Government requests a UN Human Rights Advisor for Maldives

Foreign Minister Dhunya Maumoon, who is currently in Colombo, Sri Lanka to brief the international community regarding political situation in Maldives, said on Wednesday that the government had requested with United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein to depute a human rights advisor for the country to help government develop policies and guidelines consistent with international human rights standards.

Dhunya said that the government made the request for a human rights advisor back in January, and was committed to strengthening ties with international institutions such as UN, European Union and Commonwealth to strengthen democracy in the country.

Dhunya said that Maldives was lucky that political conflicts within the country had not led to violence, but said that government was, nevertheless, not ignorant of the “profound disagreements” between political parties, and nor did they consider the issue not worthy of attention.

“…disagreements between the political parties deserve any less attention. The Government of President Abdulla Yameen Abdul Gayoom has always given priority to dialogue between the political parties whenever noticeable differences emerge on issues of national importance,” said Dhunya.

She said that was the reason Yameen launched all-party talks, and requested assistance from UN to move ahead with the process.

Dhunya also addressed the arrest and imprisonment of key political figures in the country – a matter that foreign governments and institutions have expressed concern about.

She said that the government expected former Maldivian President Mohamed Nasheed - the most high-profile opposition figure serving a prison sentence – to return back to the country and serve the remainder of his sentence once his medical treatment in UK is over – stressing that he was serving a prison sentence for a serious criminal offense.

She also said that former Vice President Dr. Mohamed Jameel Ahmed and Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) Chairperson Ali Waheed – who are currently living in UK – are being investigated for criminal offenses – but are free to return back to the country.

Another issue which has raised concern both within the country as well as internationally – the bill to re-criminalize defamation – was also addressed during Dhunya’s speech.

She said that the government – including Home Minister Umar Naseer and Attorney General Mohamed Anil were engaged in discussions with Media Council to address the concerns – the criminal liabilities and upper limit of damages.

Dhunya said that democratization process in the country was a work in progress. And that the government was aware they needed to bring reforms to governance system in order to cultivate a culture of democracy.

“Towards that end, on 3 April 2016, President Yameen announced that the Government will implement a National Governance Reform Plan to strengthen the country’s governance system,” said Dhunya, noting that the plan had focus on strengthening the country’s justice system and improving quality of services provided by state authorities.

Dhunya is joined by Fisheries Minister Dr. Mohamed Shainee in the trip to Colombo.