:: Dhivehi Observer :: Peoples Press ::

The reasons for torture in Maldives

by Hassan Thakuru and DO International Editor Michael O'Shea - 21st October 2004

Torture and other cruel, inhumane and degrading treatments are normal practice by the NSS in Maldives. The population is constantly subjected to arbitrary arrests and violent treatment. Some Maldivians even think this behaviour is an acceptable part of police work. Political crackdowns, enforced disappearances, unlawful actions against socially marginalized people, forced displacement of populations and other forms of official violence are all part of the Maldives social reality. Torture and cruel, inhumane and degrading treatment have been the most important part of government work since Gayyoom took power.

Gayyoom, his family ministers and the NSS who together rule Maldives, have done nothing to protect their fellow Maldivians. They have systematically violated the human rights of their country's men and women. Gayyoom's promises of investigations and reform, after the murder of Evaan Naseem and mass shootings in Maafushi prison in September 2003, have all come to nothing. The Maldives Human Rights Commission is a farce.

Evaan Naseem's mother, who has refused to stop complaining about her son's murder, has been imprisoned and tortured by Gayyoom. This is how he treats people who won't shut up.

When Gayyoom met Adam Mynott from the BBC after the September 2003 riots in Male', he privately assured Mynott that he knew nothing about the torture occurring in his jails. This was a bare-faced lie. Gayyoom visits the NSS HQ early every morning when he is in Male', and he isn't there to discuss the breakfast menu. With his fellow senior officers, he decides who will be arrested and tortured and how it will be done.

An average of three persons each day are victims of torture in Maldives. These practices are not reported, much less investigated. Torture and rape are digitally recorded. What is done with these tapes? Are they sold to foreign companies and governments? Are Maldivians being used in some grotesque experiment? These are serious questions. Perhaps the recordings are only viewed to satisfy the perverted desires of Gayyoom and his associates, but the planning and detail of these crimes suggest the answer will be as horrifying as the practices themselves.

The Japanese passed on the results of their gruesome experiments on prisoners in Manchuria to the US after World War 2. At Guantanamo Bay there are shelves of recordings of what has been done to prisoners there since the invasion of Afghanistan. Egypt's Mubarak has been torturing prisoners from Guantanamo, including an Australian citizen, for the US government. Torture has become a lucrative business - a way for dictators to gain favour with their main donor of foreign aid.

Torture in Maldives is not an isolated event. It is a deliberate practice used by Gayyoom and his associates. Torture is used as a means of political persecution, to punish people for their political or social activity, and to terrorize the civilian population into subservience, so the treasury can be looted.

Today, Maldivians are in need of international support to get rid of the gangsters who are terrorising their atolls. Only then will human rights and dignity be a reality in Maldives.