The Police Integrity Commission (PIC) has recommended the Home Ministry take action against police officers involved in the arrest of Thulhaadhoo Island Council President Ahmed Rasheed earlier this year, according to media reports.
On January 26, 2013, police arrested Rasheed on charges of creating unrest while participating in a protest against Adhaalath Party Leader Sheikh Imran Abdulla when he arrived on Thulhaadhoo.
Along with Rasheed and island council member Ziyau Rasheed Ibraim, 11 people were arrested over their alleged involvement in confrontations on the island.
The PIC’s recommendation was made after investigating a complaint filed by Rasheed contending that his arrest had been unlawful.
Rasheed claimed in the complaint that he was arrested in his home after the protest was over by police officers with their faces covered.
Channel News Maldives reported at the time that clashes had occurred between supporters of the the opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) and the government-aligned Adhaalath Party during Sheikh Imran’s visit.
The councilors were released the next day after being taken to court for extension of the period of their detention.
Concluding its investigation into Rasheed’s arrest this week, the PIC’s report stated that the police officers had arrested and handcuffed Rasheed in violation of arrest procedures.
The PIC report explained that officers were required to follow regulations specifying the procedure for handcuffing a suspect during an arrest.
In reference to other claims made by Rasheed that police used inappropriate language when they communicated with him, the PIC said that the investigation team was unable to prove whether or not allegations were true.
A police spokesperson today told Minivan News that no instructions had been received from the Home Ministry on the PIC’s recommendations concerning the case at time of press.
“The PIC procedure is they send these recommendations directly to the Home Ministry, and the ministry will then forward the case and have us take action against officers. The Home Ministry may also take action,’’ he said.
PIC Director General Fathimath Sareera Ali Shareef was not responding to calls from Minivan News at time of press.
The decision was made despite a recommendation from the PIC to the home ministry to take administrative action against the six police officers accused of brutality.
The disciplinary board of the Maldives Police Service (MPS) has decided not to take any administrative action against five officers facing criminal prosecution over police brutality in February 2012, Assistant Commissioner of Police Ali Rasheed revealed at a press briefing yesterday (June 18).
The PIC also made a recommendation to the home ministry to take administrative action against the six police officers accused of brutality.
The Home Ministry forwarded the cases to the police disciplinary board, Assistant Commissioner Rasheed explained at yesterday’s press briefing.
“The disciplinary board has reviewed the cases and made decisions concerning the six police officers involved in these cases,” he said. “[The disciplinary board] has decided to dismiss one of those officers. On the remaining five cases, as the cases are currently at the court stage, the disciplinary board has decided not to take any administrative action against them until the court cases reach a definitive conclusion.”
A media official at the Prosecutor General’s Office (PGO) confirmed to Minivan News today that trials have begun on some cases of police brutality on February 8, while state prosecutors were in the process of interviewing witnesses in the other cases.
Following an investigation into the violence on February 8, the Human Rights Commission of Maldives (HRCM) concluded that the heavy-handed police crackdown on the MDP walk across Male’ was “brutal” and “without warning.”
The HRCM recommended investigations by the PIC into the “disproportionate” use of force that left dozens of demonstrators injured and hospitalised.
Moreover, the Commonwealth-backed Commission of National Inquiry (CoNI) – which controversially concluded that the transfer of presidential power on February 7 was constitutional – also recommended prompt investigations of police brutality.
“There were acts of police brutality on 6, 7 and 8 February 2012 that must be investigated and pursued further by the relevant authorities,” the report stated.
In May 2013 – one year and four months after the incidents – the PGO pressed charges against two police officers accused of assaulting MDP MPs ‘Reeko’ Moosa Manik and Mariya Ahmed Didi during the violent crackdown on February 8.
MDP Chairperson ‘Reeko’ Moosa was flown overseas for treatment of severe injuries sustained during the assault. The two MPs were dragged out by SO officers while they were hiding in a shop with former President Nasheed.
Videos also emerged on social media appearing to show SO officers brutally beating MDP MP Ibrahim Rasheed ‘Bonda.’
Impunity
According to a status update by the PIC on June 6, the commission investigated 29 cases of police brutality before forwarding six cases for prosecution.
PIC Vice Chair Haala Hameed told parliament’s Government Oversight Committee on June 4 that the commission had urged then-Home Minister Mohamed Jameel to suspend the accused officers immediately.
However, Hameed said that the request was not adhered to and at least one of the accused officers was promoted.
Hameed said the commission had failed to identify the police officers in five of the remaining cases while 11 other cases lacked supporting evidence.
“These are not disciplinary issues, but crimes. Aside from sending cases to the Prosecutor General, we also recommended the Home Minister suspend these officers, because of the delays in prosecution. We believe these officers should not be serving in the police,” Hameed said.
Former PIC Chair Shahinda Ismail – who resigned citing failure to hold police accountable for human rights violations – explained to Minivan News in September 2012 that article 44 of the Police Act allows the home minister to ignore PIC recommendations if the commission is informed in writing.
Shahinda referred to a case involving Staff Sergeant Ali Ahmed, who was caught on tape kicking a demonstrator while he was on the ground.
The case was sent for prosecution while the PIC recommended administrative action against the staff sergeant to the Home Minister.
“I know for a fact he is still a policeman and was promoted after this incident,” Shahinda said at the time.
“It is really upsetting – a huge concern – for me that the police leadership is showing a trend where unlawful officers are acting with impunity. This can only lead to further violence,” she added.
Meanwhile, in May this year, the MDP accused the government of fast-tracking 117 “politically-motivated” cases involving its supporters charged with terrorism and obstruction of police duty.
“Why doesn’t the government take action against those police officers when there is clear evidence of police brutality? None of the police officers have been investigated or prosecuted in line with the CoNI,” said MDP MP Imthiyaz Fahmy, who was himself arrested on February 8.
February 8 crackdown
While riot police and soldiers baton-charged the front line of protestors on February 8, Minivan News observed SO officers charging the crowd from a narrow alley leading to the Maldives Monetary Authority (MMA) area.
The SO police officers used obscene language, pointed to and chased after individual MDP activists and severely beat unarmed civilians.
Al Jazeera news filmed parts of the attack from the rear and reported that on February 8 “police and military charged, beating demonstrators as they ran – women, the elderly, [with] dozens left nursing their wounds.”
According to the HRCM report, 32 people filed complaints with the commission concerning varying degrees of injuries sustained in the crackdown, while 20 people submitted medical documents of their treatment of injuries.
Among the injuries caused by the police baton charge, the HRCM report noted that several people were bruised and battered, one person fractured a bone in his leg, one person was left with a broken arm and six people sustained head wounds.
Moreover, the HRCM report into the events of February 6 and 7 revealed that 43 people were treated for injuries at the Indira Gandhi Memorial Hospital (IGMH), while 28 people were treated at the ADK private hospital.
On February 8, Minivan News also observed several youth with head injuries queuing up for x-rays in the waiting area outside the reception area of IGMH.
One young woman who went to IGMH with her sister was being treated for a head wound. The gauze wrapped around her head was spotted with blood, and she claimed the wound was still bleeding as she went in for an X-ray.
“The police were just standing there and suddenly we were being beaten with batons and pepper spray was thrown in our face. They threw us to the ground and kept beating us,” she said.
The BBC meanwhile reported “a baton charge by police on crowds gathered outside one of the main hospitals.”
“People scattered as officers sprinted towards them silhouetted against the lights of passing traffic,” the BBC’s Andrew North reported from Male’.
“Inside the hospital, dozens of Mr Nasheed’s supporters are still being treated for injuries, following earlier scuffles in the main square. Among them is Reeko Moosa Maniku, chairman of Mr Nasheed’s Maldives Democratic Party – who was with the former president when the clashes broke out. With a large head bandage and his shirt bloodied, he regained consciousness as we arrived. The police said they would kill me, he told us, as they beat me. Another MP was still unconscious in another ward.”
The Police Integrity Commission (PIC) has said no complaints have been received of officers in Addu City refusing to provide a warrant or identification while conducting searches on members of the public or their private property.
Addu City’s Mayor yesterday (June 16) alleged he had received multiple complaints that plain clothes officers who refused to provide either identification or a warrant were searching members of the public in the streets and in their homes.
The allegations were raised following the Maldives Police Service (MPS) warning issued Saturday (June 15) claiming criminals had been posing as officers in the Addu City area for the last two weeks in order to commit robberies.
PIC Director General Fathimath Sareera Ali Shareef told Minivan News today that as the commission had received no reports of officers failing to provide their identification or a warrant during searches, it would not be investigating allegations against officers in Addu City.
“We would only look into the issue if there were complaints made of police doing wrong,” she said.
Shareef added that while the PIC had been made aware of the reports of criminals posing as officers in Addu, the matter was a criminal investigation and therefore the responsibility of the police.
“We understand that these robberies involve members of the public posing as police. I would hope no officers were involved in this,” she said.
A police media official meanwhile confirmed yesterday that investigations were under way in Addu City into several separate incidents where individuals falsely claiming to be officers searched members of the public in the street or at their homes before robbing them of valuables.
Police were presently working to identify the individuals accused of posing as police in order to commit robberies, though no arrests have been made at the time, the official added.
A statement released by authorities on the weekend said that all genuine officers – even those on duty in plain clothes – are required to carry their police identification. The public was therefore encouraged to ask officers to see such documentation when they were being searched or questioned.
However, Addu City Mayor Abdulla Sodig said that after having recently received numerous complaints about Special Operations (SO) officers allegedly forcing their way into homes to conduct searches without uniforms, warrants or identification, it was increasingly difficult for the public to verify real police in the city.
“We never get complaints about thieves breaking into properties disguised in police uniform,” he alleged. “We have received complaints that the SO perform searches of people and property without their ID or uniform. Also, people have been beaten, threatened, abused, abducted and locked up without relatives being informed.”
Sodig argued that on the back of allegations certain officers were conducting their duties without wearing uniforms or providing their ID, local thieves had found themselves able to exploit public uncertainty to perform robberies.
“Some people have issued complaints with us and the PIC. These are not fake police officers, they are genuine officers who are refusing to show their ID and stopping anyone on the street they like,” he claimed yesterday.
Failure to prosecute police officers accused of human rights abuses and “serious failings in the justice system entrenched impunity” in the Maldives during the past year, Amnesty International has said in its annual report.
“These [failings] included the absence of codified laws capable of providing justice equally to all and the appointment of judges who lacked formal training in law without serious scrutiny of their legal qualifications,” the international human rights organisation stated.
“Throughout the year, authorities were accused of political bias for fast-tracking the prosecution of opposition supporters accused of criminal behaviour during rallies while failing to prosecute police and others suspected of committing human rights abuses during the same protests.”
The 2013 Amnesty annual report on the state of the world’s human rights observed that former President Mohamed Nasheed’s resignation on February 7, 2012 was “followed by months of protest and political repression.”
Nasheed resigned in the wake of a violent mutiny by Special Operations (SO) police officers, who assaulted government supporters, ransacked the ruling party’s Haruge (meeting hall), staged a protest at the Republic Square, vandalised the police headquarters, clashed with the military and stormed the state broadcaster.
Since the transfer of presidential power, the security services have used excessive force “to suppress demonstrations that were largely peaceful,” the report noted.
In June 2012, the Maldives Police Service (MPS) however denied “in the harshest terms” allegations of police brutality by Amnesty International.
“Supporters of the former President’s Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) were targeted for attack in February. Detainees were subjected to torture and other ill-treatment,” the report continued.
“Targeted violence” against MDP members plunged the nation into “a human rights crisis” in February 2012, the Amnesty report contended.
“Throughout the year, security forces frequently attacked peaceful demonstrators, including MPs, journalists and bystanders, in the capital Malé or in Addu, both MDP strongholds. Officers clubbed them, kicked them and pepper-sprayed them directly in the eyes. Around the time of Mohamed Nasheed’s resignation, from 7 to 9 February, police targeted senior MDP members for attack and tracked down and assaulted injured protesters in hospitals,” read the report.
Amnesty also reported torture and ill-treatment in police custody, including “beatings, pepper-spraying the eyes and mouth, denial of drinking water and, in Addu, incarceration in dog cages.”
The report noted that a Commonwealth-backed Commission of National Inquiry (CoNI) established by President Dr Mohamed Waheed – which found that Nasheed resigned voluntarily – had taken note of “allegations of police brutality and acts of intimidation” and called for “investigations to proceed and to be brought to public knowledge with perpetrators held to account.”
Criminal proceedings have however yet to begin against a single police officer accused of human rights abuses in the aftermath of February 7.
Impunity
In August 2012, the Human Rights Commission of Maldives (HRCM) concluded that the police crackdown on a MDP march across Male’ on February 8, 2012 that left dozens of demonstrators injured was “brutal” and “without prior warning.”
Based on its findings, the HRCM recommended that the Maldives Police Service (MPS) and Police Integrity Commission (PIC) should investigate the “disproportionate” use of force – in violation of police regulations authorising use of less-lethal weapons – and initiate legal action against the responsible officers.
On February 8, thousands of MDP supporters took to the streets after Nasheed declared that his resignation the previous day was “under duress” in a “coup d’etat” instigated by mutinying SO police officers working with the then-opposition and abetted by rogue elements of the military.
The HRCM noted that 32 people filed complaints with the commission concerning varying degrees of injuries sustained in the crackdown and 20 people submitted medical documents of their treatment for injuries.
Among the injuries caused by the police baton charge, the HRCM report noted that several people were bruised and battered, one person fractured a bone in his leg, one person was left with a broken arm and six people sustained head wounds.
Two fingers on the left hand of one demonstrator were crushed, the report noted, and the victim had to undergo treatment at the operating theatre.
The PIC meanwhile revealed in December 2012 that it “recorded 24 individual cases of police brutality related to 7th and 8th February” and completed investigation into 12 cases.
Six cases were sent to the Prosecutor General’s Office (PGO) for criminal prosecution.
“In one more case, though police brutality was proven, there was insufficient evidence to identify the responsible policemen. Investigations of the remaining 12 cases is ongoing, but are expected to be completed soon,” the commission said in a status update.
In February 2013, PIC Chair Dr Abdulla Waheed told parliament’s Government Oversight Committee that it was investigating 29 police officers accused of using excessive force against MDP demonstrators.
The PIC chairperson could not confirm whether the commission’s recommendation to dismiss six officers of the 29 under investigation was acted upon.
He added that five cases were pending despite video evidence of police brutality as the officers could not be identified and 11 additional cases remained stalled over lack of sufficient evidence.
Former PIC Chair Shahinda Ismail had revealed that officers the commission had recommended for suspension had instead been given promotions. Shahinda resigned in October 2012 citing “major difference of opinion” with other members.
“What I’ve seen in the actions of institutions is that they have been giving a lot of space for the police to act with impunity,” she said at the time.
February 8 crackdown
An injured protester
While police baton charged the front of the protest march on February 8, Minivan News observed SO officers charging the crowd from a narrow alley leading to the Maldives Monetary Authority (MMA) building.
The SO officers used obscene language, pointed to and chased after individual MDP activists and severely beat unarmed civilians.
Parts of the attack from the rear were filmed by Al Jazeera, which reported on February 8 that “police and military charged, beating demonstrators as they ran – women, the elderly, dozens left nursing their wounds.”
Former President Nasheed was reported among the injured, and received head injuries during the clashes. He was briefly taken under police custody before being released back into the crowd.
Minivan News also observed several youth with head injuries queuing up for x-rays in the waiting area outside the reception area at the Indira Gandhi Memorial Hospital (IGMH).
One young woman who had gone to IGMH with her sister was being treated for a head wound. A gauze wrapped around her head was spotted with blood, and she claimed the wound was still bleeding as she went in for an X-ray.
“The police were just standing there and suddenly we were being beaten with batons and pepper spray was thrown in our face. They threw us to the ground and kept beating us,” she said.
The BBC meanwhile reported “a baton charge by police on crowds gathered outside one of the main hospitals.”
“People scattered as officers sprinted towards them silhouetted against the lights of passing traffic,” the BBC’s Andrew North reported from Male’.
“Inside the hospital, dozens of Mr Nasheed’s supporters are still being treated for injuries, following earlier scuffles in the main square. Among them is Reeko Moosa Maniku, chairman of Mr Nasheed’s Maldives Democratic Party – who was with the former president when the clashes broke out. With a large head bandage and his shirt bloodied, he regained consciousness as we arrived. The police said they would kill me, he told us, as they beat me. Another MP was still unconscious in another ward.”
Protesters are advised not to obstruct the implementation of police duties, the Police Integrity Commission (PIC) announced in a press statement (February 17), according to local media.
The PIC noted that police and protesters are sustaining injuries ‘typically’ caused when police break up protests, which occurs “when protesters break through police barricades” and gather at locations prohibited in the Freedom of Peaceful Assembly act.
Protesters were advised not to obstruct police duties and “exercise their freedoms” within the limits of the law, while the PIC advised police to “only use force to the extent demanded by the given circumstance” and also to keep their actions within the limits of the law, local media stated.
Under the new bill, citizens are not allowed to hold gatherings within a certain distance of the headquarters of police and the Maldives National Defence Force (MNDF).
Among the key features of the bill is the outlawing of demonstrations outside private residences and government buildings, limitations on media not accredited with the state and defining gatherings as a group with more than a single person.
Demonstrations would also be outlawed within a certain distance of the residences of the president and the vice president, the offices of the Maldives Monetary Authority (MMA), tourist resorts, harbours utilized for economic purposes, airports, the President’s Office, the courts of law, the Parliament, mosques, schools, hospitals and buildings housing diplomatic missions.
The bill also states that demonstrators wishing to protest against a specific individual, may not use megaphones, stand outside, or have a sit-down outside that person’s residence.
Defence Minister Mohamed Nazim has rejected accusations that police officers committed criminal or “inhumane” acts against members of the public on February 8, 2012, instead blaming opposition party supporters for violence on the day.
Nazim was reported by newspaper Haveeru as claiming that police and military figures should not be held accountable for injuries sustained by members of the public during protests held over a three-day period between February 6 and February 8, 2012.
On February 7 last year, then President Mohamed Nasheed resigned from office. He subsequently alleged he had been forced to do so under “duress” on the back of a mutiny by sections of the police and military.
Speaking to private broadcaster DhiFM this week, Nazim rejected claims by the Police Integrity Commission (PIC) that some officers should be prosecuted for criminal behaviour due to how they dealt with protesters at the time the government changed.
Parliament’s Executive Oversight Committee (EOC) was told by the Police Integrity Commission (PIC) on Thursday that certain police officers should be prosecuted for alleged “unlawful actions” they committed in the build up to, and following, last year’s power transfer.
Parliament’s EOC is currently reviewing the report produced by the Commonwealth-backed Commission of National Inquiry (CNI), which looked into the events leading up to February 7, as well as its aftermath.
The CNI report, which was published in August last year, concluded there had been no coup, no duress and no mutiny during the controversial transfer of power that saw President Dr Mohamed Waheed Hassan Manik sworn into office. The report did however call for investigations into “acts of police brutality”.
The CNI findings were also welcomed at the time by the US State Department and the United Nations, but have continued to be branded a “whitewash” by the opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP).
Opposition “offence”
Nazim told DhiFM broadcast that injuries received by members of the public during protests held on February 8, 2012, were a result of confrontations with police.
He maintained that the “truth” of the day, which he claimed had been wiped from public memory, was that supporters of the opposition MDP had carried out an “offence” by committing acts of violence that served to reverse national development by 20 years in certain cases.
Police stations and court houses in six southern atolls were torched during February 8 last year after police violently cracked down in the capital Male’ on a Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) march where thousands took to the streets in support of former President Nasheed.
In August last year, terrorism charges were pressed against over 40 people accused of setting the Seenu Gan police station on fire on February 8, including Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) MP Mohamed Rasheed and Addu City Councillor Ahmed Mirzadh.
According to local media, Nazim alleged this week that senior figures in the MDP had requested that the archives and history of islands across the country be set on fire along with courts houses and police stations.
While the defence minister added that police had taken part in unspecified, “unprecedented acts” during the transfer of power, he said that law enforcement and security officials were not at fault for violence during and after the transfer of power, and that former President Nasheed should take full responsibility.
Injuries sustained by members of the public between February 6 and February 8 last year were a result of confronting police officers, Nazim said, and had not been sustained “from being at home”. He maintained that a probe into the clashes was ongoing.
Defence Minister Nazim was not responding to calls from Minivan News at the time of press. Police Commissioner Abdulla Riyaz’s phone was also switched off.
Prosecution calls
PIC Vice President Haala Hameed said earlier this week that the actions of some police officers during the controversial transfer of power amounted to crimes and should be prosecuted by the PG.
She claimed that the PIC had identified 29 cases of police misconduct, out of which cases concerning six police officers had been sent to the PG for prosecution. Furthermore, the PIC revealed that it had urged Home Minister Dr Mohamed Jameel Ahmed to suspend the officers immediately.
Hameed said the commission had failed to identify the police officers in five of the remaining cases, while 11 other cases lacked supporting evidence. She also said the PIC was still investigating seven cases of police misconduct during the transfer of power.
“These are not disciplinary issues, but crimes. Aside from sending cases to the prosecutor general, we also recommended the Home Minister suspend these officers, because of the delays in prosecution. We believe these officers should not be serving in the police,” she said.
Prosecutor General Ahmed Muiz disputed Hameed’s claims at the time, suggesting that the actions of police officers did not amount to crimes but were “disciplinary issues”.
“I am not deterred or afraid of carrying out my duty. I am not influenced by anybody. By the will of God, I will continue to carry out my duty. I would have sent cases to court if there had been sufficient evidence needed for a successful prosecution,” Muiz said.
The PIC has said that it had investigated officers involved in alleged abuse as criminal cases rather than as disciplinary matters.
Home Minister Dr Mohamed Jameel Ahmed responded in local media at the time that cases involving police officers whom the had PIC recommended be dismissed had been sent to the police disciplinary board.
Jameel said the Police Act and the regulations made under the act were very clear as to how a police officer could be dismissed or disciplined. He claimed that he would uphold the law and would not violate the Police Act.
“The PIC is an institution formed under the Police Act. I can’t simply remove a police officer simply based on a recommendation by the commission. That is why I sent the cases to police disciplinary board as soon as I got the [PIC]’s letter,” he told Haveeru.
Jameel also said it would be an unfair dismissal if the court acquitted a police officer who had been dismissed prior a verdict being reached.
Dr Jameel was not responding to calls from Minivan News at time of press.
International pressure for a thorough investigation into allegations of police abuse has continued.
The UK government earlier this week called for the government and other parties to work towards institutional reform in areas such as the judiciary, as well as “to fully investigate all allegations of police brutality, as recommended in the CoNI report.”
Members of the Police Integrity Commission (PIC) have told Parliament’s Executive Oversight Committee (EOC) that unlawful actions committed by police officers on February 6, 7 and 8 last year were criminal activities that needed to be prosecuted.
Parliament’s EOC is currently reviewing the report produced by the Commonwealth-backed Commission of National Inquiry (CNI), which looked into the controversial transfer of power that took place on February 7, 2012.
The committee is also assessing the progress of institutions in following the recommendations stated in the CNI report. The committee on Wednesday evening summoned the PIC along with members of the Human Rights Commission of the Maldives (HRCM) and Prosecutor General (PG) Ahmed Muiz.
Speaking to the committee, PIC Vice President Haala Hameed said that actions of police officers during the period of the controversial transfer of power amounted to crimes and should be prosecuted by the PG.
She claimed that the PIC had identified 29 cases of police misconduct, out of which cases concerning six police officers had been sent to the PG for prosecution. Furthermore, the PIC revealed that it had urged Home Minister Mohamed Jameel to suspend the officers immediately.
Hameed said the commission had failed to identify the police officers in five of the remaining cases while 11 other cases lacked supporting evidence. She also said the PIC was still investigating seven cases of police misconduct during the transfer of power.
“These are not disciplinary issues, but crimes. Aside from sending cases to the Prosecutor General, we also recommended the Home Minister suspend these officers, because of the delays in prosecution. We believe these officers should not be serving in the police,” Hameed said.
However, PG Muiz disputed Hameed’s claims, suggesting that the actions of police officers did not amount to crimes but were “disciplinary issues”.
“I am not deterred or afraid of carrying out my duty. I am not influenced by anybody. By the will of God, I will continue to carry out my duty. I would have sent cases to court if there had been sufficient evidence needed for a successful prosecution,” Muiz said.
“We did not investigate those cases as a disciplinary matter. Those are criminal cases. We investigated a crime,” Hameed responded.
When a committee member asked about the police officer Ali Ahmed – who was promoted twice after the PIC recommended he be dismissed from the police force and prosecuted, Hameed said Home Minister Jameel had given a “deaf ear” to the commission’s repeated requests.
Former Chair of the PIC Shahinda Ismail earlier revealed that officers the PIC had recommended for suspension were in instead receiving promotions.
“It is really upsetting for me, a huge concern, that the police leadership is permitting a trend whereby unlawful officers are acting with impunity. This can only lead to further violence,” Shahinda said at the time.
Meanwhile local newspaper Haveeru quoted Home Minister Dr Mohamed Jameel Ahmed as saying that the cases of police officers which the PIC recommended be dismissed had been sent to the police disciplinary board.
Jameel said that the Police Act and the regulations made under the act were very clear as to how a police officer could be dismissed or disciplinary action be taken. He claimed that he would uphold the law and would not violate the Police Act.
“The PIC is an institution formed under the Police Act. I can’t simply remove a police officer simply based on a recommendation by the commission. That is why I sent the cases to police disciplinary board as soon as I got the [PIC]’s letter,” he told Haveeru.
Jameel also said that it would be an unfair dismissal if the court acquitted a police officer who had been dismissed prior a verdict being reached.
However, Hameed during the committee meeting, claimed there was sufficient evidence needed for successful prosecution of those officers which it had recommended be dismissed.
President Dr Mohamed Waheed Hassan Manik has withdrawn the nomination of former Deputy Commissioner of Police Mohamed Rishwan to the Police Integrity Commission (PIC).
A letter informing the People’s Majlis of the president’s decision to withdraw the nomination was read out at the beginning of the sitting of parliament yesterday (December 31, 2012)
While reasons for the withdrawal were not specified in the letter, parliament’s secretary general said that the Independent Institutions Committee had requested the President to withdraw Rishwan’s name.
The committee noted that there were pending cases involving Rishwan. In October 2011, the PIC found that Rishwan had ordered subordinates to cut the hair of a number of youth in police custody while he was serving as deputy commissioner in July 2010.
Following its investigation, the PIC asked the Prosecutor General’s Office to press charges against the former deputy commissioner.
Rishwan retired from the police service in July 2011.
Special operation
In July 2010, police and the Maldives National Defense Force (MNDF) arrested almost 60 people, including children, in a joint special operation launched to curb the rise in gang violence.
Many arrested at the time claimed that their mobile phones and personal belongings were confiscated and were not returned when they were released.
Almost everyone arrested in the operation was released without any charges.
A number of those arrested claimed they were mistreated and abused in custody, including being forced to remove their clothes, blindfolded and beaten.
“I was arrested while I was on the way to Dharumavantha School to get a document,” one of those arrested told Minivan News at the time. “While I was waiting near the traffic lights on Sosun magu, two policemen and two MNDF officers told me to be freeze, came up behind me and handcuffed me and my friend.”
“I asked them on what charges they were arresting me, and where they were taking me, and they said they needed me to clarify some information.”
He said the officers pushed him into a police bus and blindfolded him with his hands tied with clips.
“They took me to a place and removed my silver ear-rings, my bracelets, necklace and sunglasses,” he claimed. “Then they took me to a place and removed the blindfold on my eye, and ordered me to remove my clothes. I refused, but I had no other choice so I did, and they told me to bend over. They harassed me verbally and physically.”
He claimed the officers involved were covering their faces.
“After checking me they blindfolded me again, and then took me to somewhere else. I asked them where they were taking me, they said that I should speak only when I am spoken to,” he said. “They pushed me into another room, where they trimmed my hair. When I tried to refuse, they hit and beat me.”
Leaked CCTV footage which has thrown into dispute an official police account of 43 year-old Abdulla Gasim Ibrahim’s death in a motorcycle accident on August 17 has been making rapid rounds on social media.
The family of the victim in September raised the matter with the Police Integrity Commission (PIC), stating: “the ‘accident’ occurred due to a policeman standing in front of Hilaaleege using his baton to hit the head of the driver on a motorcycle which had two people fleeing after stealing, which caused the motorcycle to lose control and drive into Abdulla Gasim Ibrahim’s motorcycle.”
Ibrahim’s widow Naseema Khaleel told Minivan News on Monday that she had received no official response from the PIC to her letter.
“I call the PIC now and then and ask about it. They first said they’ve asked the police for the relevant footage, then later said they had received it. The standard answer since then has been that they are looking into the matter,” Khaleel said.
“The police call every now and then. They called a few days back to ask for the motorcycle registration and bills. They too say they are investigating the case. I do want to take the matter to court. Right now I’m waiting to see if we get a response from PIC,” Khaleel explained. “What else can we do?”
Khaleel stays home taking care of the couple’s two children, and said she has faced much hardship following her husband’s death.
“No state bodies or anyone else have extended any sort of support. My brothers and family help as much as they can. The younger child is seven and I, too, wish to provide for my children, for their education and school activities. But it is hard now,” she said.
Khaleel said she had approached the police after the incident, asking for assistance in taking her husband abroad for emergency medical care, but to no avail.
“I did approach the police to ask for help, but did not get any assistance from them. We had bury him in Sri Lanka in the end. I was not even given the police records, which further complicated things there. Had I gotten at least cooperation from the police, things would not have been as difficult as they were,” she said.
Khaleel said that although the Aasandha health insurance scheme helped with the medical costs, the graveness of the situation called for her and other close family members to travel with Ibrahim. She said the family had not received any assistance even in this instance.
“I am not trying to blame the police or any other persons involved. But even the police have said that Gasim had no fault in this, that he was just an innocent bystander. Then someone needs to take responsibility,” Khaleel said.
“I don’t know what else we can do. They are elusive and very slow, which is why we keep calling back. All I want is justice,” Khaleel told Minivan News.
Investigation almost concluded: PIC
PIC Director General Fathimath Sarira confirmed the PIC had received the letter, and that the investigation was now nearing the point of conclusion.
She also confirmed that the PIC had previously received the leaked footage and that it was part of the ongoing investigation.
Article 41(c) of the Police Act states that Maldives Police Service should inform the PIC upon the occurrence of death or infliction of grave bodily injury to a person due to the use of force by a police officer.
Asked if police had in accordance with the above article notified PIC of the incident, Sarira replied, “Police has notified the commission about the accident over a phone call. Although, when we first heard of the case, it was only said that a speeding motorcycle had collided with a parked one and led to a death. But then later, we got the footage too.”
Asked for clarification on what actions the commission would take if police were found to have failed to notify the commission as required, Sarira responded that police usually did keep the PIC informed and that she could not recall any recent incidents to refer back to.
“We will be concluding this investigation very soon and can then provide more details,” she said.
Meanwhile, Vice President of the Human Rights Commission of the Maldives (HRCM) Ahmed Tholal stated that they had only become aware of the incident after the leaked video went viral on social media.
“We have today started discussions on the matter in the commission meeting. Only after the commission members conclude discussions can we provide details on how we will proceed to act on this matter,” he said.
“Police Commissioner Riyaz must take responsibility”
Former President Mohamed Nasheed and the Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) have meanwhile released statements condemning the cover-up of the incident, and calling for Police Commissioner Abdulla Riyaz to take responsibility for the incident.
“I am shocked and appalled by the leaked video, which appears to show a policeman hitting a motorcyclist in the head with a baton, which led to the death of an innocent bystander,” said Nasheed.
“Under [President Mohamed] Waheed’s administration, we are seeing a return to the thuggish brutality of Maldives’ authoritarian past. I implore the international community to pressure the Waheed government to immediately and impartially investigate this case, to bring human rights abusers in the security forces to book, to cease its harassment of opposition members, and hold early elections so democracy can be restored.”
Warning: some viewers may find the following footage disturbing.
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