a meeting, though the commission said that it would not be able to attend.

Following this, the court compiled a written document with all of its concerns and shared this with the HRCM. In addition to this, the court asked to meet again with the HRCM yesterday (March 9) at 10am. The HRCM did not respond to the letter and failed to attend the meeting, said Zaima.

In light of this, the HRCM was in breach of the constitution’s Articles 141, said Zaima. These state that no officials performing public functions can “interfere with and influence the functions of the courts”, instead they must “assist and protect the courts to ensure the independence, eminence, dignity, impartiality, accessibility and effectiveness of the courts.”

Following the 15 year-old’s conviction, local NGO Advocating the Rights of Children (ARC) called on the Maldivian government to pass legislation concerning the treatment of sexual abuse victims.

ARC also previously called for reforms of the juvenile justice system and reform of the current protection mechanisms provided to minors who are kept in state run institutions, such as homes and foster programs.

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Alleged calls between EC Chair Thowfeek and former President Nasheed leaked

Following the Supreme Court’s verdict removing Elections Commission (EC) President Fuwad Thowfeek and his deputy Ahmed Fayaz from their positions, an alleged phone call between Thowfeek and former President Mohamed Nasheed has been leaked on social media.

The approximately 3 minute long recording consists of Thowfeek and Nasheed allegedly speaking on two different instances. The first conversation appears to involve Thowfeek expressing concern that the court was looking into the case against the EC, and the second focuses on the re-registration to various constituencies of people on the municipal register.

In the first call, the voice alleged to be Thowfeek’s states that “the Supreme Court has once against started on one of its games”, opining that it posed challenges in the work that the commission is conducting in preparation for the parliamentary elections.

While half of the response – alleged to be Nasheed’s – is unclear, he can be heard as saying that he has been made aware of the matter and is thinking about it.

The second call – seemingly initiated by Nasheed – consists of Nasheed calling Thowfeek and speaking about those on the municipal register being redistributed to various constituencies.

“Some of our members went to discuss the matter of the municipal register border, didn’t they? It was agreed then that Maafannu will be kept as in the final report, yes? In short, it was agreed that some changes will be brought to Henveiru and the remaining people on the register will be distributed to the four constituencies of Maafannu, yes?” the voice alleged to be Nasheed’s is heard saying.

The respondent in the recording is then heard to say: “Yes yes, the current borders are something that everyone has agreed on.”

The first voice then inquires, “have any additional changes been brought to the list later on the request of Maafannu Hulhan’gu constituency’s MP Abdulla Abdul Raheem?”

Thowfeek responds saying that no such changes had been brought, but that Abdul Raheem had come to the commission and made many comments.

“I deliberated with various politicians about my concerns”: Fuwad Thowfeek

Thowfeek has responded to the leaked audio, speaking to local media Haveeru today (March 10).

He stated that in various instances, he had deliberated about numerous concerns that arose during his work at the Elections Commission, with numerous political actors.

He detailed that he had spoken of his concerns regarding the Supreme Court’s case against the commission with various politicians, including former President Nasheed.

“I also shared this concern with President Abdulla Yameen through a text message. In that same manner, I shared my concerns with Nasheed too,” he is quoted as saying.

Regarding the conversation about the municipal register, Thowfeek stated that various politicians had visited the commission and held a number of different discussions on the matter.

He said that he had addressed any questions that politicians had about how the commission had sorted out the matter of the register, and had clarified any doubts they might have had.

In this manner, he had offered clarifications to Nasheed, as well as to various members of parliament via phone or through their visits to the commission offices.

“This includes members from all political parties. This even consists of members who support the government. I do not see that there is any problem with offering clarifications about a matter to anyone,” he stated.

The full leaked recording can be listened to here.

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ARC launches ‘Respect’ campaign against bullying

Childrens’ rights NGO Advocating for the Rights of Children (ARC) on Saturday launched a campaign against bullying and discrimination titled ‘Respect’.

The campaign aims to raise awareness of these issues among children in order to equip them to respect both themselves and others’ boundaries and surroundings.

The ‘Respect’ campaign was initiated as a result of a survey conducted by the NGO in 2012, which “showed alarming statistics of bullying in schools”.

Under the campaign, a number of sessions will focus on anti-bullying and anti-discrimination with the primary aim of supporting students, teachers, and parents to promote positive and respectful behaviour and to create safe and healthy environments for children.

Launching the campaign this weekend, ARC held events at the Children’s Shelter and Muhyidheen School in the island of Villingili. The campaign includes a week-long programme consisting of material to teach the children how to acknowledge and accept differences between themselves and others.

The programme will help participants understand the term ‘bullying’, to identify bullying behaviour, and to recognise the emotional and psychological impacts of such behaviour. Children taking part will also learn the difference between assertive, aggressive, and passive communication and will learn to use assertive communication to stop or prevent bullying.

The programme involves both indoor and outdoor activities over the span of a week. Participants in the first of the series of programmes include 58 students from Grade 1 at Muhyidheen School and children ages 6 and over from the Children’s Shelter.

‘Respect’ will be conducted by foreign consultant Karen Boswell and ARC’s Senior Consultant on Education Fathimath Nahidh Shakir.

Background

A 2012 survey conducted across grades 6 and 7 in all primary schools in capital city Malé, Hulhumalé, and Villingili found that 80 percent of students claimed to have seen another student being bullied or discriminated against, while 61 percent of the participants revealed that they had been bullied themselves.

Of those interviewed, 17 percent admitted to having bullied other students.

Regarding types of bullying, 15 percent noted being physically hurt, 28 percent had rumours and lies spread about them, and 32 percent reported having been teased.

Participants reported that 10 percent of bullying incidents took place near the toilets in school, 14 percent in school playgrounds, 16 percent in corridors, and 37 per cent in classrooms.

Almost half of the bullying victims – 45 percent – did not report bullying incidents to anyone. Of those who did, 49 percent of complaints were made to teachers and 45 percent to parents.

Those surveyed suggested that physical appearance was the primary reason for bullying – 36 percent giving this explanation – while personality, academic performance, and differences of opinion were cited as the next most prominent causes.

The report revealed that children felt bullying could be prevented by anti-bullying policies (19 percent), increased adult supervision (17 percent), and raising awareness of the issue (16 percent).

The ‘Respect’ campaign will stretch through out 2014 and will be held in various preschools, primary, and secondary schools.

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Man arrested for assaulting ex-wife

Police have arrested a person on Friday night from the island of Guraidhoo in Kaafu atoll on charges of assault against his former wife.

Local media have reported that the man was arrested after he assaulted his former wife in a deserted house on Friday night. It was further stated that, in addition to scratches on her face, various parts of the woman’s body was observed to be severely swollen.

Following initial medical attention received from the island’s Health Centre, the woman is now receiving further treatment in Indhira Gandhi Memorial Hospital (IGMH) in capital city Malé.

On March 8, the Criminal Court extended the man’s detention by 12 days.

A police media official stated that they cannot reveal details of the persons involved as the investigation is currently ongoing.

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“They say they have trust in the judiciary because they can influence it”: Nasheed

Former President Mohamed Nasheed has responded to President Abdulla Yameen’s declaration of trust in the judiciary by alleging that his confidence arises from the ruling Progressive Party of Maldives’ (PPM) ability to influence the judicial process.

Nasheed stated that both Yameen and his coalition partner Gasim Ibrahim of the Jumhooree Party were expressing utmost trust in an institution that the European Union and the United Nations, as well as Maldivian citizens continued to regard as in need of reform.

“By insisting that they hold such a strong trust in this institution, they are really confessing to the fact that they have undue political influence over this institution.”

They are saying that they have confidence that they can do whatever they want at any particular time through these courts,” Nasheed suggested.

He stated that the biggest obstacle to maintaining Islamic principles was the corrupt state of the judiciary and accused the Supreme Court of abusing and breaching the constitution.

“What is most needed is the services of a lawyer to become free of criminal charges. The government should not be allowed to place whatever charges they want against citizens,” he continued.

“What we are seeing today is the Supreme Court raising charges against anyone whenever they want and then themselves launching investigations into the matter,” Nasheed said, adding that the Supreme Court was currently acting in a manner previously observed in the 1980s.

Nasheed further described the apex court as having turned into a “political campaign office” due to what he alleged were political discussions which were taking place among the judges, and various statements of political nature made by them.

He accused the court of working “like the police, with utter impunity”, adding that the MDP would continue to raise its voice against any and all unconstitutional actions – regardless of who commits them.

Case against the Elections Commission

Speaking with regard to the Supreme Court’s current case against the Elections Commission (EC), Nasheed alleged that the panel of judges were “pulling members of the EC to court in an attempt to exert political influence over them”.

He dismissed the court’s actions as being unconstitutional, stating that as per law, the People’s Majlis – and not the apex court – held oversight powers over the EC.

Meanwhile, Vice President Dr Mohamed Jameel Ahmed has levied criticism against the EC, arguing that justice must be served to all alike, regardless of the office they hold.

He accused the EC of deliberately presenting obstacles and difficulties to his PPM at the approach of every election.

“Every time the PPM complains that the time the commission provides for any certain task is not sufficient, the EC will claim that they cannot extend the deadline. Then they will go ahead and extend the deadline anyway. This is something that we in PPM find very worrying,” Jameel said.

Jameel said that in order to win any election, the PPM had to face three competitors – the Maldivian Democratic Party, clandestine funds provided to the MDP by unknown entities, and the Elections Commission itself.

The Vice President further accused the EC of working against the laws which govern it, and of attempting to work in a manner that is beneficial to a certain party.

Civil Service

Speaking of his recent trip to the southern atolls, former President Nasheed noted that he had observed a trend of employees being transferred or fired based on their political affiliations.

“I want to say to the Civil Service Commission’s President Dr Latheef to please be aware. If even a single civil servant has to face such a loss, how will you defend your seat once we gain majority in parliament? We will closely observe what is done to the civil servants,” Nasheed stated.

He also alleged that employees at various tourist resorts were also being unduly dismissed for political reasons.

In the last quarter of 2013 – just ahead of the presidential election – employees from Irufushi Beach and Spa Resort and Sun Island resort spoke to Minivan News about what they alleged was the purging of employees based on their political affiliations.

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EC concerned over insufficient funds to hold Majlis election

With parliamentary elections due to be held on March 22, Elections Commission (EC) member Ali Mohamed Manik has stated that the commission’s budget does not currently have sufficient funds to hold an election.

Manik stated that, while an estimated MVR38 million is needed for the parliamentary elections, the commission’s budget has a remainder of MVR9 million after the salaries of staff and allowances for political parties are subtracted from the total value.

“Currently, even the unpaid bills amount to more than MVR9 million,” Manik told local media on Thursday.

“The Finance Ministry is saying that there is money in the budget because they are considering the money put aside for salaries and political party allowances,” Manik explained.

“In that manner, yes, there might be MR30 million. But the fact is that that money is reserved for a particular purpose.”

Manik stated that the commission is facing numerous difficulties because of the budget insufficiency.

“Even now, we are having to send some staff to election trainings without their food allowances. This would affect staff motivation, and in turn affect the work of the commission.”

“We have also been unable to pay some staff who worked in the local council elections. There are also numerous bills from that election which still remain unsettled,” Manik revealed.

He assured, however, that all preparations were continuing to be made for the upcoming parliamentary elections despite the budget difficulties.

The EC informed the Majlis government oversight committee on March 3 of the failure on the part of the Ministry of Finance and Treasury to provide the allocated budget for the election in full to the committee.

The ministry subsequently responded to the committee via letter – stating that the funds had not been released as the commission already has unspent money in its budget.

Concerns over the ability of the commission to fulfill its mandate independently has been voiced both in the Maldives and abroad in recent weeks as the Supreme Court continues with contempt of court proceedings against all four EC members.

After telling the oversight committee that he no longer considered the EC to be an independent institution earlier this week, EC President Fuwad Thowfeek and his colleagues were summoned to the court and reprimanded once again for questioning the court and its rulings.

Shortly after yesterday’s session, the court imposed a travel ban on all four members of the commission.

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State to cover all expenses of HIV infected woman’s children: Health Minister

Minister of Health and Family Dr Mariyam Shakeela has said the state will cover all expenses of all children of the woman infected with HIV due to the negligence of state hospital IGMH up until the completion of their studies.

However, details of how many children the woman has or to what standard the government will sponsor their studies and livelihood were not provided.

Shakeela further stated that the unborn child of the pregnant woman is of “good health” and that the baby is “showing a good response” to medication.

“God willing the baby’s progress is good, and is under continued supervision,” she told media after a press conference held together with the World Health Organization (WHO) on Wednesday.

Shakeela confirmed that the baby is receiving the “best treatment for HIV that is given by the WHO”, adding that the organisation’s head office in Geneva and the Health Ministry is continuing to hold daily teleconferences on the status of the mother and her unborn baby.

WHO Regional Director for South East Asia Dr Poonam Khetrapal Singh reiterated that the organisation is extending assistance, and applauded the Maldives government for having taken “productive action” following the incident.

“As a result of the investigation launched by the government, other such issues in the Health Sector will come to light and incidents like this can be avoided in future. Together with this, the capacity of the laboratory can be increased,” Singh said, mentioning that she had visited the IGMH laboratory on Tuesday.

WHO pledges assistance to the health sector

Today’s press conference was officially held to mark the end of Dr Singh’s two day visit to the Maldives. Dr Singh commended the government for its “commitment and vision for universal health coverage for all its citizens”.

Last week, President Abdulla Yameen’s administration announced the introduction of universal healthcare, maintaining that the enhanced coverage – previously capped at MVR100,000 – was financially sustainable.

“The most major challenges faced by the Maldives, like many other countries in the region, is the issue of having sufficient human resources, and the procurement of medicine,” Singh noted.

She said that the WHO was currently working with the government to explore ways in which to ease the procurement of medicines, adding that some initiatives include purchasing generic medicine instead of patented ones, and promoting bulk purchase of medicines – both of which would bring down costs considerably.

Health Minister Shakeela further stated that the government is paying special attention to training more locals to work as nurses and doctors, stating that this would bring down the number of foreign nationals working in the health sector.

Singh further noted that the Maldives has achieved much on the front of strengthening its disease surveillance, response,and case management capacity for dengue control.

“Despite challenges such as high turnover of doctors in the islands, and difficulty in retaining experience and expertise, Maldives has maintained a low case-fatality rate for dengue.”

“This is a country whose collective efforts and strong determination have successfully eliminated malaria and has sustained this remarkable achievement. Maldives is the only country in WHO’s South- East Asia Region to achieve this goal,” she continued.

“We would like Maldives to reflect on the malaria experience and use their expertise to prevent dengue which poses a major public health risk to its citizens.”

Dr Singh also met with Vice President Dr Mohamed Jameel Ahmed on Tuesday and congratulated him on Maldives’ achievements made towards the Millenium Development Goals and what she termed as “gains in public health more broadly over the past decade”.

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Judiciary excluded from presidential address due to Yameen’s trust in the institution

President Abdulla Yameen’s failure to discuss judicial reform in his first presidential address was due to the “trust [he] has in the institution” and because of the respect the government feels towards the bench, he has said.

Speaking at the opening of a campaign office for PPM candidate Mohamed Ameeth, Yameen stated that the government will not criticise the judiciary’s verdicts, and that the institution has the government’s trust.

Yameen had been the subject of criticism from the political opposition, who described his speech at the opening of the People’s Majlis as failing to address the country’s most pressing issues.

Yameen did acknowledge, however, that there are delays in the completion of some cases by the judiciary, adding that the executive is currently working with the judiciary to seek solutions to the issue.

“Even during the presidential election campaigns we never criticised any judgement or verdict of the judiciary. What we did criticise was the slow rate of cases going through, and how some cases get delayed for long periods of time,” said the president.

“That is still the case, and we will continue talking about this lack of speed,” Yameen said.

Following the president’s address, Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) spokesman Imthiyaz Fahmy accused the president of omitting critical issues from the address, including the state of the judiciary, and decentralised governance.

Discussing the approaching parliamentary elections yesterday, the president suggested that the MDP had a record of acting dictatorially when holding a Majlis majority.

He accused the now-opposition party of unduly influenced independent institutions when in power, asserting that this behaviour will never be seen from the ruling Progressive Party of Maldives government.

Yameen further stated that the MDP, while loudly advocating for the separation of powers, had “locked and bolted the powers”.

While the opposition currently hold the majority of seats in parliament, they have so far failed to appoint a prosecutor general or a member for the vacant seat in the EC, he noted.

The MDP has pledged judicial reform during it’s Majlis campaign, while the party’s slogan for this year’s campaign is ‘Vote for the scale for separation of powers’.

Case against the EC

Yameen also addressed the case against the Elections Commission (EC) in the Supreme Court, stating that it was not a matter that concerned the executive.

He stated that, while some foreign countries are raising concerns about the matter, he believed the court case against the EC was something the government need not interfere with.

Yameen questioned the logic of countries who expressed concern about the matter, stating that it was “inexplicable” when the separation of powers was generally accepted.

“It is these foreign powers who most strongly want assurance that the executive will not interfere with matters of the judiciary. And yet today, when there is a case against an independent institution, they are worried that we are not interfering and making comments on the matter.

“Our foreign policy is to respectfully accept their concerns, and to still not comment on an institution which in our sovereign right the government wishes to refrain from commenting on,” Yameen stated.

He asserted that justice would be served to all alike – whether they be from among the general public, or someone holding a senior office in a state institution. The president concluded by saying that even if he himself was summoned to the Supreme Court, he would attend dutifully and without question.

While addressing the UN Human Rights Council this week, Foreign Minister Dunya Maumoon also called upon the international community not to undermine the Maldives judiciary .

The judiciary has been criticised by a number of international actors as being both under qualified and lacking independence.

Prominent critics have included the UN Special Rapporteur on Independence of Judges and Lawyers Gabriela Knaul, the International Committee of Jurists, the UK Bar Human Rights Committee, and the US State Department.

In June 2013, spy camera footage revealed a Supreme Court judge allegedly speaking about the politicisation of the judiciary, stating “even [Parliament Speaker]Abdulla Shahid will know very well that my stand is to do things the way [current president] Yameen wants.”

In the tape, the judge also claimed to be a person who “even Yameen cannot play with” and that over time he had “shown Yameen” who he is.

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