16th November 2006

Lonely Planet supports FOM Selected Resort Boycott Campaign in the Maldives & Cocoa Island Resort is off the list

Lonely Planet, one of the leading international travel guidebook companies has released the latest edition on the Maldives.  The guidebook gives the facts about choosing a resort in the Maldives and detailed background on the current political struggles and human rights issues in the country.

The latest edition states:

”In 2005 British based campaign group Friends of Maldives unveiled a carefully targeted boycott of some of the Maldives most popular resorts.  Outraged at the torture in Maldivian prisons, the police brutality on the streets and the human rights abuses, the group unveiled its selective boycott to pressure the regime from within.  The boycott targets any resort owned wholly or in part by a member of the government, the hope being that the loss of revenue will in turn cause associates of President Gayoom to put pressure on him to an end human rights abuses, hold free and far elections and rein in the police and National Security Services…

We support this cleverly targeted campaign and suggest you do too; it fully supports tourism in the Maldives conscious that it’s the country's only major industry, but it tells adherents to avoid about one fifth of the resorts which bring ministers and other senior government figures significant revenue each year….

Friends of Maldives has been roundly discredited in the Maldives by a smear campaign calling them both Islamic terrorists and Christian missionaries.  We can confirm that this is not the case, and that the Anglo-Maldivian staff who run the organisation have only the human rights and general welfare of the Maldivian people at heart.  They have set up a separate charity, Maldives Aid (reachable through the Friends of Maldives website) that sends aid to the poorest regions of the country.  Donations can be made here to projects that will help rural residents rebuild their lives and their future.”

It also includes in its history section a description of events such as the Evan Naseem Killing in 2003 and Black Friday 2004, major human rights events in the Maldives. Also mentioning the role of Maldives PR firm: 

"Gayoom's other measure was to hire the London office of PR giant Hill & Knowlton to whitewash his dictatorship, a job they continue to do today with sickening success."

FOM wishes to reiterate the importance of the Selected Resorts Boycott Campaign following the recent events in the Maldives. The Government of Maldives has successfully intimidated the population and the opposition preventing them from gathering on the 10th of November to call for constitutional reforms. Over a hundred peaceful protestors have been arrested and remain detained in awful conditions.  Foreign nationals including journalists, photojournalists and observers have been harassed and deported.

Cocoa Island Resort is off The FOM Resort Boycott List

In a statement received by FOM from the CEO of  Como Hotels and Resorts Kuno W. Fasel regarding Cocoa Island the Friends of Maldives Selected Resort Boycott Committee have removed Cocoa Island from its Selected Resorts Boycott list.

According to Mr Kuno:  "We can give you the unequivocal assurance that Mr Mohamed Waheed Deen the Atolls’ Minister of the Maldives has no connection whatsoever with the Cocoa Island Resort."

Friends of Maldives calls on the International Community to:

Initiate immediate and effective sanctions against the Government of Maldives including:
- A ban on the travel to Europe and the United States of Members of the Government of Maldives
- Seizure of the Assets of the Commissioner of Police in the UK
- Freeze Foreign Bank accounts belonging to President Gayoom

Friends of Maldives urges the Government of Maldives to:

- Render immediate attention and allow publicity on Government controlled media to the detainees on Hunger strike
- Release all political prisoners forthwith
- Allow the Right of Assembly which is allowed under the current constitution
- Allow Minivan Radio to function freely and allow all Independent media to be Registered
- Cease using charges of Terrorism against political opponents of President Gayoom.

MEDIA CONTACTS:

Friends of Maldives

64 Milford Street
Salisbury
SP1 2BP
United Kingdom
T: +44 (0)1722 504330
E: enquiries@friendsofmaldives.org
W: www.friendsofmaldives.org

NOTES TO EDITORS

Friends of Maldives – www.friendsofmaldives.org

Friends of Maldives (FOM) is a non-governmental organisation (NGO) dedicated to the protection and promotion of human rights in the Maldives. Based in the UK and established in 2003. FOM focuses its activities on providing support and publicity to prisoners of conscience and good governance in the Maldives.