Police obstructed election following an order, says HRCM

Human Rights Commission of the Maldives (HRCM) has said that the police did obstruct the election on Saturday, 19 October, and that according to Acting Minister of Home Affairs Ahmed Shafeeu, an order was issued upon the police to obstruct the election.

HRCM said this in their response to a letter sent by the police, requesting to provide details of their claim that the police obstructed the election and violated the law in doing so.

In a statement issued by HRCM detailing the contents of the letter sent by them to the police, HRCM said that they contacted Acting Minister of Home Affairs Ahmed Shafeeu on Saturday, who said that the police were ‘following an order’ and ‘not acting in the capacity of the Police Institution’.

Shafeeu did not say who issued this order upon the police.

HRCM said that their staff went to the Elections Commission on Saturday morning and found that the efforts to take items out of the commission had been halted, and that they questioned the Secretary General of the Elections Commission and some police staff regarding this matter.

HRCM said that their Vice President Ahmed Tholaal made repeated attempts to contact the focal point provided by the police, but received no reply, and that the police did not even reply to their text message until 11:45 p.m. on Saturday night.

HRCM said that their questions remained unanswered until 9:30 a.m. on Saturday, when the police held a press conference.

The six-page statement issued by HRCM today highlights that it is the commission’s responsibility to investigate and take action against all violations of human rights, and to clarify to the public the commission’s stand regarding a particular matter even before the investigation procedures are completed and necessary action is taken in relation to that matter.