EU demanded same sex marriage, freedom of religion, claim ministers

The European Union (EU) demanded legalisation of same sex marriage and freedom of religion in return for extending duty-free status to Maldivian exports of canned tuna, Economic Development Minister Mohamed Saeed and Fisheries Minister Dr Mohamed Shainee have claimed.

At a press conference this afternoon, Saeed said that the reason for the EU’s decision was the Maldives’ refusal to accept the condition for “allowing homosexual relations and the opportunity for people to follow any religion they want”.

“The Maldives is an Islamic state and will remain so. We will uphold Islam. We will not compromise on anything that conflicts with Islam,” he said.

Last year, the government’s application for a year’s extension under the ‘GSP Plus’ program was declined as it had not ratified all 27 required international conventions. The Maldives holds reservations concerning the freedom of religion component of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR).

Dr Shainee said there was consensus among the public that same sex marriage and freedom of religion should not be allowed in the Maldives.

The ministers accused the opposition of attempting to deceive the public and obstructing the government’s development efforts.

Shainee said the opposition was twisting and distorting statements from government officials to divert attention from the government’s achievements during its first year in office, attempting to cast a “shadow” on the government’s achievements.

He accused former President Mohamed Nasheed of providing false information to foreign parties with the intention of “creating distrust towards the Maldivian people” and turning foreign nations against the Maldives.

The Maldivian people would suffer the consequences of the opposition’s alleged attempts to worsen relations with India and Europe, he said.

India has suggested remarks made in the People’s Majlis by Dunya last week regarding Sino-Indian talks on the Maritime Silk Road project were misleading, prompting government politicians to suggest the MDP was behind the confusion.

After publishing what is claimed to be evidence of the supposed discussions having taken place yesterday, Indian High Commissioner Rajeev Shahare tweeted a link to the official joint statement released at the conclusion of September’s talks between President Xi Jinpeng and Narendra Modi.

The 28-point statement contained no mention of the silk road project, while the Chinese press release referred to by the Maldives government mentioned that the two governments “should” work within the silk road framework.

Looking East

In his Republic Day address yesterday, President Abdulla Yameen accused the EU of imposing trade restrictions on the Maldives for refusing to change or abandon Islamic principles.

Until January 2014, fish exports to the EU – the single largest export partner by value – were duty-free under the Generalised System of Preferences (GSP) programme, a non-reciprocal trade agreement extended to developing countries.

Thailand, Ecuador, and China also lost GSP benefits this year.

The Maldives was forced to apply for GSP Plus status as a result of its graduation from least developed country status – a change President Yameen has noted as bringing “enormous challenges and hardships”.

President Yameen said yesterday trade and economic cooperation with China does not involve the same challenges to remaining an Islamic state posed by “Western colonial powers.”

“Participating in business with China does not involve any such compulsion for us,” Yameen said.

Former Fisheries Minister Shafeeu told Minivan News in November 2013 that the Maldives would lose its competitive advantage over the larger fishing fleets of nearby Sri Lanka and Thailand with a 14-20 tariff on fish imports, and reduce profits to “a marginal value”.

President Yameen said there was “no way forward” for the country on the issue.

“The government’s thinking is changing towards the East,” he said. Under the Maldivian Constitution, all citizens are required to be Sunni Muslim and the practice of other religions as well as places of worship are prohibited.

Shainee noted that the EU was still the Maldives biggest partner for fish exports and stressed that closer ties with China does not entail worsening relations with India or other friendly nations.

The government has been looking for new markets for fish exports – such as China, the Middle East, and America – and have introduced longline fishing, he added.

Of the companies responding to request for proposals from the government for infrastructure projects, Saeed said today that a large percentage were from China.

An agreement has also been signed between China and Maldives to form a joint commission on trade and economic cooperation, he added, which would facilitate economic growth.

Saeed also noted that China represents 40 percent of tourist arrivals to the Maldives.

The government decided to participate in the Chinese 21st Century Maritime Silk Route initiative because China is currently the strongest and fastest growing economy in the world, President Yameen said yesterday.

As a result, Yameen continued, the government believes that the “multi-million dollar infrastructure investment” needed for economic development would “arrive through this door.”

- See more at: http://minivannews.com/politics/eu-demanded-same-sex-marriage-freedom-of-religion-claim-ministers-90982#sthash.HHodsvWA.dpuf

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Posted in: Politics / Religion

Four arrested on child sexual abuse charges

Four people have been arrested from Seenu atoll Meedhoo, charged with sexually abusing a 14 year old girl.

Police reports that the four local men arrested on the case reported to them on 16, September consists of men aged 18, 21, 37 and 68 years.

Apart from this information, the police did not reveal any other details regarding the men arrested. They did inform that the case had been reported to them by the girl’s family and that they had arrested the four men in a two day special police operation. 

Meedhoo Magistrate Court had remanded the detainees for 15 days for further investigations.

Via Haveeru

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Posted in: Society

Three more hospitalised as wave of attacks continues

Three more stabbings have occurred in the capital Malé within the last 24 hours, bringing the total number of attacks in the past week to nine.

Two men – both aged 18-years-old – were attacked in broad daylight in the area near Henveiru Park this morning, while a 19-year-old was attacked in the same area yesterday (August 1).

Those attacked this morning were treated at the nearby Senahiya military hospital before being transferred to ADK, while yesterday’s victim has been taken to IGMH.

Local media has identified the 18-year-olds as Ali Arif, from Henveiru Shaiban, and Mohamed Mazin, from Dhiggaamaage in Meemu Miladhoo. Mazin’s condition has been reported as serious.

The spate of attacks – which has included a fatal stabbing in Kaafu Thulusdhoo– has prompted the Jumhooree Party to call on authorities to end the spike in violence that has accompanied the end of Ramadan.

There have been no reports of arrests being made in connection with any of this week’s incidents, barring the murder in Thulusdhoo, for which a local man has handed himself in – having his detention period extended yesterday.

Earlier this week four men and a woman were attacked in separate incidents on Monday and Tuesday. One man was mugged in Maafannu ward, two men were stabbed in Hulhumalé, a woman was stabbed in Galolhu ward, and another man was stabbed – again, in the Henveiru area of Malé.

The weeks prior to Ramadan saw a number of abductions and assaults in the capital which victims claimed to have been related to their alleged association with online secularist movements.

While an online group associating itself with these earlier incidents had promised a post-Ramadan resumption of campaigning against those perceived to be mocking Islam, police have not said whether they believe this week’s attacks are linked to one another.

Police have today said that the serious and organised crime department is investigating this week’s attacks. Malé’s gang culture has been well-documentedin recent years, with leading politicians and businessmen often closely associated with organised criminals.

Police statistics reveal 95 incidents of assault reported in July alone. The number brings up the total number of assault cases to 697 this year. Approximately 1500 cases of assault are reported annually in the Maldives, of which a majority occur in Malé.

Via Minivan News

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Posted in: Society

Comment: Open letter from refugee Abraham Naim to people of Maldives

Abraham Naim is a Maldivian who claimed asylum in New Zealand last year for fear of persecution at home due to his homosexuality – a crime under the Maldives’ Shariah-based legal system.

Naim made international headlines last month after New Zealand media wrote about his prize-winning drag act, performed under the pseudonym Medulla Oblongata.

To the people of the Maldives,

There have been a lot of things said about me in the media back home, and I would like to say a few things in response.

Firstly, I am not a transgendered woman, I am a drag queen. What I do is performance art. I do not wish to live as a woman. I entertain people and talk about issues that have affected me while living in the Maldives and abroad.

I am not crazy and I am not a monster. I believe in human rights for all Maldivians, and for all the people of the world. I am exercising my right to self-expression. I care deeply about people no matter how they happen to present themselves physically. Human rights are for all people, no matter how they choose to live their lives.

Some of you think I am an example of what is wrong with Maldives’ society.

I am not what is wrong with Maldives’ society. Kleptocracy is what is wrong with Maldives’ society. Child prostitution is what is wrong with Maldives’ society. State sponsored drug trafficking and addiction is what is wrong with Maldives’ society. Poverty and corruption is what is wrong with Maldives’ society.

I am a Maldivian and proud. I ask all of you that you to take a good look at your situation in the Maldives, rather than at me. You may try and dismiss what I have to say, but try to see the truth: you live in the country that I fled. My asylum was absolutely legitimate. You live in a place deemed one of the twenty-five worst places to live in the world.

I refer you all to the Biological Behavioural Survey of the Maldives done in 2008. The survey was done in conjunction with the UN, WHO, and UNESCO. It discovered the illness in our society. It exposed the truth that HIV rates climb as people fall victim to something so easily preventable through education, that drug use begins as young as eight in the Maldives, that injecting drug use starts as young as twelve in the Maldives; that prostitution also begins as young as twelve in the Maldives; and poverty and inequality hangs in the air like an odourless gas.

This is not the way society should function. The children of the Maldives, YOUR CHILDREN, are being terrorised and destroyed by this evil – and yet here you all are getting upset by one little drag queen.

Some of you have asked me if my friends and I have lost our minds.

We have not lost our minds, we are exercising our freedoms. I can’t tell if your comments imply disbelief in my lifestyle or a misplaced religious concern for my immortal soul, but let me explain something to you: I am doing nothing wrong by living my life the way I want to, the way that makes sense to me. The way that makes me feel happy.

I am an honest person; what you see on my pages is how I think and feel, and there is nothing in our culture that prohibits me from doing so. I believe you are making up the rules as you see fit, based on the ideas you have about the world and what you feel comfortable with. As the French political thinker De Tocqueville noted, ‘society has a network of small, complicated rules that cover the surface of life and strangle freedom’. These small, silly rules oppress you just as much as they oppress me. How are they serving you exactly?

To all the Maldivian people who are messaging me on social media:

Many of you have been messaging me just saying “hello” and do not know what to say when I message you back. I am a busy drag queen and I am not able to try and befriend all of you, particularly as I never know whether your intentions are hostile or not. If you have something that you want to say, something thoughtful to say, please say it. Otherwise you are free to read my posts to find out what I think.

Some of the messages I get from you have asked me to come back to the Maldives to be some sort of political activist and fight for your rights. If I go back to the Maldives I will almost certainly be killed. The request to come back irritates me no end. I have only just been granted asylum, I am only just settling into my new country and the upheaval I went through in becoming a refugee was enormously upsetting.

I had to leave knowing I would never see most of the people I truly care about ever again. I would not see the young children in my extended family grow up and become adults, and I would have to leave a part of my life behind forever.

If you want to change Maldives society, then change it. The old fat men in power who squeeze the life out of our country only have as much power as you give them. You can be the change that you are looking for.

It may no longer be my place to try and force new ideas on this country that perhaps cannot, or will not change before it slips back into the Indian Ocean, but I still believe all of you deserve so much better. I will not censor myself because what I have to say might make others feel uncomfortable. That I cannot control.

Although I am abroad I promise to keep fighting for what I believe in – civil and human rights. I am always happy to hear your stories. I am happy to talk about the oppression you are facing, my door is always open, and I will always support you.

Before I am a drag queen, before I am a gay man, and before I am even a man, I am human. 

As the philosopher Kierkegaard once said; to label me is to negate me. It may make it easier for you to see me as the enemy, but I am simply a person trying to live my best life in peace and happiness, and I wish the same for all of you.

I promise to do everything I can to bring your voices to the international stage. I know how hard it can be. I have lived it.

Live the life you want.

Sincerely,

Medulla Oblongata A.K.A. Abraham Naim

P.S.*

I would also like to address my winning performance at Miss Capital Drag this year, which many Maldivians were very upset about. It was reported in the Maldives as me winning a stripping competition. It was not. It was a drag competition. Nobody in the Maldives has ever seen the performance because only a snippet was uploaded on to the internet.

The Maldivian reaction to what I did thousands of miles away speaks volumes about the brutal outlook of the country. I am not saying that you are wrong because you don’t know, care, or understand what drag is; but what I am saying is that the government reacting to the performance by sending thugs around Malé to viciously assault anyone who seemed a bit too well dressed or sophisticated was disgusting and pathetic and hurt me deeply.

There are cultural aspects of what I did that may be lost in translation, but I will try to give you an idea of what it was all about.

In the West, drag is part of the rich cultural tapestry that reflects the diversity of people and outlooks. It is a vibrant part of the world’s cultural history, and has been an art form in one way or another going back since before ancient Greece.

I wanted to talk about myself through my performance. I wanted to show that I was from the Muslim world using an iconic piece of clothing, the abaya, a garment that is worn by both men and women. I removed it to reveal a tailored haute couture garment that I had been sewn into. I am not the first drag queen from the Muslim world to have worn Muslim attire.

Indian drag queens can wear divine hand painted saris, African drag queens can wear the most colourful tribal attire, but somehow because the outfit I wore was symbolically Islamic, it has taken on almost sacred qualities. Have any of you ever stopped to consider that the issue existed before I stepped on to that stage? I did not create it; Muslim women’s attire has been a battleground since before I was born. Yes, I was aware of that. I have been aware for some time that exploring many aspects of my culture holds implicit criticism, because they are things already bathed in controversy.

The mere concept of what appears to be a woman removing Islamic clothing and revealing western clothing has scandalised a nation all the way over in the Indian Ocean somewhere. You have surrounded women’s appearance in so much mystery that it has overtaken a deep part of the cultural psyche. I performed this for the benefit of the audience that was there on the night, not for Maldivians to choke on their breakfast reading the morning paper. The hang-ups of people in a society which ostracised and oppressed me, and ultimately caused me to seek asylum in a foreign country are no longer mine to worry about.

*This is an edited version of the original postscript which can be read in full here

Via Minivan News

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Posted in: Letters,Politics / Religion,Society

Doctor accused of attempted rape released

Police have released a doctor accused of trying to rape a colleague at a health centre in an island.

A spokesperson on Sunday confirmed the doctor’s release, but declined to identify him. The spokesperson also did not disclose the island at which the incident had happened.

Police had said earlier that the attempted rape took place on June 16. The doctor had locked his colleague at his consultation room after he had finished diagnosing all the patients, the police had said.

via HaveeruOnline

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Posted in: News

Human rights and wrongs – The Weekly Review

June 7th – 13th

A series of attacks and abductions in the capital Malé this week brought concern and condemnation from politicians and human rights stakeholders.

The incidents, understood to have been part of a vigilante campaign against supporters of atheism and homosexuality, have yet to provoke a response from the government.

Reports emerged of groups having previously expressed their concern regarding the publication of content offensive to Islam.

While the Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) voiced concerns at the reports of the physical assault and threatening of multiple individuals last weekend, the vice president of the Human Rights Commission urged the state to reassure the public of their safety.

Minivan News spoke with previous victims of online threats turned into physical violence, asking how fearful Maldivians should be of online attackers.

Meanwhile, the Maldives representative on the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva pressed the case for greater consideration of religious intolerance, as well as the plight of Palestinians and Syrians.

Maldivian involvement in UN peacekeeping operations was again criticised by local NGO Jamiyatul Salaf, which expressed concern that troops would become embroiled in action against fellow Muslims.

Other foreign entanglements this week were less controversial and potentially more lucrative, with the vice president continuing the search for foreign investors in China while customs officials signed a cooperation deal with UAE authorities.

Home Minister Umar Naseer travelled to the Netherlands this week in order to procure sniffer dogs as part of his anti-drugs campaign – missing a second successive court hearing in the process.

Details of government attempts to provide a welcoming environment for prospective investors were revealed as details of the recently introduced special economic zones bill emerged – featuring nine largely tax-exempt areas across the country.

One group not be welcoming foreign investment, however, was MATATO which argued that moves to award an exclusive deal to a foreign group would harm both its member businesses and tourists – whose numbers continued to growlast month.

Plans to develop a new airport on Farukolhu Island in Shaviyani atoll were blocked by the Environmental Protection Agency, while environmental NGOs expressed skepticism that the government had the capacity to enforce newly protected ray species.

In the far north, Udha waves – a uniquely Maldivian phenomena – flooded large parts of Haa Alif Dhidhoo while Bluepeace called for the empowerment of local councils across the nation to deal with waste management issues.

Another uniquely Maldivian story was explored by Hulhevi Media, who launched a documentary researching the realities behind the traditional romantic epic‘Buruni Ballad’.

The power of Malé City Council continued to decline meanwhile as both City and Fini parks were reclaimed for the use of Housing Ministry, while President Abdulla Yameen defended his party’s use of the official residencefor political events.

Yameen’s government proposed amendments to a number of laws to align them with the constitution, while Adhaalath Party MP Anara Naeem proposed raise the monthly disability allowance from MVR2,000 to MVR5,000.

The opposition MDP this week restarted political activities after a post-election hiatus, with the opening of a new party haruge in Malé.

Via Minivan news

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Posted in: News,Report

How serious are cyber death threats?

In July 2009, blogger Hilath Rasheed broke news of an underage girl being kept as a concubine on his blog. Soon afterwards, he started receiving death threats online.

He was accused of being an infidel and anonymous commenters sent him messages warning him against walking in dark alleyways. They threatened to slash his throat and behead him.

Two years later, in June 2012, three men ambushed Hilath in a dark alleyway leading up to his apartment block, slashed his throat and left him for dead.

Recalling the events today, Hilath told Minivan News he had not taken cyber death threats seriously before the fatal attack. He had also suffered an assault in December 2011.

“I was naïve and uninformed that some Maldivian youngsters in gangs could be brainwashed to the extent of decapitating a fellow human in the name of Islam,” he said.

Doctors called Hilath’s recovery a miracle.

Death threats have become a norm in Maldivian cyberspace. Politicians, journalists, bloggers and social media users have reported receiving cyber death threats for a range of reasons, from their support of a particular political party to their advocacy of freedom of religion.

Minivan News has also learned death threats were issued in at least one of this week’s abductions by vigilante mobs prior to the act.

Eyewitnesses alleged gangsters and religious extremists carried out the abductions as part of an effort to identify cyber activists supporting atheism and secularism in the Maldives. The abductees were also accused of homosexuality and atheism and were asked to prove their faith in Islam, sources said.

“With the recent kidnappings of some Maldivians by an Islamist vigilant mob of about 40, on the pretext their victims are ‘laadheenee’ or ‘impious’, I will advise everyone to really be careful about any kinds of threats because now I believe they can turn real all too easily,” Hilath said.

The Human Rights Commission of the Maldives (HRCM) has also expressed concern over the prevalence of cyber threats of violence and urged victims to report threats made via Facebook, Twitter, or comments on blog posts to the Maldives Police Services.

“In light of recent events, at a time of high levels of intolerance, and increase in gang related violence, do not treat any form of cyber threat as an idle threat,” HRCM Vice President Ahmed Tholal said.

However, prominent blogger Yameen Rasheed said he does not trust the police to protect bloggers, especially those who advocate for freedom of religion. He noted the police had failed to take action against individuals who had attacked Hilath in the December 2011 assault, despite photographic evidence.

“There is nothing you can do. I do not believe police will take action. There are some among the police who sympathise with the attackers,” he said.

The opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) has also alleged that extremist ideologies are prevalent among the security forces.

Yameen, who has also received cyber threats, said his fellow bloggers in the Maldives blogosphere “don’t feel secure at all” in light of the recent abductions.

In a blog post on Tuesday, Yameen has suggested the government backs the individuals behind the abductions. He said he expects more threats for his blog posts, but feels the only precaution he can take is documenting and publicising the incidents.

Whistleblower Aishath Velezinee and Raajje TV journalist Asward Ibrahim Waheed, who both suffered physical violence after receiving death threats online, have also urged victims of cyber harassment to take precautions when threatened online.

Velezinee was stabbed in 2010 for her revelations of judicial corruption while Asward was nearly beaten to death in 2012 after writing reports critical of the government.

Both Velezinee and Asward also expressed low levels of confidence in the security forces’ ability to take action.

“I made public the private messages that had been sent to me. There was no other way but to make the public as aware as possible,” Velezinee said.

Speaking of harassment online, Velezinee said she was the victim of a smear campaign which labeled her as a drug addict and an infidel prior to the attack. “This is systematically done to justify the physical violence,” she said.

“Social media serves as a means of communication with the world. If they can silence social media users, it is a big win for them,” she said.

Asward said he believed the prevalence of death threats to be linked to a culture of accepting violence in the Maldives. In protests across the political spectrum, demonstrators call for people “to be hung, slaughtered, or killed,” he said. “Maldivians do not seem to call for discussion to solve issues.”

A media official at the Maldives Police Services told Minivan News today that cyber crimes are difficult to investigate due to challenges in tracing those who issue threats. A law on cyber crimes is needed to facilitate investigations, the police said.

A former law enforcement official who wished to remain anonymous also raised concerns over lack of legislation on cyber crimes, but said police must make use of their limited capacity to track down perpetrators in order to deter and limit the prevalence of online threats.

Former Deputy Prosecutor General Hussein Shameem has said threats issued on social media can be prosecuted under the Act on Prohibition of Threats and Use of Dangerous Weapons passed in 2010.

The Prosecutor General’s Office has pressed charges against individuals for threats made via phone calls and text messages, but have not yet received cases relating to social media and cyber threats, he said.

Other prominent figures who have eported receiving death threats via text messages and social media include former President Mohamed Nasheed, MDP MP Mariya Ahmed Didi, former Speaker Abdullah Shahid, ruling Progressive Party of the Maldives MP Ahmed Mahloof, and former Election Commission President Fuwad Thowfeek.

Via Minivan News

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Posted in: Politics / Religion

Human Rights Commission VP calls for state response to abductions

Human Rights Commission (HRCM) Vice President Ahmed Tholal has called for an immediate state response to reports of a series of vigilante attacks in the capital over recent days.

“The concern to me is that there needs to be a state response to state very clearly that we cannot just start labelling people un-Islamic as it’s a very dangerous thing,” said Tholal.

After multiple accounts of the abductions and assault of individuals perceived to be supportive of atheism or homosexuality, the HRCM plans to meet with state representatives in order to determine the cause for these events.

“I think the issue of safety of paramount. We’re not very clear why this is happening,” said Tholal. “But I think the key role is what the state response is going to be and putting an end to the speculation – to let the people know what is happening.”

After reports that senior government members met with citizens concerned about the harassment of Islam in the days before the attacks – some of whom have subsequently been linked with the abductions – Minivan News has been unable to obtain a response from the relevant authorities on this issue.

The vigilante group was believed to have been attempting to identify members of online secularist groups – some of which had repeatedly featured content defaming and mocking the prophet.

Freedom and responsibility

Tholal noted that the incidents had raised issues regarding freedom of expression but also the responsibility inherent in the enjoyment of that freedom – noting that the state should take action against criminal activity.

“It’s not just about people who are expressing these opinion,” said Tholal. “For one thing, the freedom of expression is highly sacred, and at the same time so is responsibility.”

Article 27 of the Maldives constitution grants the right to freedom of expression in a manner that is not contrary to any tenet of Islam.

Police began investigations into anti-Islamic comment posted on the ‘Maldives Atheists’ Facebook page in March this year, although no arrests have as yet been made.

Expressing his fear that Maldivian society was becoming less tolerant of diverse opinion, Tholal noted that people’s freedom of expression must be based on understanding rather than intimidation.

“Reinterpretations should be based, not on fear, but on an understanding that there are things you cannot say as they might hurt people or be hateful or incite violence,” he said.

Self-censorship

Ismail Hilath Rasheed, a self-exiled blogger who was subjected to multiple attacks as a result of his outspoken calls for freedom of expression has also suggested greater tolerance is needed across Maldivian society.

“Freedom of expression should not be abused as to lead to anarchy and chaos. Such a balanced equilibrium can be obtained only through granting minority rights, which means the sorely missing secularism in the context of Maldives.”

“This is where we need to build bridges – a bridge to gap the gulf between moderates and extremists on all sides,” said the former journalist.

Hilath has suggested that many Maldivians – including himself – were now refraining from expressing themselves due to the current climate of fear.

“With the liberal community now opting to refrain from exercising their right to free expression, the Maldives as a culture and society will plunge into an abyss unless the powers that be give them the courage to come out and contribute to society’s collective creativity, and express free expression without fear,” he said.

A landmark ‘Threat Analysis Report’ by the Maldives Broadcasting Commission earlier this year found 84 percent of journalists surveyed had been threatened at least once, with 27 percent noting a reluctance to cover certain topics.

Journalists identified political parties to be the top source of threat, while gangs and religious extremists – both alleged to have been involved in recent attacks – were next on the list.

Other than coverage of a Maldivian Democratic Party press release expressing concern over the incidents, local media has not reported on the succession of attacks.

Via Minivan News

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Posted in: Politics / Religion,Society