:: Dhivehi Observer :: Peoples Press ::

Amnesty International letters to Maumoon remain unanswered?

from Amnesty International Report 2003

" The following Amnesty International letters addressed to President Maumoon Abdul Gayyoom and copied to the Maldives High Commissioner in London have remained unanswered: letter date 21 January 2003 regarding the reported death of a young man as a result of torture while in the custody of the NSS; letter dated 6 November 2002 on concerns about the charges, trial and conviction of Naushad Waheed; letter dated 15 October 2002 regarding concerns about the detention, trial and imprisonment of Mohamed Zaki, Ibrahim Luthfee, Ahmed Didi and Fathimath Nisreen; letter dated 12 June 2002 regarding concerns about the arrest and continued detention of Ibrahim Fareed; letter dated 17 April 2001 seeking assurances that the rights of those seeking to form an independent and peaceful political party [the Maldivian Democratic Party] would be respected. Since August 2001, the only response received by Amnesty International was a letter from the Ministry of Information, Arts and Culture regarding the arrest and trial of Mohamed Nasheed (see Endnote 19).

The Government of Maldives has persistently failed to address the fundamental flaws in the administration of justice resulting in arbitrary detention, grossly unfair trials and long-term imprisonment of government critics. No one, at any level of the government administration, is known to have been brought to justice for committing human rights violations."