The Maldives’ government will on Thursday defend its human rights record to the UN Human Rights Committee (UNHRC) in Geneva.
The delegation will be headed by Home Minister Dr Mohamed Jameel,
former Justice Minister under the 30 year rule of President Maumoon
Abdul Gayoom and co-author of a pamphlet
entitled ‘President Nasheed’s devious plot to destroy the Islamic
faith of Maldivians’, published in January 2012 while in opposition.
Dr Jameel will be accompanied by State Minister for Foreign Affairs,
Dunya Maumoon – Gayoom’s daughter – as well as the Maldives’ Permanent
Representative in Geneva, Iruthisham Adam, Counsellor Marc Limon
(formerly of PR firm Hill & Knowlton), Third Secretary Muruthala
Moosa, and four interns: Marie Gabrielle Glock, Katherine Hamilton,
Jessi Challis and Rinaldo Foncesca.
The UNHRC has already identified key issues
to be taken up with the Maldives, concerning its International Covenant
on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) commitments. A document outlining
these issues – drawn from the country’s Universal Periodic Review (with
submissions from government, HRCM and civil society), was published in
August 2011 – prior to the controversial change of government and fresh
allegations of police brutality and attacks on journalists.
Issues identified in the 2011 document include counterterrorism
measures, commitment to reducing discrimination (including on the basis
of gender, sexual orientation, and religion), and prohibition of torture
and cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment or punishment.
One specific issue identified was the move in parliament to make the
enforcement of the death penalty mandatory where such a verdict is
upheld by the Supreme Court, which would place the Maldives in breach of
its ICCPR commitments.
Dr Jameel last week stated he was willing to implement death penalty
in his capacity as Home Minister. Supreme Court Chief Justice Ahmed Faiz
also said he was willing to enforce such verdicts, as the Maldives
struggles to come to terms with a sudden wave of violent crime and
murder this year.
The ICCPR document asks whether prison personnel responsible for the
death of Evan Naseem – a watershed moment in Maldivian political history
that sparked democratic reform – had been investigated, and faced
justice.
The document challenges the Maldives’ commitment to combating
domestic violence and sexual assault in general: “According to
information before the Committee, in the absence of a confession, a man
can only be convicted of rape if there are two male or four female
witnesses to the act. How does this comply with the Covenant?”
It also asks the Maldives to clarify its position on corporal
punishment, whereby flogging sentences are routinely given for offences
under Islamic sharia. The topic is sensitive in the Maldives, with UN
Human Rights Commissioner Navi Pillay widely condemned in the Maldives following her call in parliament for a moratorium on the flogging of women as punishment for extramarital sex.
The UN document – produced in August 2011 – also calls on the
government to clarify matters surrounding the nine-day detention without
charge of MP Abdulla Yameen, then “leader of the opposition”, and
challenges the government on issues relating to prison conditions,
overcrowding, and lack of a legal aid scheme.
The document calls for the government to explain the country’s
treatment of migrant workers, and in particular, “explain the measures
being taken to deal with the trafficking of individuals from Bangladesh
and India, who are mainly trafficked into the State party for labour and
commercial sex exploitation.”
The document also requests the Maldives justify its reservation to article 18 of the ICCPR concerning freedom of religion, specifically the practice of religions other than Sunni Islam by the country’s largest population of foreign nationals.
The document also requests the Maldives justify its reservation to article 18 of the ICCPR concerning freedom of religion, specifically the practice of religions other than Sunni Islam by the country’s largest population of foreign nationals.
It also calls on the Maldivian government to respond to allegations of “widespread harassment and intimidation” of journalists.
On June 4, well-known blogger and journalist Ismail ‘Hilath’ Rasheed had his throat cut
in what appeared to be the first targeted assassination attempt of a
media figure in the Maldives. Rasheed, who had been attacked multiple
times prior to the attempt on his life, survived, and has since fled the
country. Rasheed claimed he was attacked by radicalised gang members
who were operating with the consent of “senior political and religious
figures.”
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