Amnesty International
Covering events
from January - December 2003
Repression of peaceful political opposition continued.
Government opponents, including prisoners of conscience, continued to be
detained and imprisoned after unfair trials. Fundamental flaws in the criminal
justice system were partially addressed.
Background
There were
severe restrictions on freedom of the press, and political parties were unable
to function. The government refused to acknowledge responsibility for
wide-ranging human rights violations. Unprecedented civil protests in late
September gave voice to increasing anger at the lack of human rights
protection. Maumoon Abdul Gayoom
was elected President for a sixth consecutive five-year term in a referendum in
October. In December, in response to the September protests, the Human Rights
Commission of the
Prisoners
of conscience and mass arrests
At least
six prisoners of conscience continued to serve long sentences after grossly
unfair trials. Among them were Fathimath Nisreen, whose 10-year sentence was reduced to five years
and who was transferred to a remote island in December to serve the remainder
of this sentence in “banishment”; Mohamed Zaki and
Ahmed Ibrahim Didi, whose
sentences of life imprisonment were reduced in December to 15 years; Naushad Waheed, who was serving a
15-year sentence; and Ibrahim Fareed
whose whereabouts remained unknown to AI at the end of the year.
Following
unprecedented civil protests in Malé, the capital, in
September, scores of people were arbitrarily detained and interrogated. The
protests were sparked off by a prisoner’s death at the hands of National
Security Service (NSS) personnel in Maafushi prison
and an attempt to bury him secretly. On 20 October, police officials claimed
they had released 95 of the 121 people arrested in the wake of the September
protests. However, some sources put the number of people arrested at more than
300, including children. Among those detained was prisoner of conscience
Jennifer Latheef, an artist and film-maker whose work
focuses on the prevalence of sexual abuse and who had been critical of
government policy and censorship. Jennifer Latheef
and the remaining detainees from the September protests were released on 9
December, but she was prevented from travelling
abroad.
Torture,
ill-treatment and killings by the security forces
Torture or
ill-treatment of prisoners at Malé police
headquarters, Dhoonidhoo detention centre, and Maafushi prison continued to be reported. At least two
prisoners were beaten to death by NSS personnel in Maafushi
prison. Most prisoners suffered from a lack of adequate food or access to
medical facilities, but were reportedly afraid of being beaten if they
complained. Some prisoners were subjected to severe beatings or held in chains
for days at a time. Others were deprived of medication despite their
deteriorating health.
·
Hassan Evan Naseem
died on 19 September after being beaten by NSS personnel following an
altercation with a prison guard. The news of his death triggered unrest in Maafushi prison and protests in Malé.
·
Abdulla Amin died in Maafushi prison after NSS forces opened fire on protesting
prison inmates on 20 September. Dozens of other prisoners received gunshot
wounds. Over a dozen of the injured were flown to
President Gayoom ordered an investigation into the death of Hassan Evan Naseem and the
shootings at Maafushi prison. Subsequently, a number
of NSS personnel were arrested. On 29 December, President Gayoom
announced that he had received the report of the investigating commission
which, he said, would be published by the end of January 2004. He said he would
“study the report and implement the necessary steps”.
Violence
against women
The
government appeared to have acknowledged the need for the adoption of
legislation to protect women from domestic and other violence. A project to
draft a bill to this effect was reportedly under way at the end of 2003.