News

News

Maldives: Reforms in the pipeline, but HRC stuck in the pipe
By Aishath Velezinee
Whoever may be speaking, the Government or any of the opposition parties, there is one word that echoes loud in Maldives’ politics today – REFORM. But, unfortunately there is little action to match the rhetoric.

Four Cabinet ministers and the chief government spokesperson meeting with the local and international media, as well as NGOs and diplomats in Colombo on Friday (16 November) failed to mention that though much reform may be in the pipeline, the Maldives Human Rights Commission (HRC) is stuck in the pipe!

The Bill on the Human Rights Commission passed by the People’s Majlis in June, though short of conforming to international standards, promised much-needed legislative backing to a commission set up by presidential decree in December 2003, soon after the exposure of fatal torture and shootings in Maafushi jail.
The Bill, ratified by President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom on August 18, required the President to set up a seven-member Human Rights Commission within three months. Following the procedure specified in the law, the President was required to submit to the Majlis the names of no less than twice the number of Commissioners required. The Majlis would then elect a temporary committee to verify the suitability of the nominees and submit seven names for validation by the Majlis.

President Gayoom, in what many MPs called a blatant disregard to the Majlis, the People, and the law, submitted the names to the last session of the Majlis before the three-month deadline was up. Immediate attention to the issue, and a highly unusual extraordinary session of the Majlis on the evening of November 17, failed to rectify the situation. A somber mood prevailed in the Majlis chambers as members, both affiliated to the opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP), as well as Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP) led by President Gayoom, all questioned the sincerity of the commitment for reform.

With the deadline defunct, the Government attempted to amend the law extending the three-month period to appoint the HRC to five-months, but this failed to gain the support of the Majlis. MPs demanded that the full package of amendments proposed prior to the ratification of the Bill, as well as those recommended by international consultants including the representative of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, be submitted in full before any further discussion on the issue.

Today, the presidential decree having become obsolete, and the legal timeframe to appoint an HRC surpassed, there is, arguably, no HRC in the Maldives. The skeleton of the old HRC, stripped down to two persons following the resignation of seven members since it was first appointed in 2003, is struggling to uphold a commission with no backbone whatsoever.

In the meantime, President Gayoom, representing a proactive “New Maldives”, is calling for a South Asian Centre for Human Rights. * The writer is editor of the Adduvas Weekly, a Maldivian publication.

Top

Back to News