Tag: prison

Maldivian man alleges beating in Indian prison after attempting to export peacock feathers

A Maldivian man arrested in Trivandrum, India for attempting to take a bag of peacock feathers back to Maldives has alleged he was beaten in prison, local media reported.

Ahmed Rufwaan Ali, 23, was arrested at Trivandrum Airport in December 2012 before spending 13 days in an Indian prison.

Speaking to media on his arrival back into Male’ yesterday (January 26), Ali alleged that officers in the prison tortured him due to his refusal to “subject himself to their instructions”, Sun Online reported.

Rufwaan subsequently clarified that he had been “beaten” in custody.

“Using the word ‘torture’ insinuates that I was exposed to extreme violent treatment which was not the case. It is also the ‘cultural’ language barrier that the Dhivehi language consists of limited vocabulary which when translated to English, can fit to a variety of synonyms,” he said, in a subsequent statement.

Rufwaan said he had been asked by reporters as to whether he was beaten in custody, to which he “regretfully responded, “It is a jail after all, and we will get beaten. Yes I was beaten. The rules of the officers there is that, once jailed we have to beg for mercy at their feet. I refused to do that, which is why I got the beating.”

Ali blamed the Maldivian consulate in India for the way he was treated in prison, claiming that Indian authorities had been about to release him before the Maldivian Consulate “communicated to Indian Customs authorities in an inappropriate manner”.

He also claimed the Maldivian consulate in India did not help to  bail him out of prison, and instead he had to rely on his family for the money.

“I first paid 25,000 rupees, and then 10,000 rupees as fine. All the help I got came from my family. The consulate there did not concern itself with me,” Ali was quoted as saying in local media.

Ali claimed that he was not aware of the ban on buying and selling peacock feathers, adding that he was unaware if the feathers were fake or not, according to local media.

Minister of Foreign Affairs Dr Abdul Samad Abdulla was not responding to calls from Minivan News at time of press.

Clarification: Initial reports in local media quoted Rufwaan as saying he had been “tortured” in custody. Rufwaan subsequently issued a statement claiming he had been mistranslated and that he was in fact only “beaten”.

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Maldivian prisoners in foreign jails cannot be transferred home due to lack of proper laws

Eleven Maldivian citizens are currently serving prison sentences in foreign countries because the Maldives lacks the proper laws to transfer them back home, local media has reported.

An official from the Foreign Ministry was quoted in local media as saying that the Ministry is “gravely concerned” about the number of people detained in foreign jails, and that it is working on transferring them to jails in the Maldives.

The official stated that a prisoner transfer agreement had been signed with Sri Lanka and India, however the lack of proper laws in regard to prisoner transfer made the process difficult.

“We have worked hard for such a law. It is however, a thing for the Attorney General. We can send away the foreigners in our jails, but to transfer a Maldivian to Maldives, we lack the proper law on how the person may carry out the sentence.

“There are numerous people who we have not been able to transfer because of the lack of such a law. If not, we can transfer them to Maldives,” the official was quoted as saying in Sun Online.

The foreign Ministry, as reported by local media, said that Maldivian prisoners are currently in jails in Syria, Italy, Sri Lanka for drug related cases, one in a Hong Kong prison in relation to a murder case, one in Chennai for an unknown reason and two people arrested in Trivadndrum on drug charges.

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Cameroonian inmate held in Maldives prison dies in hospital

A female inmate serving a 25-year sentence in a Maldives prison died Saturday (December 29, 2012) after being admitted to Indira Gandhi Memorial Hospital (IGMH) in critical condition.

Local media reported that the woman – a Cameroonian national – was suspected to have died as a result of complications linked to AIDs.  These claims were denied by a senior official at the Department of Penitentiary and Rehabilitation Services (DPRS), who spoke to Minivan News on condition of anonymity today.

‘’She was admitted at IGMH months ago after doctors at the prison found her medical condition to be very serious,’’ the source said. ‘’We contacted the Cameroon mission and tried to take her to her family.’’

The DPRS source claimed that permission had been obtained to send the inmate back to her home country. However, she was unable to be transported due to the serious nature of medical conditions she had been suffering from.

‘’Here at the DPRS, we do not have one single medical record of her or any other document that confirms she had AIDS,’’ the source said. ‘’I therefore cannot confirm the news in the local media.’

The DPRS Official told Minivan News that the woman was suffering from heart diseases and other related medical conditions.

‘’On previous occasions she was taken to IGMH twice while she was in prison,’’ claimed the source.

Newspaper Haveeru reported today that it understood the deceased, who had been sentenced back in 2011, had been diagnosed with AIDS.  No details were provided in the report on how has the newspaper had confirmed details of the condition.

AIDs concerns

Statistics indicate that HIV infection rates have been limited in the Maldives over the space of the last two decades, although health officials in the country have begun to raise concerns about the potential risk of cases spreading.

Late last year, senior Maldivian health figures confirmed that a two year-old child had tested HIV positive.

In October, Minister of Health Dr Ahmed Jamsheed Mohamed claimed it was only through “incredible luck” that HIV had not spread across the Maldives, considering the prolific levels of unprotected sex and intravenous drug use.

While accepting that HIV infection rates remained relatively low in the Maldives, Minister of State for Health Lubna Zahir Hussain has previously said that efforts needed to be increased across all sectors of society to tackle attitudes towards high-risk behaviours that allow the virus to be transmitted.  Lubna also heads the National Drug Agency (NDA).

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Sick Indian prisoners in the Maldives denied treatment: The Hindu

More than a year after India and the Maldives signed an agreement on transfer of convicted prisoners, as many as 14 Indian inmates in the archipelago are losing hope of being transferred to prisons in their country, reports Indian newspaper The Hindu.

“We have no problems. From our side, there is no delay. We welcome India taking back sentenced prisoners,” a Maldivian official told The Hindu last week, when asked about the delay in paperwork.

Just as in the case of 33 Indian prisoners in Sri Lanka, the Indians in Maldives prisons are also at the receiving end of Indian bureaucracy. But unlike in the case of Indian prisoners in Sri Lanka, most of the 14 prisoners in the Maldives are ill and have almost no access to treatment. Access to treatment for most islanders in the Maldives consumes time, energy and money. Vacancies for specialist-doctors exist even in the country’s main hospital, the Indian-built Indira Gandhi Memorial Hospital, Male.

“I do not know what my disease is,” said a woman prisoner who has been jailed in the Central North province of Maafushi, in Kaafu Atoll. “After I have been brought to Maafushi, I have never met a doctor. Every month, they take me to Male and bring me back. Soon after that they take a signature of mine in a paper with something written in Dhivehi [the official language of the Maldives],” said the woman, in a letter to the Indian High Commissioner in the Maldives.

Read more

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Politicians and businessmen funding gangs to attack opponents: Asia Foundation

Politicians and businessmen are paying gangs in the Maldives tens of thousands of rufiya to assault rivals, damage property, and in some cases have them killed, according to a report into the country’s gang culture by the Asia Foundation.

“Political and business elites exploit gangs to carry out a range of illegal activities that serve their political or business interests in exchange for financing the gangs,” stated the report, which collected data through 20 focus groups and 24 in-depth interviews with gang members.

“This has worrying implications for support for democracy among the young generation as they witness first hand corruption on the part of their political representatives,” the report states.

The research was conducted primarily in the capital Male’, which it describes as having 20-30 gangs, ranging in size from 50-400 members.

Gangs are described as including mainly males aged under-25 years. Of those involved in the focus groups, 63 percent were unemployed, and 54 percent admitted to being drug users – both prominent issues highlighted in the report.

Poisoned politics

The report cited anecdotal evidence suggesting that the root of gangs in the Maldives was linked to the introduction of heroin to the country in the early 90s.

“Gang members report that in the early 1990s, foreigners (purportedly Indians) gave away free packets of heroin (locally called brown sugar) that contained directions for use,” read the report.

“Subsequently drug users, through involvement in gangs, supported their drug habits by the sale of drugs and other criminal activities,” it continued.

The report also draws strong links between the introduction of political parties during the last decade’s democratic reforms, and the escalation of gang activity.

“Democracy is not working… people do not know what democracy is… even politicians do not know what it really is… there is too much freedom… people do not know how to use this freedom,” the researchers were told by one gang member.

Politicians are described as being involved in symbiotic relationships with gangs, who depend on the gangs to suppress opponents and carry out tasks to help maintain their popularity or to divert media attention from political issues.

“Politicians have asked us to cut the TVM cable for MVR 25,000 (US$1620), to light up a bus for MVR 10,000 (US$650). Also in the recent political riots we were involved in things like burning the garbage collection area,” said one gang member.

“We were given some amount of money, two of us and the 10 people who accompanied us were paid some amount, we had to set fire and run from the spot and be seen in another area. We got paid to do this by a political group. Sometimes in return for the work we do, we also get to party in their safari boats with girls and alcohol,” they added.

In other cases, gang members were paid MVR 20,000 (US$1230) to destroy shop windows.

Interviewees also stated that being offered immunity from prosecution was normally part of this deal.

Leaders, who deal directly with the politicians, were reported as earning up to MVR 1 million (US$65,000) a month via such activities.

One member even described instances where murder contracts were handed out.

“We may be given a file with all the information about the person and be told and told we may be paid in millions to carry out the killing,” explained one member.

Stabbings are commonplace and knives have become increasingly prevalent. Gun crime remains negligible, however one of the researchers was told by a gang member: “It is my fantasy to possess a gun, I had once saw a small pistol, I had it under my bike seat, it was planted but I returned it (I knew who it belonged to), that day when I saw the pistol I was so scared, but now I want a gun and I frequently fantasise of going on a killing spree, I have in my mind all those whom I will kill.”

Based on the interviews conducted, the report said that there was no evidence linking gangs to religious groups. Instead, gang members were contemptuous of the country’s religious leaders.

“We have lost respect for them (religious leaders)… their thinking is obsolete… some are even seen in videos indulging in activities prohibited in religion and the next day they are preaching… they do not act what they preach,” said one gang member.

Vicious cycle

A lack of jobs was cited as one of the major reasons for young people to join gangs.

The report highlighted problems with the legal process, which produces a criminal record – which cannot be cleared for five years –even for minor offences.

“Due to police record, we can’t get a government job,” said one interviewee. “When government does this, the private sector usually does the same.”

“Hence it’s hard to get a job if a person has a police record…so join a gang to earn money,” they said.

Whilst the minimum wage in the Maldives is MVR 2,600 (US$170), the report states that a gang member can receive up seven times this amount for illegal activities such as breaking a shop window.

Young people who opt to leave school at 16 are also described as particularly vulnerable to gang association as they are not seriously considered for employment until they turn 18.

The report did find some evidence that some gangs do attempt to find legitimate work for their members.

“We try and help the younger generation… Show them the right path… we are very proud of this… some members have respectable posts in government and some run their own business,” one gang member said.

This strong group ethic was mentioned in the report of one of the primary reason for gang membership, with the group providing a surrogate for social welfare and dysfunctional families.

Gangs were also described as providing a strong sense of identity for its members. This status is also closely linked to violence, which large gangs can then provide members with protection from.

In conclusion, the report recommended that changes be made to the way minor offences are recorded as criminal complaints.

It also argued that better re-integration programs for convicts, as well as more drug rehabilitation and vocational training programs, might help alleviate the country’s gang problem.

The report also said that greater empowerment for young people would help to generate alternative opportunities for work and that better family counselling might help potential gang members cope with death and divorce.

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Gaamaadhoo prison bones not Abdulla Anees ‘Aibalhey’, say police

Police have reported that human bones discovered in the site of the former Gaamaadhoo prison on September 19, 2009 do not belong to Abdulla Anees ‘Aibalhey’.

Former President Mohamed Nasheed alleged that the human bones discovered in Gaamaadhoo prison matched the age and estimated period of death of Anees, who disappeared while he was serving a sentence in the prison.

Speaking to the press, Deputy Head of Specialist Command Mohamed Riyaz said that police had concluded the investigation into the case launched under former president Nasheed’s administration, and decided that Anees had not died while in prison. He had last been seen while he was on an island, sentenced to banishment.

Riyaz said the bones were analysed in Thailand and the US, and were found to be aged between 950-1050 years old.

During the investigation police travelled to different islands where Anees had been and met with his close friends, family members, cell mates and women that he had had relations with to gather information, and had  tracked faxes and letters and other documents, Riyaz said.

According to Riyaz, Anees was in jail in early 1980 and was among the inmates that transferred to Gaamaadhoo prison in 1982. In 1983 he was banished to the island ‘Kondey’ in Gaafu Dhaalu Atoll.

In December 1983 he was brought back to jail, Riyaz said, and there were records that he had escaped prison several times.

In 1984 he was banished to some islands in the north of the Maldives and on several occasions had tried to flee by stealing a ‘Bokkura’ [small traditional boat]. He was last banished in July 1985 to the island of Dhiyadhoo in Gaafu Alifu Atoll, according to Riyaz.

In 1983 Anees was banished to Fuvamulah, but stole a boat and tried to flee before he was found near the waters of Fiyoari in Gaafu Dhaalu Atoll and brought back to hail.

That same year he was arrested again in a bokkura in the Vaadhoo Ocean, as a fugitive on the run who had escaped prison for the second time.

Prison documents show that Anees was in prison in December the same year and had escaped prison that time as well.

In July 1984 Anees was banished to Hoarafushi in Haa Alifu Atoll, and in September that year he stole a boat and fled to Molhadhoo in the same atoll.

The last information about Anees that police could obtain was that he was banished to Dhiyadhoo island in 1985, and on the evening of September 25 of the same year he stole a bokkura and left the island.

Police said the night Anees left was stormy, and that after he left there was no sign of the bokkura, his body or his clothes.

According to police, documents at the Dhiyadhoo island office and former prisons division showed that a search was conducted to find him, but it was unsuccessful.

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Government shuts down ‘Second Chance’ program for inmate rehabilitation

Home Minister Dr Mohamed Jameel Ahmed announced that the government intends to shut down the Second Chance Program, alleging that the former administration had used the program “to release unqualified criminals under political influence and without any clear procedure “.

Speaking at a press conference on Sunday, the Home Minister alleged the program was politically influenced and claimed that it was set up in violation of the parole system and the Maldivian laws.

He claimed that several inmates who did not qualify for social re-integration were released during the program based on a list approved by then-President Office.

The “uncontrolled release of criminals” over the recent years had threatened the public safety, Jameel further alleged.

“The [incarcerated] criminals have been released without any control in the past days to a level public safety has been threatened. Those criminals were released by sidelining the Maldivian laws,” Jameel claimed.

According to him, a total of 1879 criminals were incarcerated for various offenses during Nasheed’s term, but only 621 are currently remaining in prisons while 1258 have been released with no clear procedure.

Therefore, he said that the program will be shut down and all its responsibilities will be tasked to the Parole Board and Clemency Board, which will be re-formed in the coming week.

However, both boards have been criticised over the years for being “slow and ineffective”.

“All hope lost”

In an interview to Minivan News following the government’s announcement to shut down the program, former Manager of the Second Chance initiative, Aishath Rasheed said that the Parole and Clemency board “does not have the technical expertise to continue the program”.

“I was a member of the parole board. Both boards exist as mere names. Some members do go for the meetings but have to go back home because the meetings cannot be held due to lack of quorum,” Rasheed said. “Because of the lack of attendance, the efforts to reintegrate the  inmates back into the society were severely delayed”.

She highlighted that a majority of the prison population were young people incarcerated for small drug offences and that the “long jail terms were destroying their lives”.

Therefore she explained that the Second Chance Program was set up by the deposed President Mohamed Nasheed in September 2011 to expedite the re-integration of former inmates incarcerated for drug offences back into the society.

According to the UNDP report, “Prison Assessment and Proposed Rehabilitation and Reintegration of Offenders Report“, published last year, 66 percent of all prisoners in the Maldives at the time of report were in jail for drug use or possession, often small quantities, while the majority were males under 30 years of age with education below O-levels.

“With the inception of the program a second opportunity was given to the young inmates by providing employment assistance, counselling for substance abuse, mentoring and other services to help to reduce recidivism,” Rasheed said.

“But with the shutting down of the program that opportunity is lost now. Those inmates and their parents had high hopes. But all hope is lost now,” said Rasheed, who was also a member at the parole board.

She further noted that several parents of inmates have called her up since she was dismissed from the position.

“We had finished training 50 inmates and they were ready to be released when this happened. Their parents are now calling up to ask me what will happen to them. I don’t have an answer to that,” she said.

She requested the government continue the second chance program, insisting that the program was “politics free”.

“There was absolutely no politics. Nobody instructed us on whom to release,” added Rasheed.

All 439 inmates released were thoroughly evaluated and approved by the courts while any former inmate found to have violated the terms of the release were sent back to the prison to complete their jail term.

During the chaotic events of February 7, Rasheed said a group of rogue security personnel involved in the mutiny against Nasheed’s government stormed into the Second Chance office inside the Ghazee Building and gassed the office.

“Four policemen and two MNDF officers into the office that morning and shouted at us to go upstairs. One of our project managers, who sits in a wheel chair, asked them how she could go upstairs when there was no lift. The policemen left but came back later and ordered us to leave again. They shouted that ‘this office is a big nuisance’ and sprayed some sort of gas and left,” Rasheed recalled.

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Inmates Creativity Fair reveals creative side of jail

“I’m improving my painting, and it’s helping me make improvements in my life. It’s now an interest.”

Adam Arif is four years into a 25-year sentence at Maafushi jail. Participating at the 2012 Inmates Creativity Fair, held in the National Art Gallery from January 12 to 14, he said the arts program has improved daily life at Maafushi, and that the fair was a good chance to see the Male‘ community.

“The art projects allow them to gain valuable skills and hold a normal routine while in prison,” said Mohamed Asif, Assistant Superintendent of the Department of Penitentiary and Rehabilitation Services (DPRS). Inmates who choose to participate in the government-sponsored program work from 9 am to 12 pm, break for lunch, and then again from 1 pm to 3 pm. “It’s like a full job,” he explained. “Otherwise they’d just be sitting behind bars.”

Organised by DPRS, the fair was hosted by inmates and DPRS staff wearing orange tee-shirts sporting the logo “Accept Me”. Paintings, jewelry, handbags, model ships, plant arrangements and even vegetables available for sale were produced by the 80 to 100 male and female participants from Maafushi and Asseyri, most of whom were not formerly artists. They receive Rf900 (US$360) per month.

But business could expand.

“We’ve had a lot of positive comments from people, requesting us to open a shop because they want to buy more. We plan to launch a website to sell the prisoners’ artwork at the end of next month”, Asif said.

With most objects sold by 8:30 pm on the last evening of the fair, Asif estimated that the fair earned Rf1 million (US$64,850). However, he was careful to point out that the earnings are not a profit.

“The money goes back to the government, and is incorporated back into the budget and used to provide more tools for art projects,” he said. “The problem is, actually, we want a revolving fund. We’d like to sell and make a profit and then be able buy more materials and repeat the process. But at the moment, because of legislating governing financial procedures, we aren’t authorised.”

Although the inmate arts program is funded by the government, Asif believes financial autonomy would improve the program. “We are going to introduce a prison club, like the police club, so we can have our own budget to buy and sell,” he explained.

While Asif pushes for independence within the practice of prison reform, he acknowledges that significant improvements have been made in the past few years.

“There is renovation being done at Maafushi, Asseyri, and how they are going to build a new prison at Nanaykurandhoo,” he pointed out. Although the parole system is far from strong, Asif noted that the 2011 Second Chance Program had released 337 inmates since its inception in September, only 30 of whom had returned to prison, mostly from drug relapse.

Maldivian prisons currently house approximately 1000 inmates–0.3 percent of the national population. Nearly three-quarters of the prison population has been incarcerated for drug offences.

According to a 2011 report released by the United Nations Development Program, however, the prison system is poorly equipped.

“The problem in the Maldives is that there aren’t proper prisons,” co-author and UNDP program specialist Naaz Aminath told Minivan News in a previous article. “There is no structure to support the prisoners who are there.”

Inmates surveyed complained about a lack of structure in prison life, listing torture, inhumane treatment, drug availability and false hope from politicians as key factors.

“Plus, there isn’t much to read there,” Aminath explained. Only Asseyri and Maafushi prisons have ‘libraries’–rooms with a few books located outside the gated complex. “It’s risky to go there because it’s not within a protected area, and there simply aren’t enough staff to organise daily library trips. Really, I wouldn’t even call it a library.”

When asked which rehabilitation programs were most needed, inmates most commonly requested religious education (86.4 percent), counseling therapies (76.1 percent) and life skills (75.1 percent).

While the Second Chance program is re-integrating prisoners into society, other steps are improving the situation behind bars.

In 2011, an education program helped over 100 prisoners prepare for their O-levels. A much-anticipated Drugs Bill was passed during Parliament’s last moments of 2011, re-structuring the court procedures for those accused of drug offenses and offering an overhaul of the rehabilitation system. Asif further anticipates that a Prisons and Parole Bill which was sent to Parliament in June 2010 will be approved by March of this year.

Speaking at the fair’s opening ceremony on January 12 President Mohamed Nasheed, himself a former inmate of Maldivian prisons, said the emerging democratic system and reviews of the Constitution have contributed to improvements in the prison system. The President added that cooperation within the community would be measurable by initiatives taken to formulate prison reforms.

Comparing current prison conditions to those of the former regime, the President further stated that existing and pending legal framework offers a second chance for criminal offenders and asserted that torture and oppression faced by prisoners in this country were a thing of the past.

A comment book at the fair revealed an array of positive public responses. Supportive comments such as “this is the best thing I’ve done in 2012 so far” and “this shows that all the prisoners need is guidance in becoming useful people in society” were interspersed with statements of support from former inmates and suggestions for an inmate’s music group, football team and body-building club.

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Criminal Court, Juvenile Court suspends drug cases awaiting formation of Drugs Court

The Criminal and Juvenile Courts have suspended all drug cases while they await the formation of a Drugs Court over the next two to three months. The decision follows stipulations for court formation provided in the recently-ratified Drugs Act.

Under Article 33 of the Act, all drug cases currently before the Criminal and Juvenile Courts must be transferred to the Drugs Court, following discussions between the Prosecutor General and judges.

Article 39 meanwhile requires the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) to appoint at least five judges to the Drugs Court within 60 days after the law was ratified.

After that two month period, the courts have 30 days to transfer those cases determined to fall under the jurisdiction of the Drugs Court.
Meanwhile, article 33(b) states that the Criminal and Juvenile Courts should not hear or accept drug-related cases during that period.

The Drugs Court will have jurisdiction over those charged with possession and abuse of drugs as well as those accused of committing criminal offences under the influence of drugs.

According to the Act, a specialised Drugs Court of superior court status will combat drug addiction by integrating rehabilitation services into the court system.

Traffickers will be tried in the Criminal Court.

A 2011 prison report by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) argued that the unnecessarily high number of inmates serving drug sentences was a major concern for prison reform. A majority of inmates are males under the age of 30, while 66 percent of inmates are serving time for drug use or possession.
Speaking to Minivan News at the time, Co-author Naaz Aminath pointed out that most modern judicial systems carried heavier sentences for traffickers, “but here, traffickers get 25 years while small-time users get 60 to 80 years. These are not hard-core criminals, but they’re put away for almost their entire lives.”
Police officials today said that while drug arrests are made on a regular basis, they did not expect any complications to their work while the cases are suspended at the court level.

In a previous article, Police Drug Enforcement Unit Superintendent and Chief Inspector Mohamed Jinah said the bill would be “very useful and instrumental for the police enforcing the drug policies,” and would allow police to focus more on drug trafficking.

Jinah was unavailable for comment at time of press.

Ahmed Nazim, a Research and Development officer at Journey Rehabilitation Center in Male’, added that by distinguishing between the source (drug traffickers) and the consequence (drug use), the new system would reduce the amount of drugs on the street.
He said the Act “puts a lot of emphasis on giving addicts proper treatment”, and accepts the modern argument that addiction is a medical condition rather than a behavioral problem.

The Drugs Bill was introduced in 2009, detained in the Committee for Social Affairs since early 2010, and approved by Parliament on December 28. President Mohamed Nasheed ratified the bill on December 31, 2011.

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