Promises of wider political freedoms were undermined by the mass arrest of people attending political gatherings and the continued imprisonment of prisoners of conscience after unfair and politically motivated trials. Flaws in the judicial system persisted. Dozens of detainees were subjected to torture or ill-treatment, and complaints of violations by security personnel remained without prompt, thorough or independent investigation.

Background

In June, parliament removed legal barriers to the functioning of political parties for the first time in the 27-year presidency of Maumoon Abdul Gayoom.

In July, parliament passed a bill to establish a Human Rights Commission. Facing mounting concerns that the Commission had been given insufficient powers, President Gayoom indicated that it would be revised.

In September, Maldives signed the Optional Protocol to the UN Convention against Torture.

International scrutiny of the human rights situation continued. The International Committee of the Red Cross visited detention centres in April and August. A delegation of British lawyers, visiting Malé in September, found that defendants were denied fundamental rights of defence, and that "the judiciary and legal system lack[ed] the basic capacity, competency and necessary independence to deliver a fair trial".

Prisoners of conscience

August and succeeding months saw a wave of arrests of opposition activists and human rights defenders.

  • More than 100 political activists, including Ahmed Abbas, Latheefa Umar, Ahmed Mohamed Fomy, Ali Riyaz and Aminath Shareef, were arbitrarily and unlawfully detained in August after they attended a political gathering. They were held without charge or trial for periods of up to several weeks, were denied regular access to lawyers and families, and had no recourse to the courts to challenge the legality of their detention.
  • Jennifer Latheef, a film maker and human rights defender, was sentenced on 18 October to 10 years' imprisonment on charges of terrorism, and was removed to Maafushi prison. A former prisoner of conscience, she had been arrested in September 2003 after she was among thousands of mostly peaceful protesters who demonstrated in the streets of Malé at the cover-up of a prisoner's death. She was released in December 2003 to await trial. Her trial was marked by irregularities including an arbitrary dismissal of defence witnesses. Although some acts of violence occurred during the protest, the government provided no substantive evidence to prove her involvement. Re-detained in August 2004, she was reportedly assaulted and sexually molested in custody, then held under house arrest until late 2004. Her and other detainees' complaints to the authorities of torture and ill-treatment by security personnel remained without investigation.
  • Naushad Waheed and Ahmed Ibrahim Didi remained under house arrest, serving long sentences imposed in 2002 after unfair political trials. Two of the prisoners convicted with them, Fathimath Nisreen and Mohamed Zaki, were released in May and August respectively.

Political trials

The government in 2004 acknowledged flaws in the judicial system and promised reform, but unfair political trials continued in 2005.

  • Prominent politician Mohamed Nasheed was arrested during a peaceful protest in mid-August. Charged with terrorism and sedition, he was remanded in custody until 1 November when he was transferred to house arrest. Under international pressure, the government allowed an international legal observer at his trial, which started on 28 August.
  • In October, four people were sentenced to between 10 and 11 years' imprisonment on charges of involvement in violence during the mass protests in September 2003. Their trials appeared to have fallen short of internationally accepted fair trial standards.

Torture and ill-treatment

There were consistent reports that dozens of detainees were beaten and otherwise ill-treated at the time of their arrest. These reports were not investigated.

  • Imran Zahir, a photojournalist and human rights defender, was arrested on 4 September while taking photographs of police dismantling loudspeakers at a public gathering of the opposition Maldivian Democratic Party. Officers pushed him into a police van and beat him severely. He was accused of assault, reportedly on the basis of a complaint made after his arrest, but was released without charge in early October.

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