Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
04COLOMBO1337
2004-08-16 11:42:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Colombo
Cable title:  

Maldivian reform in peril after August 12-13

Tags:  PGOV PHUM PREL CASC MV 
pdf how-to read a cable
This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 04 COLOMBO 001337 

SIPDIS

DEPARTMENT FOR SA, SA/INS; NSC FOR E. MILLARD

E.O. 12958: DECL: 08-16-14
TAGS: PGOV PHUM PREL CASC MV
SUBJECT: Maldivian reform in peril after August 12-13
demonstration and subsequent arrest of MPs

Refs: (A) Colombo-SA/INS 08-16-04 fax
- (B) Parto 00012 (Notal)
- (C) Colombo 842, and previous

(U) Classified by Charge' d'Affaires James F. Entwistle.
Reasons 1.5 (b,d).

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 04 COLOMBO 001337

SIPDIS

DEPARTMENT FOR SA, SA/INS; NSC FOR E. MILLARD

E.O. 12958: DECL: 08-16-14
TAGS: PGOV PHUM PREL CASC MV
SUBJECT: Maldivian reform in peril after August 12-13
demonstration and subsequent arrest of MPs

Refs: (A) Colombo-SA/INS 08-16-04 fax
- (B) Parto 00012 (Notal)
- (C) Colombo 842, and previous

(U) Classified by Charge' d'Affaires James F. Entwistle.
Reasons 1.5 (b,d).


1. (C) SUMMARY: On the evening of August 12,
Maldivians began massing outside police headquarters on
the capital island of Male', demanding the release of
several political prisoners. The crowd continued to
grow until the police moved in with tear gas on the
afternoon of August 13 to end the demonstration.
According to the GORM, the police dispersed the crowd
when the demonstrators set fire to a government building
and charged the police headquarters. A State of
Emergency was issued on August 13 and Male' had largely
returned to quiet as of August 16. There is no
indication that this turmoil on the capital island has
affected the tourist industry; we have no reports of any
AmCits being affected. Under the State of Emergency,
the police have been arresting people alleged to be
involved with organizing the demonstration and the
number detained is approximately 180. Among the
detainees are two reformist members of Parliament (MPs)
and a Commissioner with the Human Rights Commission. If
the government tries to implicate these three in the
organization of the protests, the response from the
populace will not be a quiet one and the GORM will have
a growing problem it may not be able to handle. Given
the high profile arrests, the possibility of police
brutality, and the impact on the ongoing reform process,
Mission suggests the Department consider issuing a
statement (see para 15). END SUMMARY.

PROTESTORS MASS ON MALE'
--------------


2. (C) On the evening of August 12, a group of
Maldivian citizens began massing outside the
headquarters of the National Security Service (NSS) on
the capital island of Male'. According to several
contacts, the crowd converged originally to protest the
arrest and detention of several "political" prisoners
and to call for their release by the NSS. Dr. Ahmed

Shaheed, Chief Government Spokesman and former Permanent
Secretary at the MFA (and close Embassy contact),told

SIPDIS
poloff that some prisoners were released in response to
the protestors' demands.


3. (C) Other non-government interlocutors told poloff
that the demonstrators were also calling for the
resignation of some of President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom's
cabinet. In addition, the crowd was also demanding a
resolution to the debate surrounding the election of a
Speaker for the Special Majlis (Special Parliament).
(Note: Many members of the Special Majlis walked out of
the first session in mid-July when the presiding
official refused to allow secret ballot voting for the
Speaker. The issue has yet to be resolved and the
Special Majlis has not yet met for a second time.)


4. (C) From the government's perspective, on August 13
Shaheed characterized the crowd as one of extremist
supporters for an outspoken Islamic "fundamentalist" who
was released on bail in recent days. In the same August
13 conversation, Shaheed said the government did not
think the crowd was "genuine" in its calls for reform,
instead intent on preventing the parliamentary process.
As a result, the President did not feel it appropriate
to respond to these "hooligans," Shaheed said.
Therefore, the GORM would let the police disperse the
crowd in a "patient and restrained manner."


5. (C) While figures vary, most estimate the August 12-
13 crowd to have been around 5,000. (The population on
the capital island is approximately 74,000.) Following
ongoing dialogue by the police urging the crowd to go
home, police moved in to disperse the crowd around 3:15
pm local time on August 13. According to Shaheed, the
police reacted to a physical charge on the NSS
headquarters as well as in response to "impending plans
to attack other police stations and government
buildings." (Comment: No other interlocutor -- all
non-government -- has given poloff any indication that
the demonstration was violent although crowds did burn
and sack government buildings in the disturbance last
September. End Comment.) News reports and other
contacts stated that the police used tear gas to break
up the crowd. Shaheed said that two police officers
were injured in an August 13 morning altercation with
demonstrators but that no one was seriously injured when
police moved in.


6. (SBU) Note: This is the second time in twelve months that
Male' has been rocked by a demonstration. The
government was stunned in September 2003 when citizens
on Male' rioted in response to a custodial death of a
prisoner on a nearby prison island. The September 2003
riots were a watershed event that focused the government
on addressing political reforms. End Note.

IN THE WAKE OF THE DEMONSTRATION
--------------


7. (C) President Gayoom declared a State of Emergency
of August 13 "to prevent the deterioration of law and
order," according to media release from the President'
office. The State of Emergency is valid for three
months, unless revoked earlier by the President and was
"proclaimed...in Male' and nearby islands." In an
August 16 conversation with poloff, Shaheed stated that
a curfew had been imposed for the past three nights
(August 13, 14, and 15) only to prevent people from
"loitering." Shops were open past the curfew and
citizens were allowed to go about their business.


8. (C) Minh Pham, UN Resident Representative for
Maldives and an AmCit (please protect),told poloff on
August 16 that Male' was calm but tense. The UN system,
which has declared a Phase II security alert -- advising
people to stay home -- on August 13, was back to a Phase
I posture -- business as usual -- on August 14. Shops
were open on Saturday, August 14, as well. Shaheed said
that schools and offices opened as scheduled on Sunday,
August 15, the customary start of the work week in this
Muslim nation. In addition, Shaheed described the
police presence as minimal. Internet access, which had
been suspended according to Pham on August 14, is now
restored.


9. (C) Despite the seeming return to normalcy, disquiet
continues. The State of Emergency allows the government
to arrest and detain people in connection with the
demonstration and the police have arrested approximately
180 people as a result, according to the official
government figure. Other sources have put the figure
higher. On August 16, Shaheed told poloff that 140
people are in detention, but that figure is not an
absolute number as some people arrested have been
released while the police are still pursuing others. It
is unclear where most of the arrests have occurred,
although contacts claim that the police went to people's
homes in a targeted effort. On August 17, DATT
attempted to call senior officers in the NSS and was
consistently and repeatedly told that all were
unavailable. During an August 16 conversation with
poloff, Shaheed stated that while all interviews with
detainees are being recorded, the detainees' right to
access to a lawyer had been suspended. According to
Shaheed, under the Constitution, the State of Emergency
allows the President to suspend fundamental rights from
time to time. Shaheed added that the Attorney General
was currently drafting the State of Emergency
proclamation that would outline which fundamental rights
were being suspended.


10. (C) Shaheed confirmed on August 16 that two
parliamentarians were among those arrested. The two MPs
arrested are Dr. Mohamed Munavvar, the former Attorney
General, and Ibrahim Hussein Zaki, the former Minister
of Planning and past Secretary General of South Asian
Association for Regional Cooperation. Although they are
well-known and regarded as senior MPs, both men have
become outspoken critics of the government and have
publicly aligned with the anti-Gayoom Maldivian
Democratic Party (MDP). This August 16 comments,
Shaheed stated that he did not know when the two would
be released, but qualified his remarks by adding that
they "may have played a major role" in the
demonstrations. (Poloff spoke early August 13 with
Munavvar, who admitted having been in the demonstration
area on August 12.)


11. (C) There are reports that other parliamentarians,
recently elected as part of the Special Majlis, were
also among those arrested. The Special Majlis meeting,
scheduled to resume work on August 16, was cancelled but
the body may attempt to reconvene on August 18.


12. (C) In an August 16 conversation with poloff, Ahmed
Mujuthaba, Chair of the Maldivian Human Rights
Commission (HRC),confirmed that one of the
commissioners had also been arrested. Mujuthaba said
that he did not believe the gentleman had been at the
demonstration and speculated that he could have been
arrested in connection with planning or organizing the
August 12-13 protest. The HRC Chair also told poloff
that he had heard lots of stories, mainly from
eyewitnesses, of brutality and abusive language by the
police during these recent arrests. Mujuthaba and
others also cast doubts on the government assertion (Ref
A) that the police headquarters was attacked and a
government building torched.

INTERNATIONAL RESPONSE
--------------


13. (C) In a late August 16 conversation with Charge',
British deputy High Commissioner Peter Hughes said that
the High Commission was encouraging London to initiate a
high-level phone call to President Gayoom. Hughes
agreed that the points they were suggesting were similar
to those the U.S. was proposing (see para 16). Hughes
added, however, that if ForSec Jack Straw or the Deputy
PM were not available to make the call, the High
Commission would then press for a statement in lieu of a
lower-level phone call.

COMMENT
--------------


14. (C) The government seems determined to either
ignore or downplay the root causes for the August 12-13
demonstration, attributing the protest to those "against
the reform process." The GORM's interpretation of
events is likely the opposite of what actually occurred:
Maldivian citizens, responding to the burgeoning
opportunities for political reform and strengthened
democracy, are testing the waters by speaking their mind
and demanding the government's attention. Despite
President Gayoom's public support of such reforms,
government actions over the past several days seem to
indicate that the political elite in Male' are yet
unable to work through this reform process, fearing any
possible loss of power. As a result, they are tamping
out any attempts by the populace to engage the
government in an open dialogue on these issues. If the
government goes ahead and charges the two senior MPs
arrested, it is unlikely that the reformists will accept
this quietly. Any possible trial for Munavvar or Zaki
will only serve to incite some Maldivians and the
government will have a growing problem that is may find
unable to control. The tourism industry, Maldives'
economic backbone, does not appear to be significantly
affected so far, we have no reports of AmCits being
affected. END COMMENT.

ACTION REQUEST
--------------


15. (C) The Department may wish to consider issuing a
statement -- see suggested text below -- in response to
the government's actions since August 12 given the
arrest of the MPs and the impact on the current reform
process. The GORM has been careful to align itself with
the global war on terrorism and was very appreciative of
the brief July 1 meeting with Secretary Powell (Ref B).
A statement from the United States should express hope
that the weekend's events will not derail the reform
effort initiated by last year's disturbances. Given the
British colonial legacy, we think it appropriate to let
them take the lead on high-level phone calls to Gayoom.
END ACTION REQUEST.


16. (SBU) Draft text of a statement:

The United States notes with concern the recent events
in Maldives surrounding the August 12-13 demonstration
on the capital island, Male'. We hope that the events
of August 12-13 and subsequent arrests will not
undermine the impressive process of political and
constitutional reforms to which the Government of
Maldives has committed itself. The U.S. also calls for
all detainees to be treated humanely and fairly and in
accordance with the Maldivian Constitution and norms of
human rights.

End Text.

ENTWISTLE