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Thursday, 19th August 2004
EvuLWdiv
Pictures from
Black Friday
In brief;
MDP press conference
Below is a brief of the
well-attended MDP press conference held at Galle Face
Hotel today at 1700 Hrs on Monday, 16th of August. In
addition to the local electronic and print media,
members of the international media such as BBC, Reuters,
AFP, and AP were present among others. Over 30 media
people attended the conference.
read more
Open letter to President
Gayyoom by English Pen
We understand that family relations of our fellow writer
and honorary member, Mohamed Nasheed, are
currently held and may be subject to ill-treatment. We
believe that the detention of Mr Nasheed’s family
members is in retaliation for his work as a
dissident writer and reformist politician. Mr Nasheed is
internationally renowned and has wide support and we
will be utilising every means possible, at the highest
levels, to bring international attention to the current
misfortune of his family and to any of Mr Nasheed’s
colleagues similarly detained.
read
more
In
brief
Reports from Gayyoom's detention centres; a makeover is
in session
Some
sympathetic prison guards are reporting that some of the
detainees are complaining of severe pains after being
repeatedly being beaten. They also confirm that the only
medication being given to most of the prisoners are very
minimal medication like Panadol. Tuesday Dr. Mohamed
Ahmed visited some of the detainees and prescribed
medication, but they have not been delivered yet, the
medication pending approval. According to these sources,
Jennifer and three other women claim that they were
fondled by some of the cops during their arrest. Some
detainees have been defiant and refused to talk unless
they are provided with lawyers. Senior detainees are
still coming to their senses as they have lost their
bearing after being held in solitary confinement. Dr.
Munavvar is complaining about his hearing as he was
repeatedly slapped during the arrest. Ibra is reportedly
to be very vocal, but most junior guards have very
little to do other than carry out orders.
Our informers claim some detainees are still in
handcuffs and many others kept in a plastic stool
outside the cells for the last few days without sleep.
Two very young boys who has refused to identify
themselves were beaten severely and are complaining of
extreme pain. They have refused to get any medication or
see Dr. Mohamed Ahmed. Three others are on hunger
strike, and our informers tells us that hunger strikes
are very common when political prisoners are taken in
the Maldives but rarely heard of.
DO can also reveal that the prisons are
being painted and cleaned up as they expect a foreign
delegation coming soon for inspection. New mattresses
and bed sheets are being prepared to be provided when a
delegation comes and the toilets are upgraded. Workers
have been busy on the job all day.
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MALDIVES UNREST: SECURITY
IMPLICATIONS FOR INDIA
South Asia Analysis Group
The present confrontation
between the Gayyoom Government and the pro-democracy
elements spearheaded by the Maldivian Democratic Party
(MDP), which has assumed increasing virulence for over a
year now with periodic outbursts of violence, has been
largely focussed on the theme authoritarianism vs
democracy. The MDP and its supporters have been calling
for a genuine multi-party democracy with an executive
accountable to the law and guaranteed fundamental
freedoms. They also feel that Gayyoom, who has
undoubtedly done a lot for the country in the past by
opening up large parts of it to the outside world and
developing it into a tourists' paradise, has outlived
his political utility and has become increasingly
authoritarian and intolerant of criticism and
opposition.
read more
ANTI-GAYYOOM REVOLT IN MALDIVES
South Asia Analysis Group
The Republic of Maldives
has been in a state of unrest for over a year now due to
repeated agitations by large sections of Male, which
have been accusing the President of ruling dictatorially
and suppressing all political dissidents with the help
of the NSS. In the face of the continuing agitation for
political reforms and under pressure from the UK and the
USA, he agreed on June9,2004, to institute political
reforms.He conceded to his critics, who had no
representation in the Majlis, the right to hold public
meetings to voice their demands.But these commitments
were not honoured and since the beginning of August, the
NSS has again stopped these public meetings and many
advocates of reform have been arrested and allegedly
tortured.
read more
Open Letter to MDP
News has been leaking from the
handful of sympathetic men in uniform that the detainees
are brutally tortured with their hands cuffed and
blindfolded. They also report that the government is
carrying out the "investigation" like "Guantanamo Bay
style" (detainees dressed in orange) in a desperate
effort to label the detainees even as hardcore
terrorists. Words can never describe the fear we the
Maldivians are in today nor can it describe the
unbearable suffering of the 1500 or more detainees in
Gayyoom's custody. Gayyoom is throwing all his means to
hide his inhumanity and cruelty to the international
community. read
more
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SPECIAL MESSAGE
Did you hear Minivan Radio, let us
know the details? Email
admin@friendsofmaldives.co.uk
Reception appears to be generally ok, all
over the country. If you had difficulty or could not
hear let us have the details as soon as possible.
Wednesday,
18th August 2004
Masters of
Deception and Terrorists
Mr. Paul Roberts, in his
article ‘Events in the Maldives
make waves around the world’
shed some light the deceptive practices adopted by
Gayyoom and this gang. In his article he tells how the
events of the Black Friday are being reported
around the world. However, in our own home, the Gayyoom
controlled broadcasting media have a different story: a
story that mocks the misfortune of the victims of Black
Friday. People who are unable to add one plus one are
being told to compliment to his brutal actions. The key
people who orchestrate this show such as Khaleel, Masood
and Saleem are promised and reminded of the good fortune
that awaits them by Information Minister Sammarey,
brother-in-law of Gayyoom. The target audience is the
people of outer island, who are desperate for
electricity, safe water, education and so on. They are
forced to believe that any good that can happen to them
can only happen if they unconditionally kiss
Gayyoom and his gang’s feet and acknowledge that the
Presidency of our nation is a birth right of Gayyoom.
read more
 Call
for European Union to press for release of
cyber-dissidents
Reporters Without Borders
Reporters Without Borders
called today on the European Union to obtain the
release of four Maldivian cyber-dissidents,
including three persons working for the e-mail
newsletter Sandhaanu, who have been jailed since
police broke up a 13 August pro-democracy
demonstration. One of them, Ahmad Didi (photo),
has been tortured and is reported to be in
critical condition.
read more
Britain
hits out at Maldives crackdown
Breaking News.ie
Britain has criticised a
crackdown on pro-democracy protesters in Maldives, but
the island country’s government justified the action by
saying the demonstrators were trying to topple president
Maumoon Abdul Gayyoom's regime. “We are concerned by
reports of attacks by the police on peaceful protesters
in Male (the capital) last Friday, the subsequent
declaration of a state of emergency, and large numbers
of arrests, including of members of the Special Majlis,”
the British Foreign Office said in a statement.
read more
Maldivian opposition for Indian intervention
The Daily Star
A Maldivian opposition leader urged India
to intervene to "restore some sanity" in his country
following the imposition of emergency by the government
to quell unprecedented protest demonstrations on Monday.
"India cannot look the other way. It has to do
something," pleaded Mohammed Latheef, founder president
of the fledgling Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP),
speaking to IANS over the telephone from Colombo.
read more
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Gayyoom
orders NSS to bash reformists and Maldivian Democratic
Party members
Maldives Culture
report
'The NSS is not being used
in this emergency to establish law and order; it
is acting as a gang of thugs against a
non-violent democratic movement on behalf of the
political and financial interests of NSS
commander-in-chief Maumoon Gayyoom. The
president has been publicly lying about his
support for the democratic reforms demanded by
his people and international advisors, and he
needed an excuse to abort the Special Majlis.
Gayyoom's manufactured 'emergency' and arrests
and beatings of many of the reformist Special
Majlis members, serves this purpose' read
more
Over 300
activists arrested and jailed in Male – MDP
The Island Newspaper
With tension and unrest in the
Maldivian capital Male the number of arrests of pro
democracy activists by the National Security Service
(NSS) has risen to nearly 300. A spokesman for the
Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) said most of their
members arrested since Saturday has been badly tortured
by the police after being transferred to the jails in
the island of Dhoonidhoo, Girifushi and Maafushi. read
more
Maldivian
dissidents ask foreigners to boycott island paradise
The Island Newspaper
Maldivian dissidents Monday called for foreigners to
boycott the tourism-dependant Indian Ocean archipelago
whose capital is under emergency rule after
pro-democracy rallies.
read more
Special
Announcement
Server maintenance
Dear readers,
Please note that over the next 48 hours, some server
upgrading will be conducted on DO. All the
aliases will work and the problem will be with the main
domain
www.dhivehiobserver.com - so, please use an
alias. The service is improved to ensure that all
readers get a satisfactory speed. Please email your
comments to
dhivehiobserver@gmail.com if you experience
any difficulty or cannot browse the site. Thank your for
your understanding.
Media Body
Condemns Internet Curbs in Maldives
One World South Asia
International media watchdog has condemned efforts by
the Maldives government to combat political dissidence
by cutting off the south Asian nation's Internet links
last week -- the latest in a series of measures to block
freedom of information on the island. The Paris-based
Reporters Without Borders (RSF - or Reporters Sans
Frontieres) has called upon the international community
to press the government of the Maldives to lift
restrictions on the media.
read more
DO
EXCLUSIVE
NSS didn't use any force?
TIANANMEN MALDIVES STYLE; MORE
BLOOD ON GAYYOOM'S HANDS
When these forces descended on unarmed
demonstrators protesting in a square outside the national security
services headquarters on Friday, they went on a mad rampage of
unprecedented brutality in full view of the ordinary people. Armed with
teargas and truncheons, their first victims were boys aged 14-18.
Eyewitnesses claim groups of security forces chased after these young
people and kicked, punched, and beat them up mercilessly with
truncheons, screaming abuse the whole time. Four eyewitnesses saw at
least 24 separate incidents like this.
read more
Tuesday, 17th August 2004
More Pictures of Black
Friday
Picture from Getty Images Editorial
Crackdown extends to
Maldives Intelligentsia
August 13th Black Friday's crackdown in
Maldives may have been a measure out of the regimes desperation to stay
in power, but now President Gayyoom is using the opportunity to
brutalize and torture the country's intelligentsia and the many
businesses that had done well in spite of his nearly three-decades rule.
The targeted witch-hunt now include musicians, poets and artists, who
through their non violent art and occupations have criticized the
several murders and torture carried out by Gayyoom's regime.
read more
British concerns behind Maldives agony
The Maldives is now "free" in that they
don't pay tribute and are not protected by Her Majesty's government. But
the few trinkets paid then in tribute are now replaced by millions of
dollars paid to Cable & Wireless who had since cornered the
communications market in Maldives. The state-cum-British-company run
monopoly of the national telecoms company Dhiraagu is a joint venture
between Cable & Wireless and the Maldives government. Internet costs
US$6 per hour and a call to the nearest neighbour costs as much as US$2
a minute. Exorbitant rates, unregulated and rampant by reason of that
company being a monopoly are helping them clean up the Maldives
population on an enormously larger scale than the times of British
"protection". read more
Of
Gilded Cages and Island Prisons
Tourists who arrive in the Maldives are
actually hoodwinked into thinking that they are indeed beginning a
luxury holiday. Little do they know that in actual fact they are being
incarcerated in the island of their choice, like birds in gilded cages.
read more
GAYYOOM'S
RIOT POLICE ATTACKED SCORES OF CHILDREN
Different eyewitnesses are concurring that
when Gayyoom first unleashed his special task force on unarmed
protesters, their initial rampage almost exclusively targeted boys aged
13-18 years. read more
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Press Release by Nirj Deva DL MEP
Nirj Deva, Member of the European Parliament for South
East England and a member of the influential Foreign
Affairs Committee in the Parliament has today lifted the
lid on the true horror of the dictatorship in the
Maldives, a nation commonly associated with peace,
serenity and relaxation.
Yesterday, former Government Minister Mohammed Ibrahim
Zaki who is known to suffer from an extremely serious
heart condition was thrown into prison by the regime and
may be being brutally beaten - yet another nail in the
coffin of freedom.
read more
STATEMENT by Nirj Deva DL MEP,
Member if the European Parliament for
South East England
I am appalled that after 25 years of human rights
abuses, the international community still has failed to
wake up to the situation in the Maldives, where the
constitution is routinely violated, political opponents
are regularly detained and tortured, and, as we
witnessed earlier today, where civil society and
opponents to the regime are brutally repressed.
Can the international community really
continue to turn a blind eye to such flagrant human
rights abuses, especially as President Maumoon Abdul
Gayyoom has just placed Male and its surrounding areas
under a state of emergency rule? As reports emerge of
the most recent display of police brutality towards
peaceful pro-reform protestors, surely it is time for
the world to wake up and finally take action in order to
liberate Maldivians from the uncertainty and fear of
Gayyoom's cruel regime.
read more
Daily News :: Sri
Lanka
EU to impose sanctions against Maldives
Member of the European
Parliament for South East England Nirj Deva who is also
a member of the Foreign Affairs Committee in the EU
Parliament said that during the 25 year rule of
President Gayoom and his regime had flouted
international human rights agreements, laughed in the
face of democracy and had brought about terror to
innocent people.
He said he has posed a list of questions to the European
Commission regarding Maldives, which is a popular
destination of the British, Italian and German tourists.
While calling upon the international community to stop
going there as tourists and cancel their holiday
bookings with immediate effect to show solidarity to the
people who suffer under dictatorship.
"Unless the Maldivian government begin a process of vast
political and social reform in the country, including
freeing innocent people put behind bars, the European
Union trade sanctions as well as a Travel ban will be
immediately imposed upon the nation. Now is the time to
act", he said.
read more
rediff.com
Extremists behind unrest, claims Maldives
The anti-government demonstrations
that led to the imposition of an emergency in the
Maldives on Friday were hijacked by Muslim
fundamentalists who do not have any democratic agenda,
chief government spokesman Dr Ahmed Shaheed has said.
But Mohammed Lateef, a Sri Lanka-based member of the
Maldivian Democratic Party, which claims that it cannot
function in the atoll, challenged this assertion, saying
violence was engineered by government forces to derail
reforms, and that India has a moral responsibility to
intervene, as it had saved President Maumoon Abdul
Gayoom after a 1988 coup attempt.
read more
Scotsman - UK
Britain
'Concerned' over Developments in the Maldives
FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH OFFICE News
Release (MALDIVES) issued by the Government News Network
on 17 August 2004
Britain today expressed concern over developments in the
Maldives, particularly the detention of members of the
Maldives’ constitutional assembly, the Special Majlis.
read more
DO
Exclusive
Pictures from Black
Friday
the national security used minimal force?
click to view more
US concerned unrest will undermine
democratic drive in Maldives
Yahoo News
"The United States also calls for all detainees to be
treated humanely, fairly, and in accordance with the
Maldivian Constitution and international norms of human
rights," Ereli said in a statement.
read more
Maldives govt says mob violence was an attempt to
overthrow the president
(AP)
Khaleej Times
“The mob had attempted to overthrow the democratically
elected government in the Maldives,” said a statement
posted on Gayoom’s official Web site on Tuesday.
read more
Events in
the Maldives make waves around the world
On Thursday 12th
August around 5,000 people demonstrated in the Maldivian
capital Male’ calling for the release of political
prisoners, democratic reforms and the resignation of the
government of President Maumoon Gayyoom. In the
afternoon of Friday 13th August, riot police
broke up the peaceful demonstration with baton charges,
tear gas and rubber bullets. Waves of pro-democracy
supporters have been arrested and the President has
since called a state of emergency in the Indian Ocean
republic. This article is a summary of some of the press
coverage from around the world.
read
more
GAYYOOM'S
BRUTE FORCE STARTED RAMPAGE BEFORE STATE OF EMERGENCY
It is now emerging that the first
20 or so 'arrests', which amounted to chasing after
unarmed people, mostly children, and beating them up,
happened at least half an hour BEFORE Gayyoom declared a
state of emergency.
The police rampage started around 2.45 pm. The state of
emergency was started at 3.20 pm.
read more
Model questionnaire to be completed by persons alleging
torture or their representatives - Office of the High
commissioner of Human Rights (UN)
The
Daily Star of Bangladesh : Editorial
Crackdown in the
Maldives; Democracy's time
has come
Demonstrations in the Maldives are rare, and the fact
that this latest one is considered so threatening by the
government and has been joined by former senior members
of the government indicates that perhaps now public
opposition to the status quo and desire for
democracy has reached a critical mass. It is high time
that the Maldives government accepts that the democratic
inclinations of its people cannot be contained
indefinitely.
read more
Indian Express :: India is with the people of Maldives
not Gayyoom
Sudden disquiet in Male rings a quiet bell in New Delhi
As
the world’s largest democracy, the sources said India
could ‘‘hardly turn a blind eye’’ to the fact that the
Maldivian population was demanding basic rights, such as
freedom of speech and expression and the right to the
formation of political parties.
read more on Indian Express
US State
Department
Press Release
Demonstrations in the Maldives
The United States also calls for all
detainees to be treated humanely, fairly, and in
accordance with the Maldivian Constitution and
international norms of human rights.
read more
The truth
speaks for itself!
Click here for more
Picture analysis
Click to enlarge
Monday ,
16th August 2004
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Maldives detains
hundreds of activists
Taiwan News
"Our
activists are in hiding," MDP spokesman in Colombo,
Mohamed Latheef, told AFP. "Security personnel are going
from house to house and pulling out suspected dissidents
and beating them up in public."
The MDP
called on the international community to take action to
prevent the country of 270,000 Sunni Muslims from
slipping into chaos after a state of emergency was
imposed Saturday.
read more
Maldives
reforms meet put off
rediff.com
Voicing
concern over the situation in the region, an Indian
foreign ministry spokesman said: "We are naturally
concerned. We are watching the developments."
read more
Maldives
government says 185 arrested
Seattle
Post
"Security forces have taken
185 people in to custody," said Capt. Mohamed Sadiq,
spokesman of the National Security Services. Among those
arrested in the crackdown were Mohamed Munavvar,
Maldives former attorney general and Ibrahim Hussain
Zaki, the former national development minister who were
sacked by the president in November, a senior government
official said on condition of anonymity. It was widely
believed that President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom sacked both
over their pro-reformist moves.
read more
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,imincnukcaed urib cnunWaurug
*
Friends
Of Maldives
Press
Release
Dhivehi Observer editor to speak on BBC
The
editor of Dhivehi Observer, Ahmed Shafeeq Ibrahim Moosa
(Sappe’), will be giving an interview to the BBC World
Service’s The World Today programme. Maldivians may
listen to the broadcast on the following frequencies: read
more
MDP Newsletter
18 released
Articles
include:
-
Gayyoom rules
under emergency power
-
Maldives on the brink of revolution as
the desire for democracy appears insatiable
-
Radio Station launched in Maldives -
MINIVAN RADIO
-
Maldives: Peaceful demonstrators
beaten and detained
-
President Gayyoom cuts off Internet
links with outside world
-
13.08.2004 - Police attack protesters
calling for release of jailed cyber dissidents
-
State of emergency for Maldives
DO
EXCLUSIVE
Detailed eyewitness account of 12 - 14th August 2004
Police had already decided to stop
the protest before sunset. Since all their requests to
disperse the crowd were unsuccessful, they draw up an
action plan with Yameen. This was to get a young group
of boys to throw stones at the police, after which the
police will charge the protesters and beat them up
before arresting them. It happened according to what they
planned. The group of young boys started throwing stones
at the police. Since the reformers weren’t there for
violence they intervened and tried to stop the boys. As
this was during the time most of the people had gone for
rest or have lunch after the long hours, the number of
protesters were minimal. As the protesters were busy
attending the boys, the police charged them with their
batons, rubber bullets and sprayed tear gas. They
indiscriminately beat up young and old, men and women. read
more
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More pictures
from "Black Friday" - 14th August 2004
Click here for more
pictures
"cnwnWnubun
cnerwhwa Ekeywb ivcaea cawmulWvog cawa IswrckomiD Iaea"
*
WE DEMAND IMMEDIATE AND UNCONDITIONAL RELEASE OF GASIM
IBRAHIM
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