President ratifies Public Health Bill

President Mohamed Waheed Hassan Manik on Monday ratified the Public Health Bill, which was passed by the Parliament on the 26th sitting of its third session on November 28.

The objectives of the Public Health Act include, protect and promote public health, control the risk to public health, promote the control of infectious diseases, prevent the spread of infectious diseases and recognize the role of island councils, atoll councils and city councils in protecting public health.

The Act provides for development of mandatory reporting provisions for communicable diseases to ensure that necessary information is collected for public health interventions and monitoring the health of the public. The Act also provides policies to define non-communicable diseases by providing for preventive interventions. 

Following ratification, the bill has been published in the Government Gazette.

Via Haveeru

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Posted in: Health / HIV

President appoints Dr Abdul Samad Abdulla as Acting Minister of Health

Minister of Foreign Affairs Dr Abdul Samad Abdulla has been appointed as the Acting Minister of Health.

Samad was appointed the position by the President pending the return of Minister of Health Dr Ahmed Jamsheed Mohamed, who is on an official visit abroad.

Samad’s latest appointment follows on from Minister of Environment and Energy Dr Mariyam Shakeela last month being given a dual cabinet role as Acting Minister of Gender, Family and Human Rights.

Dr Shakeela has previously told Minivan News that she was confident of being able to effectively perform her duties for both ministries.

via Minivan News

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Posted in: Health / HIV

Maldives identifies “first” child HIV infection

Senior health figures have called on the government, NGOs and members of the private sector to help step up attempts to promote AIDS prevention in the country after authorities discovered that a two year-old child had tested HIV positive earlier this year.

While accepting that HIV infection rates remained relatively low in the Maldives, Minister of State for Health Lubna Zahir Hussain said that efforts needed to be increased across all sectors of society to tackle attitudes towards high-risk behaviours that allow the virus to be transmitted.

Lubna heads the National Drug Agency (NDA). Her comments followed the hosting of a special NDA workshop on HIV prevention held on December 1 to commemorate World AIDS Day. The workshop was focused particularly on the HIV infection through drug abuse.

Though statistics indicate HIV infection rates have been limited in the Maldives over the space of the last two decades, health officials in the Maldives have begun to raise concerns about the risk of cases spreading across the country.

In October Minister of Health Dr Ahmed Jamsheed Mohamed claimed it was only through “incredible luck” that HIV had not spread across the Maldives, considering the prolific levels of unprotected sex and intravenous drug use.

Addressing concerns raised by Health Minister Jamsheed about the potential scope for HIV to spread beyond high-risk communities such as drug users, Lubna said greater effort was needed to address attitudes of the general public to the spread of the virus.

“I think what the health minister was saying is that it is not only people living bad lifestyles that are at risk [of HIV infection],” she said, reiterating concerns about the number of young people engaged in intravenous drug use and potentially dangerous sexual practices.

She spoke about a child who was suspected of having been infected from her mother at birth.

“We were first made aware of the case in April 2012 and as far as I know, this is the first case [of a child in the Maldives being born HIV positive],” she said. “However, I think it is important for the public to know the reality of the situation right now, whilst respecting [the child's] privacy and well being.”

Lubna said she was ultimately encouraged by the work of the country’s health authorities in trying to address the HIV risk from national attitudes towards sex and drug use in the country, yet warned against complacency.

“This doesn’t mean that we continue to work at this pace to try and address attitudes towards AIDS and its spread,” she said.

Lubna called on civil society, the business community and government to speed up efforts to hold awareness and education events about the dangers posed through unprotected sex and intravenous drug use, and to promote preventative measures to reduce the national HIV risk.

Attempts have been made to work with local drug NGOs such as Male’-based Journey on running special outreach programs and blood tests to try and monitor and manage infection rates.

However Lubna said that drug use was not the only area of concern in trying to curb HIV infection.

“Prostitution is another area that needs to be looked into. Awareness work in this area needs to be seen immediately,” she said.

She said greater awareness was needed not just among the general public, but by government authorities and law enforcement agencies.

First Lady’s concerns

During the NDA workshop, First Lady Ilham Hussain stressed that growing numbers of the country’s youth were subjected to dangerous habits that could potentially lead to HIV infection.  She highlighted recreational drug use in particular as the leading cause of the virus spreading nationally.

“Incredible luck”

Speaking earlier this year on the issue of HIV infection rates, Health Minister Jamsheed said that although the Maldives had remained on the HIV less-prevalent category since the first HIV positive case was found in 1991, “all the habits that may lead to the spread of HIV is excessively in practice here,” stating that it was only through “incredible luck” that the disease had not already spread widely throughout the country.

“What has always worried me most is that there is a large drug community, and that the virus might find its way into this group, especially the IV drug users. Once it does, it will spread like wild fire,” he said at the time.

“I don’t think this is too far off now. We have already identified one IV drug user who has been infected with HIV. What’s left is to see how much this has spread,” Jamsheed revealed.

Jamsheed said that he believed there were issues which needed to be opened to a “national debate” in order to move forward and take stronger preventive measures.

“We can simply stay inactive and keep talking for any amount of time by assuming the moral highground,’ Jamsheed said at Sunday’s press conference.

“That is to claim that we are Muslims, and by living in a Muslim state in Muslim ways we are doubtless protected from this disease. But that is never the reality anywhere in the world,” he said.

Jamsheed said it was unrealistic to assume all Muslims to live as “perfect Muslims”, and that even if they were, there was still a chance of infection. He stated that HIV is not transferred through sexual activity or visits to prostitutes alone.

In 2011, a total of 18 HIV positive cases were reported, out of which one was of a local. Between 1991 and 2011, 15 HIV cases were reported among Maldivians, while 168 cases of expatriate workers were also filed. Two out of the 15 cases were female, and all patients cited heterosexual transmission as the cause of infection.

Via Minivan News

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Posted in: Health / HIV

DNA testing reveals child sex offender

DNA testing has revealed that a 37 year-old man impregnated a 11 year-old girl in the Feydhoo ward of Addu City, police have said, after concluding investigation of a case that prompted shock and public outrage last month.

The 11 year-old victim in Seenu Feydhoo gave birth two months prematurely on November 1 after being taken to hospital complaining of stomach pains.

The infant died in the early hours of the following morning (November 2).

On November 4, police confirmed that a 37 year-old male suspect had been taken into custody in connection to the case.

In a press briefing on Thursday, Inspector Hassan Shifau, acting head of the Family and Child Protection Department, explained that DNA samples from the infant matched the 37 year-old suspect, Mohamed Javid of Maradhoo-Feydhoo Gulfamge.

Shifau said police obtained DNA samples from all males in the household of the 11 year-old victim.

Javid was a friend of the girl’s parents and visited the house every night, Shifau explained.

Police discovered during the investigation that Javid had been sexually abusing the victim since early 2012, he added.

The second suspect, Adam Saeed, 45, had been living in the girl’s house. Both suspects had previously been arrested on drug-related charges.

The victim meanwhile told police that she did not tell anyone about the abuse she suffered.

Family members and school mates questioned during the investigation said they were unaware that the girl was pregnant as it did not show on her body.

The girl was said to be of a “quiet” and reserved nature.

An official from the Feydhoo health centre told local media last month that “the girl admitted that she got pregnant after someone had sexually molested her.”

In the press briefing, Inspector Shifau appealed to parents to have a closer relationship with their children to ensure that they would be able to share accounts of abuse.

Upon conclusion of the investigation by a team of the Family and Child Protection Department working with the Seenu Gan police station, Shifau said police were in the process of forwarding the case for prosecution.

Child abuse in the Maldives 

The case of the 11 year-old giving birth prompted a wider public debate on child sexual abuse in the Maldives, while politicians and NGOs called for a swift investigation.

Speaking to Minivan News at the time, Islamic Affairs Minister Sheikh Mohamed Shaheem Ali Saeed labelled it “a very big crime,” adding that the young girl should not herself take any blame or punishment.

“Personally I can’t say any word to punish a small girl in grade six. This may be a rape or sexual abuse case,” he said.

Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP) MP Rozaina Adam said the case was “unacceptable” and “shocking”, demanding on social media that police make the case a high priority.

“An 11 year-old doesn’t get pregnant by herself! This is child abuse we are talking about here n authorities need  to find out who is responsible,” she wrote on Twitter.

However, Ali Rameez, a famous singer who gave up music and now heads the Islamic NGO Jamiyyathul Salaf, tweeted: “All you people who claim to be Muslims! In Allah’s Shariah [law], a child grows up when he or she reaches puberty. Not when they turn 16, 18, 25.”

Rameez, who also hosts a religious program on private radio station SunFM, tweeted earlier that he was “not aware that children could get pregnant.”

The comments were criticised by some social media users including former Environment Minister Mohamed Aslam, who tweeted: “Where are the children’s right groups… Where is HRCM.. Horrified with the preaching of people like Ali Rameez.”

Local NGO Advocating the Rights of Children (ARC) meanwhile issued a statement calling on the government, civil society organisations and the general public to step up efforts to combat child abuse in society.

“It is an obligation for us as responsible citizens to protect our children, and it is the Maldivian government’s obligation as a signatory to the Convention of the Rights of the Child (CRC) that all international commitments to protect the rights of all children are adhered to fully,” ARC noted.

Almost one in seven children of secondary school age in the Maldives have been sexually abused at some time in their lives, according to an unpublished 2009 study on violence against minors.

Rates of sexual abuse for girls are almost twice as high than for boys at 20 percent – one in five girls have been sexually abused – while the figure for boys was 11 percent. Girls are particularly at risk in the capital Male’, the report found.

In recent years, local authorities and NGOs have released a number of findings trying to detail the extent of child abuse and wider sexual assaults within society.

The state-run Indira Gandhi Memorial Hospital’s (IGMH’s) Family Protection Unit reported in 2010 that the centre was notified of 42 cases of rape between 2005-2010. Most of these cases were found to involve minors.

According to the Human Rights Commission of the Maldives, 13 rape cases were reported last year alone, the majority of which most were gang rapes or assaults involving minors.

Via Minivan News

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Posted in: News

Schrodinger's Cat

by Warm Pixels

For me to live life in a place as suffocating as the Maldives is sheer torture, and I bet most Maldivians wouldn't understand, not even my closest friends or even Firefly.

I'm not talking about the lack of entertainment, like theaters, malls, bowling alleys and rinks. Do we have any of those? Nope. Not even the only three theaters in the entire country are working.

I want to be able to hold hands with Firefly. 

You see, it's not possible here. Nor would my friends understand, even though they're okay with it, nor would Firefly, because they're just not into holding hands and such things.

I miss him, terribly, even when he's right here in the room. Lately, he's been very distant with me... we can sure talk, and laugh, but what about communicating our dreams and destinies and all that? 

It's like as if this whole relationship is a pretense.

Should I blame him? Am I to blame? Or is any kind of romance impossible as we're living in a farce of a country that's marketed as the "most romantic place on earth"? 

Are gay relationships doomed to fail in the Maldives? I think this is my 15th relationship, and by far the only that almost impossibly had lasted this long. I don't know any other couple that had lasted beyond a couple of years, so I guess I'm charting unfamiliar waters here.

Will it run into a treacherous reef and we'd be a couple of casualties in the bloody ocean of rising Islamic extremism, before we find a way to relocate to a friendlier community?

I'm scared to walk down to the corner store in broad daylight because of the number of breaded fanatics and "women" in face veils walking about the streets, and for weeks since the murder of the Lawyer, the particularly violent killing of a police officer and the mind numbing way a Member of Parliament was killed, I was paranoid about people walking behind me, any kind of loud and rowdy gang and making every 'Goodbye' count.

My fears of dark streets and closed spaces came back worse than ever, and I get hours late to work nearly every day because by the time I'm satisfied that the door is indeed locked, would be about now. Half past 3 in the morning.

Dammit.

How many mangled corpses does it take for the police and the government to realize that these religious assholes are mocking God by their power over God's judgement?

I feel bound and gagged, and it's starting to wear thin. I weep in mute frustration every time I take a shower, because for some reason, cold water on the face is a wake up call from an alternate reality, the soft, fragile little world I built for us to live in.

The few moments every day that I'm under a constant splash of cold water is the time that I feel alive, and an increasing urgency to leave this sterile land of hate and death.

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Posted in: True Stories

Man sentenced to 15 years imprisonment for sexual abuse of child

Noonu Kudafari Magistrate Court has sentenced a man to 15 years imprisonment after he was convicted to have had sexually abused a child with whom he had a relationship of trust and confidence. 

The convicted man is Moosa Didi, 45, from Vaadhoo, Gaafu Dhaalu Atoll. 

The incident in question occurred last year, on the 24th of March. The sentence was pronounced last Thursday. 

Moosa Didi was sentenced under Section 9(a) and 9(b) of the Act on Special Measures against Sexual Abuse of Children. 

According to the section, any person in a relationship of trust and confidence with a child sexually abuses the child, the person would be sentenced to a prison term between 15 and 18 years. 

Via Sun.mv

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Posted in: News

Bill on death penalty drafted, unclear on action on past sentences: AG Shakoor

Attorney General (AG) Azima Shakoor stated on Thursday that the government’s bill on implementing death penalty would be made public early in the coming week.

Speaking at a press conference in Velaanaage, Shakoor confirmed that the AG’s office had completed drafting the bill, which was now in the final stages of discussion. She confirmed that the bill would be made public on the office’s website in the coming week, stating the matter “is very much connected to public sentiments and a large number of people feel this matter needs a fast solution”.

Saying that “it was a pity” that three weeks had passed in the drafting stage, Shakoor said that unlike most other bills, the death penalty implementation bill was going through processes of in-depth research and further discussions among a high-level group appointed by the government.

According to Shakoor, the research took much longer than the state had expected, adding that the AG office had included the legal systems of Medina, Egypt and America in its research.

“I would like to point out that the death penalty is still implemented in over 50 countries across the world even today. Not all of these are even Islamic states. Nor is murder the only crime for which the sentence is given. For example, some countries sentence people to death for being caught trying to bring in narcotics to the country. We are considering all of these points and have made a comparative legal assessment,” Shakoor explained.

Other crimes besides murder which are punishable by death according to Islamic Sharia include apostasy, adultery, sodomy, rape and high treason.

“We need to conduct an academic exercise since we are trying to do this through a rather weak penal code,” Shakoor said.

“If this can be done before the penal code pending in parliament is passed, it might be best to include this as part of that code. Right now, we have drafted this with the thought that if the penal code gets passed up front, then this can be passed as a separate act on death penalty.”

Shakoor said that the bill was important as the current practice was to charge murder convicts under Article 88 of the existing penal code.

Article 88 of the Penal Code states that disobedience to order is a crime, while Article 88(c) details that if the result of violating the article leads to a death, the case should be dealt with according to Islamic Sharia.

Shakoor provided details of the drafted bill, stating it would be looking at the investigation stages, prosecution stages, sentencing and the implementation of sentences.

“The act looks into deciding on the number of judges who will sit on the sentencing panel. Furthermore it considers the rights of the family, the rights of the murder victim, the rights of the victim’s family, the final rights of the convict during sentencing,” Shakoor stated.

Responding to a question regarding how those sentenced to death prior to the bill being ratified would be dealt with, Shakoor said “it is difficult to give a straightforward answer as the final discussions on the bill have not yet been completed.”

“We too believe that answers to that must come to light through how this bill is composed. However, I believe that a solution must be provided even for past cases. So the act will be drafted to reflect that. You can see for yourselves once the bill is made public,” Shakoor replied.

“When an act is passed which explicitly spells out implementation [of the death penalty], then I believe the benefits of it must be carried to even past cases.”

Among a number of other cases, a young couple charged with the murder of lawyer Ahmed Najeeb were sentenced to death by the Criminal Court in July, a few days after the UN Human Rights Committee (UNHRC) asked the Maldivian state to enact legislation to officially abolish the death penalty. The statement said “the state itself has admitted that capital punishment does not deter crime.”

Via Minivan News

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Posted in: Politics / Religion

Death Penalty Bill to be open for public poll

Press Secretary Abbas Adil Riza has said that the death penalty implementation bill drafted by the Attorney General at the request of President Dr. Mohamed Waheed Hassan will be open for public poll soon on the website of the Attorney General.

Abbas said that the bill will be sent to the Peoples’ Majlis with the thoughts of the public regarding the bill.

Abbas said that the President Dr. Waheed ordered to draft the bill within 3 weeks time on October 9. He said that this was done after holding discussions with the relevant authorities. He said that all the leaders who participated in these discussions requested the President that a law should be passed to implement the death sentence verdicts issued by the Courts of law.

Despite some raising concern over the implementation of the death sentence, Minister of Islamic Affairs Sheikh Mohamed Shaheem Ali Saeed said that the Qisas verdicts must be implemented. He said that the ruler does not have the choice to give clemency to murders and change the death sentence.

Via Miadhu News

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Posted in: Politics / Religion

“Worst fears over HIV coming true”: Health Minister

Minister of Health Dr Ahmed Jamsheed Mohamed has expressed concern about the risks of HIV spreading rapidly in the Maldives, stating that “our worst fears seem to be coming true.”

Jamsheed said that although the Maldives had remained on the HIV less-prevalent category since the first HIV positive case was found in 1991, “all the habits that may lead to the spread of HIV is excessively in practice here,” stating that it was only through “incredible luck” that the disease had not already spread widely throughout the country.

At the press conference on Sunday, Jamsheed said: “What has always worried me most is that there is a large drug community, and that the virus might find its way into this group, especially the IV drug users. Once it does, it will spread like wild fire.”

“I don’t think this is too far off now. We have already identified one IV drug user who has been infected with HIV. What’s left is to see how much this has spread,” Jamsheed revealed.

Jamsheed further cautioned against assuming that the HIV virus would stay within the injecting drug user circle, pointing out that some drug users do so in secret, and that many are married to non-drug users who could just as easily be infected with the virus.

Minister of State for Health Lubna Zahir Hussain, who heads the National Drug Agency (NDA) and Centre for Community Health and Disease Control (CCHDC) Director Maimoona Abu Bakr said that both their departments were taking preventive measures against the spread of HIV.

Jamsheed, too, said the NDA’s efforts to help drug users out of their addiction is a preventive measure against HIV as drug users are most at risk.

Meanwhile, the CCHDC is working with civil society groups like Journey, Society for Women Against Drugs (SWAD) and regional NGOs to spread awareness about STIs and HIV, and to encourage the public to change their habits to ways that present less risk of contraction.

Practical action or the moral high ground?

Jamsheed said that he believed there were issues which needed to be opened to a “national debate” in order to move forward and take stronger preventive measures.

“We can simply stay inactive and keep talking for any amount of time by assuming the moral highground,’ Jamsheed said at Sunday’s press conference.

“That is to claim that we are Muslims, and by living in a Muslim state in Muslim ways we are doubtless protected from this disease. But that is never the reality anywhere in the world,” he said.

Jamsheed said it was unrealistic to assume all Muslims to live as “perfect Muslims”, and that even if they were, there was still a chance of infection. He stated that HIV is not transferred through sexual activity or visits to prostitutes alone.

“This is an argument I do not accept,” he said. “I presume that those among us who are already infected are also Muslims, being Maldivians. Of course, there are certain protections that being in a Muslim community affords us. For example, all of us men have been circumcised, which is proven to provide protection against STIs. To put it short, we need to work on more practical forms to prevent the spread of HIV.”

Sexual promiscuity elevating risks

The minister further spoke of the risks of promiscuity in the society, referring to the 2010 case where police arrested an HIV positive prostitute. He stated that the same prostitute had been identified in the Maldives as being HIV positive in the year 2009 as well, emphasising the risks to the spreading of HIV that such events presented.

Prior to his appointment as Minister of Health, Jamsheed had written about hisconcerns regarding the spreading of HIV in his personal blog, speaking about the “sexually active” lifestyle of the Maldivian people, which created a higher risk of infection.

“Maldivians have always been a sexually very active and promiscuous community. We have a very high divorce and remarriage rate, which increases the number of sexual partners any individual has over their lifetime. It is also a known fact that despite being a Muslim community, a lot of Maldivians have multiple extramarital relationships,” he had written then.

CCHDC’s Maimoona Abu Bakr also highlighted that “undesired sexual acts”, prostitution, injecting drug users and homosexuality proved to be some of the greatest challenges to preventing the spread of HIV.

In 2011, a total of 18 HIV positive cases were reported, out of which one was of a local. Between 1991 and 2011, 15 HIV cases were reported among Maldivians, while 168 cases of expatriate workers were also filed. Two out of the 15 cases were female, and all patients cited heterosexual transmission as the cause of infection.

Via Minivan News

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In other coverage: Via Miadhu News

Risk of AIDS exposure to the public increased- Dr Jamsheed

Minister of Health Dr Ahmed Jamsheed Mohamed has said that the risk of AIDS exposure to the public has increased with the increase of injecting drug users who may share contaminated needles. The Minister said that a person who has been infected in that manner have been found in the Maldives recently.

Speaking to the media, Minister Dr Jamsheed said that there is fear of an AIDS epidemic among such drug users and others because of this. He said that by the grace of Allah, compared to many countries in the region, Maldives has a low prevalence of the disease. He stressed that if the causes for the spread of AIDS is present then the chance of an epidemic is high.

Dr Jamsheed said that AIDS is not only spread sexually but also there are other causes. He uncersocred the importance of taking preventive measures against the spread of the disease. He said that those who are visiting brothels should take heed that they are risking their lives and the lives of their families and should stop taking this risk immediately.

“A foreign prostitute had AIDS was deported in the year 2007. This same woman was again back in Maldives in the year 2009. This is something that those who visit such brothels should think about,” he said.

The Minister highlighted the importance of Islamic education to children. However he said that it alone is not a solution to this problem.

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Posted in: Health / HIV

Local actor and famous transsexual among six arrested for possessing illegal drugs

Police have arrested local actor Ibrahim ‘Dhaas’ Giyas along with another man and four women while they were inside a house in Galolhu ward, in possession of illegal drugs and a large amount of cash.

In a statement, police said two men and four women were arrested for being in possession of illegal drugs inside the house. The statement did not reveal the identity of those arrested, but local newspapers confirmed that Giyas was among those taken into custody.

According to police, the group was inside a house called Kamadhoo when police officers searched their room on the ground floor, and discovered six bullet-sized rubber packets containing suspected illegal drugs and MVR 71,470 (US$4640). In a further search, police found 15 more packets containing suspected illegal drugs, empty rubber packets, and US$50.

A forged US$100 dollar note and a 500ml empty water bottle containing suspected alcohol were also discovered inside the room in the first floor of the house, according to the police statement.

Police said the arrested women were aged 21, 23, 31 and 18, while the two men were 31 and 45 years-old.

Local newspaper ‘Haveeru’ reported that the court had previously sentenced Giyas on charges of homosexuality.

Haveeru identified the other man arrested as Mirufath Haneef ‘Hanee’, a well-known local tailor, who was also previously sentenced with Giyas on homosexuality charges.

Via Minivan News

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Posted in: Society

Religious NGO plans Male’ protest in support of death penalty

Religious NGO “Muslimunge Gulhun” yesterday told local media that it is organising a demonstration calling on the state to implement and enact the death penalty.

The demonstration, to be called ‘Thanfeez’ – translated as “implement – is scheduled to be held at 4:oopm on Friday (October 19) at the Artificial Beach area of Male’.

The demonstration will mainly focus on advocating for the death penalty, which organisers believe will to bring an end to murders occurring in the Maldives, according to a press briefing held at Muslimunge Gulhun head office. The NGO further stated that the demonstrations would also be used to advocate for the penalties of other crimes to be aligned with Islamic Sharia.

Minivan News was unable to locate contact details for the NGO, while Minister of Islamic Affairs Sheikh Shaheem Ali Saeed and State Minister for Islamic Affairs Mohamed Didi were not responding to calls at the time of press.

However, one event organiser, Ajnadh Ali, is quoted in local media as saying that participants of the demonstration were expected to range from religious scholars to young people with a love for Islam. He further claimed that the demonstration was being planned by people that did not directly represent any specific organisation.

Organiser Sheikh Azmath Jameel stated, “The country has come to the state it is at now because the penalties laid out in Islamic Sharia have not been implemented. I call on every Muslim to join this demonstration.”

Ali Nazeer, another of the event’s organisers, spoke against opening up issues like death penalty to public debate, adding any such discussions should not be entertained in fear of how the international community may react to the implementation of Islamic Sharia.

Although death sentences are issued by courts in the Maldives, traditionally those sentences are commuted to life imprisonment under the power vested in the President.

From January 2001 to December 2010, a total of 14 people were sentenced to death by the courts. None of these sentences have been carried out.

The last person to be executed in the Maldives after receiving a death sentence was in 1953 during the first republican President Mohamed Ameen. Hakim Didi was charged with attempting to assassinate President Ameen using black magic.

However, the government of President Dr Mohamed Waheed Hassan has announced its intention to submit a bill to parliament to facilitate the implementation of the death penalty.

Via Minivan News

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Posted in: Politics / Religion,Society

Revised penal code to be sent to Majlis

Naifaru MP Ahmed Mohamed has told Sun Online that a review of the Penal Code is due to be sent to the Majlis later this month.

The bill – first sent to the Majlis in 2006 – is set to replace the 1961 code, and includes 1204 articles, reported Sun.

“We are now completing the pending items which were set aside earlier, and obtaining opinions of different groups on these matters. If the Parliament continues without disruption, we can send the bill to the Parliament floor before the end of the month,” Ahmed said.

“The penalties have been revised to suit current times. Exile has been eliminated almost completely,” he added.

Ahmed said the bill was long-overdue, having been delayed due to parliamentary unrest and lack of space. He anticipated that the bill would pass without major debate.

Via Minivan News

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Posted in: News

Threat of HIV pandemic in Maldives: State Health Minister

State Health Minister Lubna Mohamed Zahir Hussain on Wednesday night said that there is an increased risk of the HIV spread in the Maldives.

At the ceremony held at Traders hotel to celebrate the conclusion of the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) five year project to raise awareness on Aids, financed by the Global Fund, State Health Minister and National Drug Agency Chairperson Lubna said that it has been found that there has been an increase in behavior leading to HIV in the Maldives. She highlighted that the risk for the young generation from these acts is high.

“Such things (dangerous actions) can cause an increased spread of HIV in the Maldives,” Lubna said.

She also highlighted that there is an increased amount of cases of illegal narcotic injection same as in other regional countries and that it is an issue of concern in which much awareness is needed.

She said that there has been an HIV prevention program launched in the Maldives in 1987 while the first HIV case in the Maldives was recorded in the year 1991. She added that since then, there has been much work done to mitigate the risk of HIV.

In the ceremony, President Mohamed Waheed Hassan Manik said that the UNDP project was carried out with much help for the local NGOs. President Waheed congratulated and thanked the UNDP and the local NGOs for successfully concluding the project and assured that the government will not stop the work towards preventing the spread of HIV.

The global fund financed project to raise awareness among the public towards the prevention of HIV was started in the year 2006. While many locals and expatriates were briefed on the issue of preventing the spread of HIV, the project also aimed to increase the quality of the health sector.

UNDP representative Andrew said that the project received a lot of cooperation from the NGOs and the health ministry. He said that the project was aimed at increasing the awareness among the community and that it had succeeded in doing so within the period. However, he said that he had noticed that many are increasingly exposed to the risks through their own actions. He added that some had been tested positive for HIV during the period of the project. Andrew also stressed on the importance of prevention of HIV.

UNDP holds a function at Traders Hotel on October 10, 2012 to mark the end of a five-year HIV/AIDS awareness program supported by the Global Fund. Videography: Mohamed Sajid.


 Via Haveeru

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Posted in: Health / HIV

Waheed government submits bill to facilitate death penalty

The government has announced its intention to introduce a bill to the People’s Majlis in order to guide and govern the implementation of the death penalty in the country.

“It is currently a punishment passed by the judiciary and a form of punishment available within the penal system of the Maldives,” said Home Minister Dr Mohamed Jameel Ahmed.

“But for full guidance and matters governing the matter, legislation is required,” he added.

Judiciary and human rights

The last execution in the Maldives came in 1953 when Hakim Didi was charged with attempting to assassinate President Ameen using black magic.

Since that time, the Maldives has retained the practice of the death penalty for murder although Islamic Shariah tenets also give the courts the power to pronounce capital punishment for offences such as sodomy, fornication, apostasy and other crimes against the community.

Statistics show that from January 2001 to December 2010, a total of 14 people were sentenced to death by Maldivian courts.

Jameel said that there was to be no re-consideration of the Clemency Act but that “necessary reform to legislation governing the criminal justice system will be undertaken by the government.”

Concerns over the judiciary were confirmed in the Commission of National Inquiry (CNI) report which investigated the events surrounding the resignation of former President Mohamed Nasheed in February.

The final report recommended that immediate steps be taken to improve the performance of the judiciary.

“The judiciary must enjoy public confidence and where there are allegations about judges’ conduct, the Judicial Services Commission must act in a timely and definitive way and report,” read the report.

Aishath Velezinee, formerly Nasheed’s appointee to the Judicial Services Commission (JSC), has said that corruption and an unreformed judiciary were the primary causes of crime in the country.

“Islam upholds justice, and not only has death penalty; it has very clear qualifications for judges too. Neither MP Mahloof, nor any of the Sheikhs, has expressed alarm that the judges are far below standard and some of them are convicted criminals themselves. This is pure politics and abuse of Islam,” she told Minivan News in a previous interview.

In July, the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) said it was “deeply concerned about the state of the judiciary in the Maldives,” as well as calling for the abolition of the death penalty, in order to ensure the Maldives’ compliance with International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR).

After speaking with a Maldivian delegation headed by Jameel, the council released a statement saying that the state had acknowledged both that the independence of the judiciary was severely compromised and that the death penalty did not deter crime.

Today marks World Day Against the Death Penalty – organised by an alliance of more than 135 NGOs, bar associations, local authorities and unions seeking the universal abolition of capital punishment.

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Posted in: Politics / Religion