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Police arrest four including PPM council member for attacking ferry captain

Police have arrested four men including a Council Member of the Progressive Party of the Maldives (PPM), Maaz Saleem, over the alleged assault of an airport ferry captain.

According to a police account of the incident in local media, Saleem allegedly instructed the group to attack the ferry captain after accusing him of stealing a bag containing an iPad.

“We have received information that Saleem accused the captain of stealing the bag. He then got off the ferry and returned with a group and assaulted the captain,” a police spokesperson told newspaper Haveeru.

Police eventually took Saleem and his three companions into custody, as well as the injured ferry captain.

PPM MP Ahmed Nihan said the reported arrest of Saleem was a personal matter and was not anything to do with the party.

He said that he had been informed of the arrest at about 12:25am by a party supporter that “something went wrong” outside at the jetty near the Nasandhura Palace Hotel involving a computer or tablet device, but had no further details at time of press.

Nihan added that Saleem had not been directly involved with PPM campaigning since the party’s primary election earlier this year, that saw MP Abdulla Yameen elected as its presidential candidate.

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HRCM investigating three cases of alleged torture in Male’ custodial

The Human Rights Commission of the Maldives (HRCM) has confirmed it is investigating three recent cases of detainees being tortured by Department of Penitentiary and Rehabilitation Services (DPRS) officers while in the Male’ jail.

The HRCM issued a recent press release stating they were “investigating complaints of brutality” towards detainees at the Custodial Reception and Diagnostic Centre (Male’ Jail).

Officials from the HRCM visited Male’ Jail June 2, 2013 after the family of a detainee informed the HRCM on May 31, 2013 that the victim had been beaten by DPRS officers.

“From the investigations that ensued, [the HRCM] found proof that there were two more detainees who sustained injuries while in custody,” read the statement.

“The HRCM is currently investigating the cases, therefore I’m sorry I cannot be more specific, but I cannot comment at the moment,” HRCM Vice President Ahmed Tholal told Minivan News today (July 13).

“The HRCM always considers allegations of human rights violations quite serious issues and is quick to react, [which is] crucial when human rights violations occur, because otherwise there is no point,” explained Tholal.

“In cases involving torture, fresh evidence is needed, additionally the torture could be ongoing and taking immediate action is needed to protect the victim,” he continued.

“There must be some sort of comfort and support to people when things fail,” he added.

In situations where there is the prospect that a large number of people have suffered human rights violations, it is part of the HRCM’s public relations strategy to announce that investigations are occurring, Tholal noted.

“This is both to demonstrate to the public that the commission is acting proactively, as well as to encourage other victims to submit their complaints to the HRCM,” said Tholal.

Tholal explained the basic assumption from which the HRCM functions is that ‘things are going ok’, but if the state fails to protect human rights – in cases of domestic violence, child abuse, health, migrant workers, for people with disabilities – even if the violations are not directly perpetrated by the Maldives’ government, the HRCM will still investigate.

“The HRCM is always accessible, if any sort of human rights violation occurs we urge people to report it,” he added.

Systemic and systematic torture

“It is very, very good, I’m pleased the HRCM has made the decision to go public with their investigations. HRCM needs support from us,” the Maldivian Democracy Network’s Executive Director Humaida ‘Humey’ Abdulghafoor told Minivan News today.

“It is quite worrying that we keep hearing about accounts of torture in custody,” said Humaida. “These recent accounts [the HRCM announced they are investigating] are an indication of the consistence and continuing abuse in custody.”

“There is systemic and systematic abuse of detainees [in the Maldives], therefore the practice of torture is unlikely to just disappear over a short period of time,” she emphasised.

Humaida highlighted the need to address the “complete lack of professional standards” within the DPRS and Maldives Police Service (MPS).

“What is the system of accountability within the MPS? Where are the professional standards and oversight?” she questioned.

“It is an indicator of the total unprofessional behavior by the MPS that there are ongoing allegations of torture. It is most despicable, no agent of the state should be involved in abusing its citizens,” she declared.

Minivan News spoke with a Maldives Police Service Media Official, Sergeant Hussain Siraz, however he was not aware of the current HRCM investigation and was unable provide an official comment to Minivan News.

Meanwhile, Police Spokesperson Chief Inspector Hassan Haneef was not responding to calls at time of press.

Correction: The previous version of this article said Maldives Police Service officers were accused of torturing detainees, however this should have referred to Department of Penitentiary and Rehabilitation Services officers. Minivan News regrets the error.

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Adhaalath Party quits President Waheed’s coalition

Additional reporting by Mohamed Naahii

The Adhaalath Party (AP) has quit President Mohamed Waheed’s ‘Forward with the Nation’ coalition due to “mysterious events”, a day after the party slammed Waheed for telling the AFP the party had “extremist” individuals.

During a two day official visit to Sri Lanka, President Waheed told the news agency that it was “better to work with” the self-claimed Islamist party despite some elements within the party holding “extreme views”, since excluding the party from mainstream politics risked marginalising it. This, he said, would have a “negative long-term effect”.

In a statement (Dhivehi) published on the Adhaalath Party’s website Tuesday (July 9), the party said that it had been offended by the remarks and that such comments from the president would affect its relationship with Waheed’s party Gaumee Iththihaadh Party (GIP). The party also denounced the claim that it held extreme views.

“The Adhaalath Party does not by any means hold extremist views. The party is working to introduce Islamic principles to the country, to protect the Islamic faith of the country and the country’s sovereignty,” read the statement.

“Therefore, the party leadership and its members are deeply disappointed by such allegations,” it added.

Yesterday (July 10) following the party’s announcement that Waheed’s comments would have a “significant negative effect” on their relationship, Adhaalath decided to leave the ‘Forward the Nation’ coalition during a meeting of their Consultative Council.

A near unanimous 97 percent of the council voted to leave the ‘Forward with the Nation’ due to “mysterious events”, as well as the coalitions prospective inability to succeed in “saving the nation” from former President Mohamed Nasheed’s “sacrilegious actions”, AP President Sheikh Imran Abdullah told local media.

“By the will of God, Adhaalath Party will continue to facilitate in providing a safe passage in order to save the nation from Nasheed,” said Abdullah.

He added that the party’s efforts to resolve issues within the coalition last week were “of no use”, however despite leaving ‘Forward with the Nation’, AP will continuously work toward “taking people to safe harbour”.

In a statement (Dhivehi) released today (July 11), the Adhaalath Party detailed their reasoning for leaving Waheed’s coalition.

“They were not putting much effort in preventing Nasheed’s anti-religious, anti-nationalist secular rule from coming back. The ‘broad coalition’ was formed with high hopes to prevent this, but now it seems the coalition is incapable of it,” read the statement.

“No solution has been proposed by other members of the coalition,” it continued.

“By the will of almighty Allah, the Adhaalath [Party] will do whatever it can to protect the sovereignty of this country and its religion from all threats and will continue its actions within the best interests of the state,” it added.

Earlier this week – prior to Waheed’s AFP interview – reports were circulating that the GIP and AP had a falling out with each other after the Adhaalath Party expressed concern over a lack of campaign activities.

Meanwhile, there have been unconfirmed reports suggesting that Adhaalath is now considering the possibility of entering into coalition with resort tycoon Gasim Ibrahim’s Jumhoree Party (JP).

The GIP and ‘Forward with the Nation’ still hopes to work together with AP “even after the presidential elections,” the coalition stated in a press release issued yesterday, following the AP’s announcement it was leaving the coalition.

“The Coalition does not have any hard feelings towards Adhaalath Party,” read the statement.

“We also thank Adhaalath Party Leader Sheikh Imran Abdulla and other members for their time and support in forming this coalition.

“We believe that, even though we do not campaign together, our final goal must be to strengthen democracy and uphold democratic values and also to work in the best interest of the people,” it concluded.

The President’s ‘Forward with the nation’ coalition which is backing Waheed’s bid for election in September, now includes the government-aligned Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP) and the Dhivehi Qaumee Party (DQP). However, several key members of DQP have since defected to the Progressive Party of the Maldives (PPM), while DRP leader Ahmed Thasmeen Ali was recently taken to court by a series of creditors.

The Adhaalath Party President Sheik Imran and Sobah Rasheed, AP Member and team leader of Waheed’s election coalition media team, were not responding to calls at time of press.

Jumhoree Party (JP) Spokesperson Moosa Ramiz and Gaumee Itthihad Party (GIP) Spokesperson Abbas Adil Riza were also not responding to calls at time of press.

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Judge refuses to officiate MDP-themed wedding

A judge from Kanduhulhudhoo Island in Gaaf Alif Atoll has refused to officiate a wedding decorated with the Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP)’s presidential campaign slogan ‘MDP Ehburun’ last week, reports local media.

‘Ehburun’ (one round) is a reference to the MDP’s pledge to win the September 7 presidential election in the first round.

The Kanduhulhudhoo Magistrate Judge Hassan Didi refused to proceed with the marriage vows because the table set for the marriage ceremony was “decorated with the words ‘MDP EhBurun’ in bold letters,” according to CNM.

“I refused to officiate because ‘MDP EhBurun’ was written. I do not object to the color or arrangements used for decoration. But we cannot conduct a wedding to promote a certain group,” Didi told CNM.

“I told them that it would be better to have a phrase such as ‘Baajjaveri Kaivenyakah Maruhaba’ (‘Welcome To A Happy Wedding’),” he added.

The families of the couple then changed the table decorations, before the judge would proceed with the wedding, Didi explained.

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Maldives appeals to Sri Lanka for food security

Defence Minister Mohamed Nazim has appealed to the Sri Lankan government for assistance with agriculture and food security, the office of Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa has said.

In a statement, the Sri Lankan government said “Nazim described to the President some of the hardships experienced by the Maldivian population due to inadequate supplies and high prices of some agricultural products such as rice and certain vegetables. Nazim also indicated that, given the good bilateral ties between the two countries, it might be useful to conduct exchange programs for Maldivian agriculturalists to learn from Sri Lankan experts.”

According to the statement, President Rajapaksa indicated that “Sri Lanka may be able to assist Maldives meet their rice requirement”, but “also urged the Maldivian government to encourage the people to engage in home gardening that could help families address their individual food needs.”

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Particles found in Baxter International IV solutions: MFDA

A warning against using the use of intravenous solutions made by the US pharmaceutical company Baxter International has been issued by the Maldives Food and Drug Authority (MFDA) today (July 10), reports local media.

Particles inside IV bottles were found by the MFDA on three occasions, which could mean the standard of the IV solutions could be compromised and potentially harm patients, said the MFDA alert.

The MFDA has urged vigilance and that all IV solutions be returned to the authority. They are “looking into the matter” as well as inspecting the warehouses where the IV bottles are stored.

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President Waheed, former President Nasheed announce trip to Saudi for Umra pilgrimage

President Mohamed Waheed departed on an official visit to Saudi Arabia today (July 10), a day after local media reported that former President Mohamed Nasheed’s request to perform Umra was rejected by Saudi authorities.

Nasheed, along with Parliamentary Speaker Abdullah Shahid and former Attorney General Dr Ahmed Ali Sawad, are currently in Sri Lanka waiting for their visas to Saudi Arabia to process. They will be conducting Umra, a pilgrimage to Mecca that can be undertaken at any time of year and is highly recommended but not compulsory in Islam.

Local media in the Maldives reported that Nasheed was denied a visa by the Saudi Arabian government, however former Foreign Minister Ahmed Naseem, who is currently in Sri Lanka with Nasheed, Shahid, and Sawad, refuted the claims as inaccurate.

“I’ve been in constant touch with Saudi [Arabian government] Royal Protocol officials and Nasheed’s visa has not been rejected. They have not said anything like that,” the former Foreign Minister told Minivan News today.

“Nasheed’s visa to Saudi Arabia is being processed, it’s just a matter of time. The Foreign Ministry visa application was submitted very late, I don’t think even two weeks have passed,” said Naseem.

He believes there are a number of possible explanations for the delay in visa processing, but emphasised that there was absolutely no information coming from the Saudi Royal Protocol that Nasheed’s visa had been rejected.

“It’s taking awhile because so many presidents and former presidents [from all over the world] are traveling for Umra,” said Naseem. “[Although] it’s very likely Saudi Arabia doesn’t want Nasheed and Waheed there at the same time.”

“The whole thing has been blown out of proportion. Someone from the [Maldives] ‘baghee’ (‘traitor’) government is spreading misinformation to try and gain political capital. However, this will backfire because it’s not good to do things like this,” he declared.

“President Nasheed is a very religious person, he knows [Islam] well. Because he practices the tenets of Islam, [he knows] that going for Umra is also important,” he noted.

“If anyone is trying to prevent Nasheed from Umra it’s very bad, [fellow] Muslims should not be doing anything to obstruct any Muslim [from Islamic worship],” he continued.

Naseem said he did not believe that despite the coincidental timing of President Mohamed Waheed’s trip to Saudi Arabia, the President was intentionally obstructing Nasheed’s trip.

“Waheed is not fully informed of Islamic things, it is unlikely, but you can never know. He’s a traitor to the country and could be up to anything,” said Naseem.

Waheed’s visa to visit Saudi Arabia was issued at 5:00pm yesterday, according to Naseem.

He also noted that the Maldives’ government should be enabling and assisting its citizens to undertake religious pilgrimages.

“Infidels within the government of Maldives are not doing enough to facilitate these types of trips,” Naseem asserted.

However, an official statement from Nasheed’s spokesperson Mariya Ahmed Didi contended there had been deliberate obstruction by the Maldives’ government to obstruct Nasheed’s Umra pilgrimage.

“As we are hearing that some politicians are trying to obstruct the President’s Umra trip, the President is very saddened by this,” said Didi. “One Muslim trying to obstruct the worship of another Muslim is not something that should be done under any circumstances. We appeal for an end to this hassling.”

Meanwhile, President Waheed departed for an official visit to Saudi Arabia today to meet with top government officials, expedite some of the requests the Maldives has made to the Saudi government, and likewise perform an Umra pilgrimage.

Prior to his departure, Waheed stressed that it was difficult for him to comment on why Nasheed has not yet been issued a visa to Saudi Arabia.

“If I say anything it will just lead to speculation. How can I know something that they even don’t know?” said Waheed.

Additionally, he insisted that the government would not stymie Nasheed’s Umra pilgrimage.

“We will do everything we can to get a visa for him,” said Waheed.

Ministry of Foreign Affairs responds

Amid the conflicting reports about Nasheed’s visa obstruction and subsequent denial, the Maldives’ Consular Service Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a statement today detailing the visa application protocol.

“1 – Upon receiving an SMS from the Minister to the Consular Department, informing that former President Mohamed Nasheed and Speaker of Parliament Abdulla Shahid were to take part in Umra this year, the Department contacted the parliament secretariat and inquired as to how Speaker Shahid wanted to obtain the visa to Saudi Arabia,” reads the statement.

“Also, the visa application form required by Saudi Arabia was shared with the protocol department in order to send the form to the office of former President Nasheed. In the meantime, discussions were carried out between the Ministry and the Maldivian High Commission in Colombo regarding the procedures involved in obtaining Umra visas for state dignitaries.

“The Ministry also on repeated occasions requested the speakers bureau of the parliament secretariat to return the filled visa application as soon as possible.

“2 – The Ministry received the completed visa application forms on July 1, 2013. On the very same day, the forms were sent in mail packets to Colombo. Also the details of persons seeking the Umra visa were also shared with Maldives High Commission in Colombo via email.

“3 – The Maldives High Commissioner in Colombo had discussion with Saudi Arabian Ambassador to Maldives about the visa. The Saudi Ambassador said that visas for VIP persons are processed after receiving permission from the Saudi Royal Palace. Therefore, he said that permission must be sought through the Saudi Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The Saudi Ambassador to Maldives is currently working on obtaining the stated permit from the Royal Palace. The Maldives High Commission had informed the [Foreign Affairs] Ministry on July 3, 2013 that Saudi Ambassador will inform them as soon as permission is received.

“4 – The information given by the Maldives High Commission in Sri Lanka to the Ministry was shared with the Saudi Embassy on the same day. A request was also made to the Embassy to speed up the process to obtain the permit. In response, the Embassy informed the Ministry that it was working on to speed up the process and said that Saudi Foreign Ministry was waiting for the word from Saudi Royal Palace,” the statement concluded.

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Parties, parliament, judiciary most corrupt institutions in the Maldives: Global Corruption Barometer

The judiciary is considered one of the Maldives’ most corrupt institutions, according to a poll conducted for Transparency International’s Global Corruption Barometer, along with parliament and political parties.

Of those surveyed, 69 percent felt the judiciary was a corrupt institution, while two percent of families admitted paying bribes to judges.

The political sphere was considered extremely corrupt, particular parliament (78 percent), and political parties (75 percent).

The military (44 percent) was reckoned to be almost as corrupt as police (47 percent), the business community (42 percent) and the media (48 percent).

Unlike the majority of other countries surveyed, the Maldives was notable for the high levels of perceived corruption in almost every institution with 30 percent of those surveyed even considering religious institutions corrupt. NGOs were considered the least corrupt, but the figure still stood at 24 percent.

The survey also found a strong trend in the perception that corruption had increased in the past two years, with 19 percent of those polled stating that it had increased “a little”, and 38 percent “a lot”.

At the same time, 84 percent agreed ordinary people could make a difference fighting corruption.

‘Counter-level’ corruption in the Maldives is generally low relative to other countries in the region, however the Maldives has a complex and long-standing patronage system that in many cases may not be recognised as corruption – MPs, for example, justified salary increases to Swedish levels in 2011 on the grounds that constituents were demanding greater amounts of money and services such as scholarships and medical treatment from their representatives.

DRP MP Rozaina Adam in January 2011 observed to Minivan News that an MP’s salary “is also seen as a welfare fund by many people. If anything goes wrong, constituents go to their MPs. It has been like this for a long time now, and I feel we need to move out of it – these are things that are supposed to be done by the government, but it has been a tradition for a long time to ask MPs. When someone comes and says their nine year-old needs a kidney transplant, it is hard to say no. In the long term, this means that only rich people can be MPs.”

The patronage system is also evident in the culture of vote buying, recognised in Transparency Maldives’ pre-election assessment for the September elections as a key target for voter education ahead of the polls.

“A crisis of confidence in candidates’ sincerity to deliver on their electoral promises could be one of the main reasons why many people take offers. Almost all the participants in the discussions thought the candidates would not bother about them or their community post-elections, or after winning the elections. ‘They would not even answer their phones’ was a common retort,” Transparency noted in its report.

“There are particularly vulnerable groups of people who are targets of vote buying. Youth groups who are victims of drug addiction, for example, could be offered drugs, money to buy drugs, or drugs at discounted rates, in exchange of their votes. Similarly, the less disadvantaged people, people in need of medical treatment, or the more elderly, seem to be particularly vulnerable to vote buying,” the NGO added.

Large scale projects and training programmes promoting transparency and governance in the Maldives are also subject to subtle internal resistance, a senior government official responsible for such a project recently confided to Minivan News.

Senior authorities and civil servants were loathe to give up the discretionary power that came with their position in favour of an equitable system, the official explained, as this removed their influence as the ‘go to guy’ for particular services. While provision of such services was not often leveraged for money, it did often extend to ‘in-kind’ favours such as resort trips for family members, the official said.

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Comment: Assessing the Presidential Elections

The outcome of any election is always uncertain.

According to reports, the winning party in the Maldives elections requires approximately 120,000 votes to secure the majority.

The MDP has the highest number of registered members; approximately between 45 – 50 thousand whereas the opposition – including the deceased members of Dr. Remote Controlled Waheed’s GIP and the Adhaalath with its recent drive to enlist 10,000 members – does not come close to the MDP’s party strength.

Despite the money (whether black or white is not known) Gasim and Yameen are prepared to spend to increase their voter base at the last minute, the ground reality is the combined forces of these two parties’ membership strength cannot compete with the MDP either.

The Adhaalath, at the moment part of the GIP coalition, is too factionalised and have lost the people’s support due to the fact that they have been promoting religion as a tool to woo the voters. Moreover there is no one in the party charismatic enough to swing the voters behind them despite their promotion of a religious agenda targeted at MDP’s Presidential candidate President Nasheed in order to denigrate him on religious grounds.

In fact the strategy has backfired on them. The people were too shrewd and saw threw their machinations. This can be gauged by the number of people attending Adhaalath’s rallies. According to certain reports, even the Majeediyya School band commands a larger following than the Adhaalath Party at present.

Blinded by power, the Sheikhs’ biggest blunder was the fact that they backed the wrong horse in the form of Dr Waheed and a few-die hard Gayoom loyalists in the military whose criteria for loyalty to Islam and the oath taken by them was dependent on the amount of money deposited in their bank accounts.

Dr Waheed, their professed spiritual leader, himself is under controversy over whether he knows how to recite Al-Fatiha, while his children are very much inclined to Hinduism and Christianity. As for Waheed’s religious leanings, while championing the Adhaalath’s hardline Islamic views, his personal beliefs are for anyone to guess.

This leaves the DRP led by Thasmeem – Waheed’s running mate – and the PPM led by former trade minister Yaameen alleged to have stolen millions of dollars of worth public funds – allegations believed by most Maldivians. Their combined strength of party members is again inadequate to challenge the MDP.

The MDP also controls the majority in parliament. The MDP’s biggest asset is the deposed President Nasheed, whose integrity has never been called into question. He has been personally denigrated by all sorts of dirty name calling, but even his most erstwhile enemy former President Gayoom is said to have acceded that Nasheed will not steal from the public coffer.

Whereas all other Presidential candidates, from Yameen to Gasim to President Waheed whom most believe is only warming the seat on behalf of Gayoom loyalists, are all tainted by the brush of corruption. Given half a chance, these people will swallow the entire economy of the Maldives as a whole leaving the middle and lower classes to live in abject poverty.

This has been evident during the past year when Gasim secured Maamigili airport for 99 years for tuppence through the back door, while Yameen’s backer Champa secured the Gan airport. The amount spent on the money for the coup, the alleged US$30,000, has already been recovered, albeit on a long term basis, by the backers of the coup.

The last year has also seen the economy take a nose dive, despite one of the biggest budgets in Maldivian history to be passed so far. Where the money has gone no one knows, but what is certain is the government is on the verge of bankruptcy. Even the police have run out of urine-cups.

When the coup government came in, according to Gasim Ibrahim it raised a billion dollars in selling treasury bills. The interest payable of these comes to US$100 million a year, leaving zero for development projects.

This leaves the silent majority on whom the election is truly dependent upon.

While the election campaign unfolds, certain facts are evident. Gasim, blinded by his hatred of Nasheed, is defaming him in public little realising it only calls attention to his personal shortcomings. Even his loyalist parliamentarians whose loyalty was secured by money no longer wish to associate with him.

Furthermore there are rumors circulating that President Waheed is going to file a case against Gasim for having been once lashed by the courts on grounds of fornication, which makes him ineligible for a Presidential candidate.

“Hate-mongering is counter productive,” says MP Abdul Raheem, former MP for Qasim.

Gasim and Yameen share a common trait: the belief that everyone has a price. When I first met Gasim after several long years, his first question to me was: “how much do you want?” I kept my face deadpan but inside I was seething with anger. Of course there are those who canbe bought but anything that can be bought has no real value. None of these people seem to have grasped this universal fact. Anything of value that can be acquired in this world is through love and struggle.

I’m quite sure the silent majority of the Maldives understands these basic truths. They may take Yaameen’s and Gasim’s money and contend with Waheed’s blackmail and threats of jail, but ultimately when it’s time for the vote to be cast, they will abide by their conscience and decide which is the only viable option for the Maldivians as a whole.

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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