http://www.minivannews.com/news/news.php?id=3316
By Ajay Makan
June 3, 2007
The Maldives police force has said a report by the Human Rights Commission of the Maldives (HRCM) into police handling of protests on Kibidhoo, “is contrary to the constitution of the Maldives and legal norms.”The HRCM report published last week found the police had deliberately used violence against protestors outside the Kibidhoo island office on 28 and 29 April.
The Human Rights Commission is empowered by legislation passed in the People’s Majlis in 2005 to “investigate any complaint received about a government authority violating human rights and advise the government on the steps to be taken, based on the findings.”
Given HRCM’s statutory powers, it is unclear why the police deem the Kibidhoo report unconstitutional. Police Commissioner Adam Zahir refused to give an explanation to Minivan News and no one was available in the police public affairs department to comment further.
An official police press release says three officers who were dispatched to Kibidhoo on the request of the island office on April 28 were “taken hostage." The deployment of eighty officers later that day was “to retrieve these men.”
But the statement does not respond to the specific findings of the report that police were “wearing iron finger rings,” and “went after and attacked people even after the crowd had dispersed,” inflicting “physical abuse” and “psychological effects” on women and children.
Instead it hits out at the HRCM for “degrading the honour, dignity and reputation of people in the police force,” who are “working night and day to conduct national duty.”The HRCM report also criticised Television Maldives (TVM) for misinforming the public by claiming in a broadcast on 29 April that no confrontation was taking place on Kibidhoo. And the Kibidhoo island and Thaa atoll offices are found to have ignored long term grievances of the islanders.
Mohamed Jawad, a spokesman for the Atolls Ministry said, “we have not received the report from HRCM officially yet. If they send it to us we will study it and respond.” No one from TVM was available for comment.
So far there has been no formal response from the government as a whole, despite the fact that the police force, island and atoll administrations and the state media have all been heavily criticised in the report.
Related Articles:
Human Rights Commission Slams Police Over Kibidhoo Protests
Zahir And Thasmeen “Let Kibidhoo Happen”
Kibidhoo: Photos Of ‘Human Rights Abuses’
‘Police Chief Must Quit:’ MDP
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