URU, Alm.del - 2013-14 - Bilag 28: Materiale fra IPU om den politiske situation i Maldiverne

MALDIVESCASE No. MLD/16 - MARIYA DIDICASE No. MLD/28 - AHMED EASACASE No. MLD/29 - EVA ABDULLACASE No. MLD/30 - MOOSA MANIKCASE No. MLD/31 - IBRAHIM RASHEEDCASE No. MLD/32 - MOHAMED SHIFAZCASE No. MLD/33 - IMTHIYAZ FAHMYCASE No. MLD/34 - MOHAMED GASAMCASE No. MLD/35 - AHMED RASHEEDCASE No. MLD/36 - MOHAMED RASHEEDNo.CASE No. MLD/37 - ALI RIZACASE No. MLD/38 - HAMID ABDUL GHAFOORCASE No. MLD/39 - ILYAS LABEEBCASE No. MLD/40 - RUGIYYA MOHAMEDCASE No. MLD/41 - MOHAMED THORIQCASE No. MLD/42 - MOHAMED ASLAMCASE No. MLD/43 - MOHAMMED RASHEEDCASE No. MLD/44 - ALI WAHEEDNo.CASE No. MLD/45 - AHMED SAMEERCASE No. MLD/46 - ABDULLA JABIRCASE No. MLD/47 - AFRASHEEM ALI

The Governing Council of the Inter-Parliamentary Union,Referringto the case of the first group of 21 parliamentarians above, all members ofthe People’s Majlis of the Maldives and all, except Mr. Abdulla Jabir and Dr. Afrasheem Ali,members of the opposition Maldivian Democracy Party (MDP), and to the resolution it adopted at its192ndsession (March 2013),Recallingthe report of the mission by the Committee on the Human Rights ofParliamentarians to the Maldives from 19 to 21 November 2012,Having before itthe cases of Mr. Abdulla Shadid, Mr. Alhan Fahmy and Mr. Ali Azim,andalso having before itfresh allegations regarding Mr. Hamid Abdul Ghafoor, Ms. Eva Abdullaand Mr. Ali Waheed,Bearing in mindthe following information provided by the source in this regard,including at a hearing with the Committee during the 129thIPU Assembly (Geneva, October 2013):-The first round of the presidential election was held in the Maldives on 7 September2013; voter turnout was 88 per cent and the results were as follows: MDP – 45.45 percent; Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM) – 25.35 per cent; Jumhooree Party (JP) –24.07 per cent; incumbent President Mohamed Waheed – 5.1per cent;Article 111 of the Constitution stipulates that the Election Commission is to organizeelections within 21 days of the first round if no candidate obtains an absolute majority;The first round was deemed free, fair and transparent by all independent observers,including those from the Commonwealth, the European Union and the United Nations;one candidate, Mr. Gasim Abrahim (JP), nevertheless petitioned the Supreme Court toannul the first round, and the PPM petitioned it to delay the second round;

The Supreme Court asserted jurisdiction over the cases, in contravention of Article 172of the Constitution, and four of the seven Justices, with the Chief Justice dissenting,ordered that the second round be delayed until it had ruled on the case;The Election Commission, however, citing the Constitution and the Maldives ElectionsAct, which also stipulates that the second round must be held within 21 days, decidedto carry on with the election arrangements;On 23 September, the People’s Majlis, meeting in special session, adopted a resolutioncalling on all State institutions to ensure that the second round of the presidentialelection was held as scheduled by the Election Commission; the Speaker, Mr. AbdullaShahid, who had been threatened by government members of parliament and wastherefore surrounded by security agents, called for a vote by show of hands; supportersaligned with the PPM and the JP surrounded the Majlis and chanted “hang AbdullaShahid”; the Speaker reported the matter to the Ministry of National Defense, which is incharge of protecting the Speaker and other parliamentarians; the Chief of Staffassured the Speaker that the police would guarantee his security; however, theSpeaker’s brother’s car, parked inside the Speaker’s garage, was destroyed in a night-time arson attack that the Speaker described “as a terrorist attack”, given that itoccurred hours after political opponents called for him to be hung; the Deputy Chair ofthe MDP Parliamentary Group, Mr. Ali Waheed, also received death threats and his carwas burnt in another arson attack; thus far, none of these cases has been investigated;On 26 September, the Supreme Court ordered the security forces to forcibly preventthe Election Commission from conducting the second round of the presidentialelection; the Maldives Police Service executed that order and the Election Commissionwas forced to call off the elections; in so doing, the Election Commissioner cited“intimidation of elections officials, government ministries including Finance refusing toprovide finances, Home Minister refusing to provide security and other ministriesrefusing the logistical back up required”;Thousands of protestors took to the streets on 27 September 2013, demanding that thesecond round of the presidential election be held on 28 September, as stipulated inthe Constitution and demanded by parliament and the international community;photographs show police officers attacking peaceful protesters, includingMr. Mohamed Nasheed and Mr. Abdulla Shahid, with pepper spray;Following the Election Commission’s decision to call off the elections, the Police Serviceinitially surrounded the Election Commission building, prevented media from enteringthe premises, obstructed the movements of Election Commission staff and refusedaccess to the Election Commissioner by anyone, including the British HighCommissioner;The Election Commission issued a statement stating that the Commissioners and staffwere being continuously intimidated by those opposed to holding the election andhad received death threats;On 7 October, the Supreme Court annulled the results of the first round of voting in thepresidential elections, and called for fresh elections by 20 October,

Consideringthat the PPM and the JP have reportedly renewed their calls for the arrestand expedited trial of MDP presidential contender and former President, Mr. Mohamed Nasheed;Bearing in mindthe following information provided by the source: since the SupremeCourt’s unconstitutional order, measures were taken against five MDP members of parliament:Mr. Ali Azim was violently arrested by riot police around midnight on 29 September at the peacefuldemonstration calling for an election date; on the morning of 30 September, the MDP’sinternational spokesperson, Mr. Hamid Abdul Ghafoor, was arrested by the police and ordered toappear in court in the ongoing criminal proceedings against him on suspicion of possessing drugsand alcohol; Mr. Alhan Fahmy was summoned by the police on 30 September, on allegations thathe had threatened judges; Ms. Eva Abdulla was arrested during a protest on 1 October andreleased in a few hours later;consideringthat the Department of Immigration of the Maldiveswithheld the passport of MDP member of parliament Zahir Adam for two days when he attempted toleave the country for medical treatment,

Is extremely concernedabout the latest reports of alleged arbitrary arrests, attacksand harassment of MDP members of parliament;is keento receive, as a matter ofurgency, official information on the grounds and factual basis for the arrests of Ms. EvaAbdulla and Mr. Ali Azim and to know if the latter is still in detention;Is shockedat the alleged death threats against the Speaker of the People’s Majlis, thealleged violence committed at his residence and the reported attack at close rangewith pepper spray that he suffered in the course of a demonstration;calls ontheauthorities to take these matters, along with the alleged death threats made againstother parliamentarians, such as Mr. Ali Waheed, very seriously and to investigate themspeedily and effectively;also calls onthe authorities to put in place, as a matter ofurgency and in agreement with the parliamentarians concerned, the securitymeasures their situations warrant;Is alarmedat the climate of confrontation spawned by the first round in thepresidential election;notesin this regard that none of the international observers havecast doubt on the results of that first round;is deeply concernedthat parliament’sauthority is apparently once again being challenged in the current political crisis;is alarmedin this regard that members of parliament may be facing legal actionbecause of opinions they expressed and positions they adopted in parliament;wouldliketo receive the authorities’ views on this matter;Calls onthe competent authorities, in particular the law enforcement agencies, toshow restraint and abide fully by international and national human rights standardswhen handling protests;recallsin this regard that the Committee mission’s reportunderscored that several opposition parliamentarians had been subject to arbitrarypolice action following the transfer of power in February 2012, and that accountabilityfor that action has yet to be established;Considersthat the urgency and seriousness of the current situation warrants an urgenton-site mission by the Committee, so that it can gather first-hand information on theallegations and ascertain the prospects for their examination and clarification in thecurrent political situation in the Maldives;Requeststhe Secretary General to convey this resolution to the competent authoritiesand to seek their approval for the urgent dispatch of the mission;requestshim also toconvey a copy to the source;Requeststhe Committee to continue examining this case.