Fact
File
Maldives: Human rights at the heart of the political reform
process
As
the Maldivian Constitutional Assembly prepares to debate
a new constitution, Amnesty International is urging it
to place respect for human rights at the centre of its
deliberation and the government proposed reforms. Among
the documents before the Constitutional Assembly is a
proposal by President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom to amend parts
of the current constitution including the section on fundamental
rights.
In
a report published Amnesty International recommends that
all human rights set out in key international human rights
treaties, including the rights to freedom of conscience
and freedom of assembly, physical and metal integrity,
and the right to life, are incorporated in the new
Constitution. It is particularly important to include
a provision in the Constitution that all new and existing
laws or regulations should be in accordance with the new
Constitution and international treaties to which Maldives
is a party.
The
drafting of a new constitution is part of a wider reform
process initiated by President Gayoom under public pressure.
Steps towards reform already taken by the government and
welcomed by Amnesty International include the Maldives
accession to the UN Convention against Torture.
Amnesty
International is urging the government to ensure that
its provisions are fully incorporated into the new Constitution
and all relevant domestic laws. Other human rights instruments
such as the International Covenant on Civil and Political
Rights need to also be
ratified without undue delay.
The
organisation recommends that the guiding principle in
drafting any new legal texts should be safeguards for
the protection of human rights as provided in international
human rights treaties.
Amnesty
International is calling for the independence of the Human
Rights Commission of Maldives to be fully guaranteed in
the new Constitution. In addition it is urging that the
provisions of the Paris Principles of the UN guidelines
guaranteeing the independence and effective functioning
of national human rights institutions are incorporated
in a bill on the Human Rights Commission of Maldives,
in full and without any reservations. Amnesty International
is encouraged by a government initiative to develop a
National Criminal Justice Action Plan, which seeks to
ensure the effectiveness of law enforcement mechanisms;
enhance transparency and accountability; introduce evidence-based
investigation, prosecution and trials; enhance rehabilitation
and re-integration opportunities; minimise re-offending;
promote alternatives to pre-trial detention; promote alternative
sentencing mechanisms, and prescribe punishments reflective
of crime and criminal culpability in the period between
2004 and 2008. The plan appears potentially to address
some of the basic shortcomings in the
criminal justice system, such as the right to challenge
the lawfulness of one's detention.
Amnesty
International is urging the government to ensure that
the provisions of international human rights treaties
are fully incorporated into any legislative, policy and
administrative initiatives so that existing fundamental
flaws in the criminal justice system, including the apparent
use of confession obtained under duress as evidence in
court, are removed.
The organisation urges the government to bring to justice
the personnel of
the National Security Service who were involved in committing
human rights abuses against the detainees in the first
few days after their arrest. Detailed and consistent testimonies
gathered by the Amnesty International delegates showed
detainees had been held blindfolded and handcuffed for
up to 19 hours, made to sit still on a chair or in one
spot for several hours at a time during this period, and
subjected to physical assault, food deprivation, and in
some cases, to sexual violence. No one has been brought
to justice for these abuses.
Source:
Amnesty International
