The Maldives police must intensify efforts to find those responsible
for death threats, abductions and violent attacks against journalists,
politicians and civil society activists in recent months, and bring them
to justice.
The death threats and attacks are allegedly the work of vigilante
groups who want to stop people making comments critical of Islam.
Threats, abductions and attacks
In June this year a vigilante group abducted several young men, held
them for hours, ill-treated them and warned them not to promote
“atheism”. Even though the identities of some of them are allegedly
known to the abductees and the incident was brought to the attention of
the police, so far the Maldives police has not announced that an
investigation is underway.
At least 15 journalists reported receiving anonymous death threats
for reporting on this incident. One such death threat read: “[We] will
kill you if you keep writing inappropriate articles about gangs in the
media.”�
Another journalist and blogger who reported on the abductions and the
activities of vigilante groups in the Maldives, Ahmed Rilwan Abdulla,
went missing on 8 August 2014. He is feared to have been abducted and
has not been heard from since.
In 2012, Rilwan had been sent death threats for his coverage of the
attack on blogger Ismail Hilath Rasheed. Hilath was stabbed and
seriously injured in 2012, and had also been attacked in 2011 for
advocating religious freedom.
Since Rilwan’s abduction, others including journalists, politicians
from the opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) and human rights
activists have reported receiving anonymous text messages stating that
they would be next to be abducted or be killed.
For example, on 18 September, MDP spokesperson Imthiyaz Fahmy
received a message which read “We will kill you all. God is great.”
Mohamed Nasheed, a former president who leads the MDP, has frequently
spoken about the death threats he and members of his party receive.
Eva Abdulla, an MDP MP, has raised similar concerns about the
personal safety of MPs and journalists. She said a death threat recently
sent to her and several other MPs read: “Don’t bring out your children
on the streets these days. Stabbing season is about to begin. [We] will
kill you.”
Media outlets and MDP buildings have not been spared the threats and
attacks. Journalists from Minivan News, Raajje TV and Haveeru newspaper
received threats that they would be attacked for writing against the
vigilante groups.
On 25 September, a machete was lodged into Minivan News’ office door.
A person – whose identity was widely known, including by staff at
Minivan who shared this information with the police – was seen
dismantling a CCTV camera outside the office before the incident
happened.
On 26 September, the MDP’s office was set on fire after it had been vandalised.
These attacks followed the publication of a private investigation by a
consultancy firm that implicated “radicalised criminal gangs” in
Rilwan’s abduction. The report was commissioned by an NGO, the Maldivian
Democracy Network.
After Haveeru covered the attack on Minivan News, a Haveeru
journalist received the following death threat: “You will be done for if
you write the name [of the suspect arrested]. Keep that in mind.”
Impunity
Weeks later, the authorities have so far failed to find those
responsible for these death threats and attacks despite persistent
claims from civil society activists that the identity of some of the
alleged perpetrators is not difficult to establish from victims’
testimonies or documentary evidence, such as video footage.
The Maldives police have been accused of not taking Rilwan’s case
seriously. Rilwan’s family expressed serious concern in the weeks
following his abduction that the police were slow to investigate,
especially during the first few days after he had gone missing. Four men
were eventually arrested in relation to the case; two were released
from custody without charge and one has been placed under house arrest.
There is as yet no statement from the police as to what exactly
happened to Rilwan on the night of his disappearance.
Furthermore, while the trial of the alleged killers of Member of
Parliament Dr Afrasheem Ali in 2012 continues, no one has been brought
to justice for the 2011 and 2012 attacks on blogger Ismail Hilath
Rasheed. Afrasheem Ali was stabbed to death after voicing support for
open debates on religious issues. Both men had received death threats
prior to being attacked.
The Government of the Maldives is obliged under the international
human rights instruments it has ratified to ensure the security and
physical integrity of all persons. In particular the International
Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the International Convention
for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance, require
ensuring the protection of all people from abductions, death threats and
attacks.
Amnesty International urges the Maldives police to carry out prompt
and rigorous investigations into all reported abductions, death threats
and attacks and bring those responsible to justice.
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