Police response to 8 February

The Human Rights Commission of the Maldives (HRCM) has said in its investigation report of the unrest in Male’ and Addu City on 8 February 2012, that Police actions on that day were in violation of the Constitution and international treaties on human rights signed by the Maldives.

HRCM said that the Police used excessive force on the protesters who gathered near MMA in Male’, which resulted in several human rights violations.

The report states that excessive force was used on protesters without giving them any warning or a chance to leave the protest area, and that Police actions against some politicians who did not even disobey Police orders, were ‘stringent and could have caused physical and psychological harm’.

The report also noted that several female protesters who gathered near MMA were taken under arrest by male Police Officers, in a manner derogatory to women’s dignity.

Police said in the report that they did not follow any command on 8 February, and that the incidents of 8 February was the result of several Police Officers being emotionally charged subsequent to the incidents of 7 February and earlier.

According to the Police, senior officers had attempted to stop Police Officers from using excessive force by requesting all Police officers to gather in one area, and the protest had to be broken up following Police Intelligence information that some protesters were armed and intoxicated.

Police also said in the report that protesters threw, among other objects, a gas canister at the Police, and also banged on the Police shields with their fists.

HRCM said that regardless of all these factors, there was no reason for the Police to break up the protest without issuing a warning.

The report also noted that protesters attempted to obstruct the Police from carrying out their responsibilities, and obstructed health services and education by protesting near hospitals and schools.

HRCM highlighted that the manner in which information was broadcasted on Raajje TV resulted in violation of human rights, and that reporters of DhiTV and VTV were not allowed in the protest area.

The report refers to the arrests made in Addu, and says that those people who were arrested were addressed using foul language, even in the presence of their family members.

In addition, they were not informed of their right to a lawyer, and some of them were held in custody for over 24 hours without being produced in court for a trial, which is a violation of article 48 of the Constitution.

The report also noted that the Gan Police Station did not have sufficient mats and pillows for the people who were arrested.

The 42-page report states that injuries resulting from Police brutality were visible on 10 of the arrested people in Addu.

The injuries included abrasions, swellings on victims’ arms and legs, and a 2-inch wound on one person’s shoulder.

Moreover, a person who fell from a motorcycle during Police Officers’ attempts to arrest him, had numerous abrasions on his skin, while several people had scraped skin due to their hands being tied too tightly.

The human rights of the people arrested in Addu were violated also due to the damage caused by fires set to buildings in the area in which they were being held in custody.

The report also highlights that the people of Addu were left in fear as a result of the unrest in Addu on 8 February, and that the damage caused to Court buildings, Institutions and other State property resulted in serious obstructions to the provision of several fundamental public services.

The report states that in spite of all this, if Security Forces had taken sufficient action to control the unrest in Addu on 8 February, the damage to State property could have been minimised.

HRCM urged Maldives Police Service and Police Integrity Commission to investigate the ‘inhumane practices of the Police’ on 8 February, and advised MNDF and Department of Judiciary Administration to also take necessary action based on the information provided by HRCM.