PRESS RELEASE 1/2006

SUBJECT: Publication of “Blood on the beaches: Torture and ill-treatment in the Maldives.”

Torture as a means of extracting information and punishment has existed in the Maldives for a long time. Although until recently it was primarily used on political prisoners, it is now commonly used on almost all criminal suspects to extract confession statements of the investigating officers liking. The patterns and the method of torture employed over the last few years indicate that it is increasingly becoming a form of recreation for the guards on duty. In some cases, prison guards have tortured prisoners for personal reasons that have happened outside the jurisdiction of the prison.

The over-reliance of the Maldivian criminal justice system on confession statements contributes directly to the torture of criminal suspects. According to the Attorney General, Dr. Hassan Saeed, in 2004 ninety percent of criminal cases were based on confessional evidence. The lack of clear rules and codes of conduct for both the police and the judges aids in keeping the victims of torture away from the public eye.

The non-existence of a published set of regulations in prisons allows the prison guards to punish the prisoner in any manner they see fit. Although the right to appeal against ill-treatment is clearly stated in the constitution of the Maldives, there is no mechanism for the prisoner to appeal. In order to take the matter to higher authorities the prisoner has to beg the ill-treating guard for writing material.

Torture and ill-treatment have been and continue to be carried out with impunity. During the last twenty years only fourteen people were sentenced for either torture or ill-treatment of detainees. All of them were involved either in the killing of Evan Naseem in 2003 or the prison riots that followed the killing, which in itself resulted in four dead inmates and several seriously injured.

The death of Evan Naseem marked a turning point in the human

rights situation of the Maldives. The riots in Maafushi prison and in

the capital Male’ that followed the death of Evan Naseem forced

the government to look into ways of reforming the political

system of the Maldives. On the 10th of December 2003 the

Human Rights Commission of the Maldives was formed by

presidential decree. Although the commission started its work in

earnest, it was soon made ineffective by political intervention. The legal status of the commission was changed in August 2005 with the ratification of the Human Rights Commission of the Maldives Act by President Gayoom on the 18th of August 2005. Soon after the ratification, the chairperson of the commission resigned in protest because the act does not conform to the standards stated in the Paris Principles of National Human Rights Associations. At the time of writing the commission is without a chairperson and therefore unable to continue investigating the more than two hundred cases pending.

In 2004 the Maldives became a party to the United Nations Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman Degrading Treatment or Punishment and a year later signed its Optional Protocol. However, changes required to bring the legal system of the Maldives in line with these conventions are yet to be made. In the same year the government also signed a memorandum of understanding with the International Committee of the Red Cross, granting access to all persons detained in the Maldives. So far the ICRC has visited the Maldives twice under this agreement. The government also allowed a delegation from Amnesty International to visit detainees in 2004 detained following the unrest in Male’ in August that year. During these visits Amnesty International was told by the Maldivian authorities that the necessary legal changes would be incorporated into the ongoing reform process. However, more than a year into the promise, the Maldivians are still waiting for the changes. Although the visits of international human rights organisations have improved the condition of high profile political detainees, the general situation in Maafushi prison and the other detention centres remained unaffected.

This report aims to highlight through interviews with recent victims of torture, the patterns, perpetrators and methods of torture employed over the last few years. It describes the key areas where the legal system fails to protect those under judicial care in the Maldives and makes suggestions which could, if implemented, improve the condition and the treatment of detainees in the Maldives.

We call on the government of the Maldives to consider the recommendations made in the report to prevent further ill-treatment and torture in the detention centres of the Maldives. We urge the Attorney General to investigate the cases described in this report and bring the perpetrators to justice.

For more information on the Association for the Prevention of Torture and Ill-Treatment in the Maldives please visit www.aptim.org

Dr. Ibrahim Nashid

Secretary General

Dowload copy of the APTM Report HERE