Maldives: UN body raises concerns about restrictions and attacks on civic freedoms while protesters face reprisals

The state of civic space is rated as ‘obstructed’ by the CIVICUS Monitor. Over the last few years, there have been reports of harassment and threats to journalists, arbitrary arrests and excessive force against protesters, restrictions on protest and threats against human rights defenders, both offline and online, including women activists. The government has also failed to deal effectively with past crimes.

On 21st April 2004, President Mohamed Muizzu’s People’s National Congress (PNC) won 66 seats in elections, while its allies took nine, giving the president the backing of 75 legislators in the 93-member house – enough to change the constitution. The opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) meanwhile won only 12 seats.

In July 2024, Maldives was reviewed by the UN Human Rights Committee around its record in implementing the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR). The Committee highlighted a number of concerns around restrictions of civic freedoms and made recommendations in its Concluding Observations.

In recent months, there have been reports of Bangladesh migrant workers threatened with deportation for a protest while two women were arbitrarily detained for protesting against Israel's atrocities. Media houses faced arson threats, while there is ongoing impunity ten years after the enforced disappearance of blogger and journalist Ahmed Rilwan Abdullah. Civil society groups have called on the Commission on Deaths and Disappearances (DDCom) to disclose its findings.

Peaceful Assembly

UN body calls for amendments to law and to protect rights to peaceful assembly

The UN Human Rights Committee in July 2024 was concerned by “reported restrictions on protests, arbitrary arrests of demonstrators and excessive use of force by police, including during anti-corruption assemblies in December 2022 and March 2023, the zero-tolerance approach to antigovernment protests, and by the restrictions to public assemblies in Malé to one designated area since 2016 under the Freedom of Peaceful Assembly Act (No. 1/2013).”

It called on the government to amend the Freedom of Peaceful Assembly Act to ensure that any restrictions to the right to peaceful assembly are compatible with article 21 of the Covenant and General Comments no. 37 and any use of force strictly complies with the principles of necessity and proportionality.

It also called on the authorities to ensure “prompt, thorough and impartial investigation of all complaints of excessive use of force by law enforcement and hold perpetrators accountable and to adopt procedures and regulations in compliance with human rights standards for the police in controlling large crowds of protestors to ensure a safe and enabling environment to exercise the right to peaceful assembly.”

Bangladesh migrant workers threatened with deportation for protest

According to Human Rights Watch, in July 2024, the authorities said they planned to arrest and deport Bangladeshi nationals involved in organising a peaceful protest in the southern atoll of G.Dh. Thinadhoo. The protest held on 25th July 2024 came in response to the recent crackdown by security forces on student protests in Bangladesh, before the Sheikh Hasina government fell.

Minister of Homeland Security and Technology Ali Ihusaan accused the protesters of breaching a visa condition prohibiting migrants from engaging in any “political activities.”

Human rights groups raised concerns about this and said in a statement that “imposing a condition on visas that deprives fundamental rights guaranteed under the Maldivian Constitution is illegal.” The groups highlighted that Article 32 of the Constitution grants everyone the right to freedom of peaceful assembly without prior permission of the state.

According to the Association for the Democracy in the Maldives (ADM), on 4th September 2024 they received information from the Ministry of Homeland Security and Technology, which stated that “so far no one has been deported” in the relation to the protest.

The Maldives has the highest proportion of foreign migrant workers in South Asia, primarily from Bangladesh and India. Many face a range of entrenched abuses from employers, including deceptive recruitment practices, wage theft, passport confiscation, unsafe living and working conditions, and excessive work demands, which may amount to forced labour and violate domestic and international law.

Two women arbitrarily detained for protest against Israel's atrocities

On 28th August 2024, two women - Dr. Shazra Ibrahim and Aishath Shadhiya – were arrested for persistently protesting against Israel's atrocities in Maldives' capital Malé City.

According to the police, they were arrested for repeatedly gathering and protesting near the British Embassy, ​​the German Embassy, ​​the UN Offices in the Maldives, and the residences of the British and Saudi ambassadors, using loudspeakers to create noise and shouting. They were also accused of acting in a way that caused disturbance to embassies and ambassadors. Prior to their arrest, police had summoned Shazra and questioned her regarding the matter.

When presented to court, the Criminal Court ordered them to be remanded in custody for three days. The court extended their detention for another five days on 1st September. They were released on conditional bail on 5th September.

These arrests are inconsistent with international human rights standards, in particular General comment No. 37 (2020) on the right of peaceful assembly which states that participants must as far as possible be enabled to conduct assemblies within sight and sound of their target audience. Further, assemblies may entail the use of sound systems to reach their audience or otherwise achieve their purpose. Preventive detention of targeted individuals to keep them from participating in assemblies may constitute arbitrary deprivation of liberty, which is incompatible with the right of peaceful assembly. This is especially the case if detention lasts more than a few hours.

Association

UN body concerned about reprisals on civil society including de-registration of MDN

During its review in July 2024, The UN Human Rights Committee raised concerns about reports of threats, intimidation and reprisals against civil society organisations and threats of blasphemy against three other civil society organisations. It called on the government to ensure prompt, thorough and impartial investigation of all complaints against human rights defenders and organisations, hold perpetrators accountable, and if convicted, punish those responsible with appropriate penalties; and provide compensation to victims.

The Human Rights Committee also raised the de-registration without due process of the Maldivian Democracy Network (MDN). As previously documented by the Monitor, the government decided to dissolve MDN after they were accused of ‘insulting the Prophet Muhammed’ in a 2016 report published by the organisation, which they had retracted. The shutdown was enforced in December 2019 while the organisation was awaiting a response to clarifications made after receiving a baseless and unlawful order to terminate its operations on 5th November 2019. The Committee called on the Maldives to ensure the reinstatement of MDN with due process, and return its seized funds as well

The Committee was concerned by the lack of independence of the Registrar of Association who is being appointed by the President, and asked for the Associations Act to be amended to ensure an independent appointment process for the Registrar, as well as judicial review of the decisions adopted by the Registrar.

Civil society groups call on commission to disclose findings

In May 2024, human rights groups called on the Commission on Deaths and Disappearances (DDCom) to ensure its findings are revealed to the victims’ families and made public before it was dissolved on 31st May 2024.

According to a statement by the groups, at a meeting requested by the civil society network Coalition for Open Governance in the Maldives, the DDCom claimed on 7th May 2024 that the President’s Office ordered the Commission to only share the findings of the investigations with the President’s Office and that the Commission not publicly disclose any of their findings.

The groups said that the truth about the fate of the victims must be provided to over 20 families who have awaited justice through the DDCom and that there is no legitimate prohibition on the DDCom to disclose it.

DDCom has disregarded multiple requests by civil society representatives to clarify which specific clause in the Presidential Commissions Act (Law no. 2019/4) supposedly prevents it from disclosing the findings to the victims’ families. Instead, the DDCom reiterated that they would submit their findings to the President as instructed.

This issue was also raised by the UN Human Rights Committee in July 2024, saying it was “concerned by the lack of publicity of those findings.”

Expression

Maldives slips in press freedom ranking

Maldives slipped six places to 106th out of 180 countries in the World Press Freedom Index compiled by Reporters Without Borders (RSF) in May 2024.

RSF said that while Article 28 of the Maldives Constitution proclaims freedom of the press, this constitutional safeguard is undermined by the Evidence Act, which took effect in January 2023 and which allows the courts to compel journalists to reveal their confidential sources.

It also noted that the previous administration increased attacks on the media. In the lead-up to the 2023 presidential elections, police used excessive force against journalists covering the protests. Further, there is still impunity for crimes against the press, and the issue of sexual harassment of women journalists is slowly emerging.

The UN Human Rights Committee in their Concluding Observations said that it was concerned at interference and obstruction of the media, which is facilitated by State-owned enterprises funding the media. The Committee is also concerned by the intimidation, harassment and violence against journalists and human rights defenders, as well as by the impunity for such attacks.

The Committee is further concerned by the provisions of the Evidence Act which allow for compelling journalists to disclose a source of confidential information in cases where the information concerns a suspected terrorism offence or a threat to national security.

Media houses face arson threats

Independent media outlets RaajjeTV and Channel 13 were victims of threats against their operations.

According to the the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) and its affiliate, the Maldives Journalists Association (MJA), on 28th April 2024, an anonymous individual posted a comment on the social media platform Instagram threatening to set the offices of independent news outlet RaajjeTV ablaze and end its operations, with comments also targeting Senior Video Journalist Laisa Ahmed.

Independent broadcaster Channel 13 also faced threats, with a Facebook comment on an article threatening that the outlet would not be “given the opportunity to spread discord” through its operations.

The MJA condemned the threats of arson against private broadcasters RaajjeTV and Channel 13 and called on authorities to immediately and urgently investigate the threats. It said that “these threats further erode the working environment for journalists, enabling a fearful atmosphere that continues unabated due to the widespread impunity for crimes against journalists.”

Ten years on, still no justice for the enforced disappearance of Ahmed Rilwan Abdullah

On 8th August 2024, human rights groups issued a statement on blogger and journalist Ahmed Rilwan Abdullah, who was abducted and disappeared exactly ten years ago in 2014 following repeated death threats by Islamic extremists in the Maldives. He was targeted for his criticism of religious fundamentalism and violent extremism through his journalism, personal blog and social media accounts.

According to the statement, the family of Rilwan continues to wait for any official information surrounding his enforced disappearance and possible murder. A criminal trial from September 2017 to August 2018 acquitted suspects, with the judge noting critical matters of negligence in the investigation and prosecution that failed to achieve a conviction.

The groups said that the Presidential Commission on Deaths and Disappearances (DDCOM) formed in 2018 by former President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih, was disbanded after a full term, with nothing to show for the promised justice for Rilwan’s family. Suspects arrested by the Commission were released and charges dismissed by the Criminal Court for lack of evidence. The Commission refused to provide an official account of the findings of their investigations. On 25th December 2023 the Prosecutor General stated that he would not be appealing the case against three suspects.

The groups called on President Muizzu to publish the reports of the DDCOM without further delay, and to suspend the political appointments of individuals suspected of connection to the forceful disappearance and possible murder of Ahmed Rilwan.