Geneva-Paris, October 11,
2019: Maldivian authorities must immediately lift the arbitrary restrictions
imposed on the leading non-governmental organisation (NGO) Maldivian Democracy
Network (MDN), and protect its staff, board members, and their families from
attacks and other acts of harassment and intimidation, the Observatory for the
Protection of Human Rights Defenders (an FIDH-OMCT partnership) urged today.
“We condemn in the
strongest terms the Maldivian government’s order to MDN to stop its activities.
Instead of impeding the legitimate and important work done by MDN, the
government should address rampant religious extremism and protect human rights
defenders,” said FIDH Vice-President Adilur Rahman Khan.
On October 10, 2019,
the Maldives’ Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) issued a statement to announce
that it had “imposed a temporary cessation” on MDN’s activities. MOFA justified
its decision in response to “widespread public condemnation” of a report
published by MDN in 2016 on the rise of violent extremism in the Maldives. MOFA
said the measure would be effective for the duration of the authorities’
“investigation into the matter.”
On the same day, the
Registrar of Associations, under the Ministry of Youth, Sports and Community
Empowerment, ordered MDN to immediately cease its activities due to a police
investigation being conducted into the 2016 report.
The Observatory is
concerned that in the absence of any information concerning such investigation,
the “temporary cessation” of MDN’s activities is, in fact, an indefinite
suspension of the organisation’s work. It must be noted that MDN has extended
its full cooperation to the Maldives Police Service in its investigation.
The Observatory
welcomes the government’s pledge to “use the full force of the law” against those who issue threats and call for violence against others in the name of defending religion. However, to
date, the Observatory has no knowledge of any investigations initiated by law
enforcement agencies against death threats and other forms of intimidation.
"It’s the ongoing use
of social media to threaten and intimidate Maldivian human rights defenders
that should be investigated, not a three-year old report that impeccably
described instances of radicalisation among certain sectors of Maldivian
society”, said OMCT Secretary
General Gerald Staberock.
The Observatory recalls
that under Article 22 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political
Rights (ICCPR), to which the Maldives is a state party, the only permissible
restrictions to the right to freedom of association are those “prescribed by
law and which are necessary in a democratic society in the interests of
national security or public safety, public order (ordre public), the protection of public health or morals or the
protection of the rights and freedoms of others.”
On October 9, 2019, MDN
issued a press release in which it offered an apology for “the unfortunate use
of language” in some sections of its 2016 report. MDN also retracted the report
for further review.
MDN is set to become a
member organisation of FIDH during FIDH’s 40th Congress, which will
be held in Taipei from October 21 to 25, 2019.
For further information, please
contact:
· FIDH:
Ms. Eva Canan (English, French), +33648059157 (Paris)
· OMCT:
Ms. Delphine Reculeau (English, French), +41 22 809 49 39 (Geneva)
The Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights
Defenders (the Observatory) was created in 1997 by FIDH and the World
Organisation Against Torture (OMCT). The objective of this programme is to
intervene to prevent or remedy situations of repression against human rights
defenders. FIDH and OMCT are both members of ProtectDefenders.eu, the European Union Human Rights Defenders Mechanism
implemented by international civil society.
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