UN calls on Supreme Court to reconsider verdict against HRCM

The United Nations (UN) has urged the Maldives Supreme Court to reconsider its verdict issued on Tuesday against the Human Rights Commission of the Maldives (HRCM).

Human rights experts, UN Special Rapporteurs on the Independence of Judges and Lawyers, Gabriela Knaul, and on the Situation of Human Rights Defenders, Michel Forst, said in a statement dated 19 June 2015, “The Supreme Court’s decision is purely and simply an act of reprisal against the Human Rights Commission for its legitimate cooperation with the UN human rights system and its mechanisms.”

Knaul and Forst further said that the verdict was an undue interference into the independent work of the commission and their right to share information freely with the UN.

The Supreme Court verdict, which included an 11-point guideline for HRCM, came in relation to the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) submitted by HRCM to the UN.