Tag: Vaavu Rakeedhoo

MPs need more time for Ibthihaal investigation

The Majlis government accountability committee requires more time to determine possible state negligence regarding the death of three-year-old Mohamed Ibthihaal last week.

Committee member Rozaina Adam said that the committee first received documents and reports from the state institutions regarding the case when arriving at today’s sitting.

“The reports were not emailed to committee members before the sitting,” said Rozaina. “We had to read them while at the committee so we did not have adequate time to map out a course of action according to the contents of the documents”.

The Maldivian Democratic Party MP noted that the report sent by the police did not include any information relating to Ibthihaal before his death, only detailing the actions by the service afterwards.

“We have no choice but to ask representatives from police to come and clarify the information to the committee,” she said.

Local authorities and the police and gender ministry were both aware of the abuse prior to the child’s death, the island council has revealed, though the government has assured that Ibthihaal was in a safe environment when officials last visited the island.

However, Rozaina noted today that the Ministry of Law and Gender has no documents to substantiate these claims.

“The gender ministry says they handed the child over to a relative, but they have no records of doing so and the relative denies having been handed over guardianship. There are documents and forms that need to be filled if gender assigns guardianship of a child to another person,” said the Addu-Meedhoo MP.

Closed committee

Rozaina also accused pro-government MPs of hampering the investigation, stating they “do not want to reveal any information that might find the government guilty of negligence”.

She also accused committee chair Riyaz Rasheed of conducting today’s sitting in violation of the Majlis’ rules of procedure by refusing to allow members of the press to witness proceedings.

Responding to these claims, Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM) MP Riyaz said that neither a motion to hold a closed door session nor an open one was proposed by any member, with the meeting adjourned before any such deliberations were made.

“At first I did not let media personnel inside the meeting room as some of the institutions requested their reports and documents be kept confidential, and before any committee member proposed to hold a closed door meeting or an open one, I ended the committee as most members requested further time to analyse the documents,” Riyaz stated.

The Vilifushi MP also said that the committee members would receive until next week to analyse the documents, after which he would schedule a sitting to proceed with the issue further.

Documents regarding Ibthihaal were requested from Rakeedhoo Island Council, the Maldives Police Services, the Human Rights Commission of the Maldives, the Ministry of Law and Gender, and the Family Protection Unit.

Multiple investigations into potential state negligence have begun after the authorities’ prior knowledge of the abuse became apparent.

Meanwhile, the 26-year-old mother of the child, Afiya Mohamed, was arrested in the afternoon hours of January 30, with media reporting that Rakeedhoo Magistrates Court had remanded her for 15 days.

Ibthihaal’s two siblings are currently in the care of family members, local authorities have said.


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Majlis begins investigation into Ibthihaal’s death

The government accountability committee investigation into the death of Mohamed Ibthihaal in Vaavu Rakeedhoo, has decided to collect relevant information from government ministries and other state institutions.

The motion to investigate into the death of the three-year-old, who was found dead on January 28 with signs of severe abuse, was proposed by opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) MP Rozaina Adam and MP Ahmed Falah along with Jumhooree Party MP Moosa Nizar.

Multiple investigations into potential state negligence have begun after it emerged that authorities had prior knowledge of the abuse.

Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM) MP Riyaz Rasheed, who chairs the government accountability committee, told Minivan News that some opposition MPs had initially proposed summoning relevant authorities to the committee.

“Later, after discussions all members of the committee agreed to collect relevant documents regarding the case to the committee and then to decide on proceeding further”, said the Vilufushi MP.

He also said that a date has not been set for the next committee sitting.

MDP MP Ibrahim Shareef stated that the committee decided to collect information and documents from Rakeedhoo Island Council, the Maldives Police Services, the Human Rights Commission of the Maldives (HRCM), the Ministry of Law and Gender, and the Family Protection Unit.

“We will be sending out the letters requesting information tomorrow. After we receive them, the committee will analyse the first hand information,” Shareef stated.

State negligence?

Meanwhile, the 26-year-old mother of the child, Afiya Mohamed was arrested Friday (20 January) afternoon after having spent the previous 48 hours under police watch.  Media reported that Rakeedhoo Magistrates Court ordered 15 days of detention.

On Friday, a protest march circled the capital Malé to raise awareness of child abuse. Authorities are reported to have received record numbers of child abuse reports in the days since Ibthihaal’s death.

After local authorities revealed that both the police and the gender ministry had been aware of the abuse prior to the incident, Attorney General Mohamed Anil has said the child was living in a safe environment when officials last visited.

“He was not living with the mother when our team visited the island. He was in a safe environment. But we acknowledge that the situation was not properly monitored afterwards, which resulted in the child being returned to the mother,” Sun Online reported Anil as saying.

Ibthihaal’s two siblings are currently in the care of family members, local authorities have said.

Other than the government accountability committee’s inquiry, suspicions of state negligence in the case have prompted investigations from HRCM and the Prosecutor General’s Office.

NGO Advocating for the Rights of Children has pointed to deficiencies in the legal, judicial, and social sectors tasked with the protection of the rights of children, while the HRCM has condemned the state’s failure to protect him.

In another development, Haveeru has reported that police are investigating reports that Ibthihaal’s mother was raped three years ago.


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Ibthihaal’s mother remanded as nation mourns

Afiya Mohamed – the woman suspected of killing her three-year-old son Ibthihaal on Vaavu Rakeedhoo – has been remanded for 15 days.

The 26-year-old was arrested yesterday afternoon after having spent the previous 48 hours under police watch. Meanwhile, a protest march circled the capital Malé to raise awareness of child abuse.

A warrant was issued for Afiya’s arrest soon after the discovery of her son’s body, with signs of severe abuse, in their home on Wednesday (January 28).

After local authorities revealed that both the police and the gender ministry had been aware of the abuse prior to the incident, Attorney General Mohamed Anil has said the child was living in a safe environment when officials last visited.

“He was not living with the mother when our team visited the island. He was in a safe environment. But we acknowledge that the situation was not properly monitored afterwards, which resulted in the child being returned to the mother,” Sun Online reported Anil as saying.

Ibthihaal’s two siblings are currently in the care of family members, local authorities have said.

Suspicions of state negligence in the case have prompted investigations from Human Rights Commission of the Maldives (HRCM), the Prosecutor General’s Office, and a Majlis special committee.

The gender ministry has now formed its own inquiry team, though not before angry protesters entered the ministry’s offices on Thursday morning after it had failed to make an official statement on the case.

NGO Advocating for the Rights of Children has pointed to deficiencies in the legal, judicial, and social sectors tasked with the protection of the rights of children, while the HRCM has condemned the state’s failure to protect him.

“The importance of preventing child abuse is a topic which is spoken of a lot, but it has not received adequate action. Every time such an incident occurs everyone talks of strengthening government institutions,” read an HRCM statement.

Protesters in Malé yesterday echoed the calls of civil society groups to immediately enhance child protection measures.

Speaking at a party rally on Thursday evening, Progressive Party of Maldives Parliamentary Group Leader Ahmed Nihan promised to prioritise social protection measures.

During the same rally, former President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom said everyone should take some measure of responsibility for the boy’s death, calling the incident a national tragedy.


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State negligence investigated in death of Rakeedhoo child

The Human Rights Commission of the Maldives (HRCM) and the Prosecutor General’s (PG) Office are conducting separate investigations into the death of a child in the island of Rakeedhoo in Vaavu atoll.

The body of three-year-old Mohamed Ibthihaal, showing signs of severe abuse, has now been brought to Malé for further investigation and examination.

HRCM commission member Ahmed Tholal said that the focal point for vulnerable groups will lead a comprehensive investigation into the child’s death in a human rights perspective in order to identify any negligence by state institutions and individuals.

“We will share the report of the investigation with the public and relevant institutions. The report will also point to potential systematic flaws that may have led to this tragic death”, Tholal said.

Rakeedhoo Island Councillor Abdulla Rasheed told Minivan News yesterday that authorities had been aware of the abuse, having visited with the mother prior to the incident.

“We previously informed the police and gender ministry that the kid was being abused, but when [the mother] was questioned she was going to take care of the boy and stop abusing him,” explained Rasheed.

The mother was said to be unresponsive to questioning yesterday, having alerted health officials to the incident after she had rushed to the health centre before passing out.

State negligence?

Neither the police nor the gender ministry were revealing details of the case at the time of publication, though both have promised statements.

PG’s Office Spokesman Adam Arif told Minivan News that the office was currently investigating the death and that it will also focus on the events leading to the death in terms of possible negligence on the state’s part.

“Maldives Police Services will be investigating how exactly the child died and the immediate circumstances. The PG Office will investigate the events that led to this, including talks about how some state institutions were made aware of the child being beaten and abused”, Arif said.

The boy’s mother was known to the authorities as having a record of abusing the boy, who is the eldest of three. Media have published old images of child, appearing to show a black eye from past abuse.

Arif also noted that a three-member team of prosecutors are currently collecting information about the history of abuse in the case the child.

PG Muhthaz Muhsin was quoted in media yesterday as saying. “It is unacceptable that the child was handed over to the mother for the second time after it was found that she was beating him.”

Reaction

The incident has provoked an outpouring of grief, with President Abdulla Yameen promising strict punishments for those found culpable in Ibthihaal’s death. A public rally has been arranged for Friday at 4:15pm from the Raalhugandhu area in Malé.

The opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) held a news conference yesterday regarding the incident, expressing the party’s concern over possible systematic flaws that might have led to the death.

“The main issue is that, this is not first time that he was harmed. He did not die on the first day he was harmed,” said MP Rozaina Adam.

“This is not a political problem, but instead this is a very big social problem which can only be fixed if everyone in this country works towards a solution.”

She revealed that MDP parliamentary group has decided to summon the gender ministry and other relevant state institutions to the Majlis to investigate the matter and to identify ways to prevent the occurrence of any such incidents in the future.

MDP rights committee chair Hisaan Hussain welcomed PG’s decision to investigate into the matter. Pointing to the disappearance of Minivan News journalist Ahmed Rilwan, Hisaan expressed her disappointment over the lack of results from such state investigations.

She suggested that proper measures taken at the right time could have prevented the death.

“Did the gender ministry monitor the situation within the house after its initial visit? If not, why not?”

Following the death of the child former president and MDP leader Mohamed Nasheed tweeted stating that “the only way to protect children is to strengthen the social protection programme”.

(PHOTO: IBRAHIM ASAD)


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