MALDIVES: DEMOCRACY IS NO DAY AT THE BEACH

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 04 COLOMBO 001212

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/11/2015
TAGS: PGOV PHUM MV
SUBJECT: MALDIVES: DEMOCRACY IS NO DAY AT THE BEACH

Classified By: AMB. J. LUNSTEAD FOR REASONS 1.4(b) and (d)


1. (SBU) Summary. On a recent trip to Maldives, poloff spoke
with government officials and members of the newly registered
opposition Maldives Democratic Party (MDP) about the
country's improvements to the police and judicial systems and
its transition to multi-party democracy. While the
Government of the Republic of Maldives (GORM) seems to be
making some progress in improving human rights and
instituting democratic processes, the road ahead remains long
and arduous. End summary.

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POLICE AND JUDICIAL SYSTEM
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2. (SBU) The Maldives recently bifurcated its police from its
National Security Services. Police Commissioner Adam Zahir
told poloff that he wants the police to be "a service, not a
force." He mentioned that his team is in contact with
neighboring countries' police services to share best
practices, and that the Maldivian police also received some
training from the USG. He added that many lawyers from the
Maldives were going abroad for training and returning with
broader knowledge. He also said that the police service's
projected 5-year plan includes allotting an island for
training purposes. The island's institute will be a law
enforcement academy to provide training for police, customs,
immigration, and emergency response officers. Zahir expects
that officers who have returned from education programs
abroad will act as the "backbone" for the proposed training
facility.


3. (SBU) At separate meetings, both Zahir and Principal
Government Spokesman Ahmed Shaheed told poloff that in the
past, the government has been guilty of human rights abuses.
They said that the abuses were a result of a deeply flawed
institutional system. They were confident that with greater
education for the police and with some new safeguards in
place, abuses will be limited. In terms of protecting
individual rights, Zahir noted that the police were
attempting to phase out confessions as an admissible form of
evidence in court in order to eliminate forced confessions.
Shaheed also said that while Maldivian law does not yet
require arresting officers to inform detainees of their
rights (similar though not identical in language to US
Miranda rights),the GORM is encouraging all officers to
institute the practice.


4. (SBU) Zahir outlined the current legal system. Detainees
in the Maldives are permitted to hire a lawyer, though the
court will not appoint one. An arrestee's family must be
informed of his/her arrest within 24 hours. A prisoner has
the right to a ruling on his/her bail within 36 hours. Also,
the arresting officer must present evidence to a legal
committee within 24 hours. The committee can then recommend
detainment for up to 7 days for further investigation. After
7 days, the officer can petition a second committee, which
can recommend detention for a maximum additional 15 days.
After this 22 days' time has expired, if there is still
insufficient evidence, the prisoner is released. If the
officer can move forward with the case, it is sent to the
Attorney General, who then forwards the case to court for a
hearing.


5. (U) Despite the stated attempts to respect the rights of
arrestees, during poloff's meeting with members of the MDP,
they complained that the police still use trumped up charges
to harass those that oppose the government. They cited cases
of journalists who published articles criticizing the
government being detained for questioning. However, they did
say that they noticed a decline in instances of abuse in
police custody.

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HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION
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6. (SBU) In order to address some of these concerns,
President Gayoom created the Human Rights Commission by
decree in December 2003, and he appointed commissioner Ahmed
Mujthaba. Despite being personally selected by the leader in
power, Mujthaba is an outspoken critic of the government. He
told poloff the GORM had been involved in wrongful
detentions, abductions, using excessive force at
demonstrations, and allowing uninhabitable prisons to
continue functioning. Like Zahir and Shaheed, he blamed
institutional problems that permitted abuses to go unchecked.



7. (SBU) Mujthaba said that the Commission had a role in
informing the public of their rights. To that end,
Commission employees had been distributing Dhiveihi (local
language) copies of the United Nations' Universal Declaration
of Human Rights to the general public. However, on July 5,
the Commission received a letter from the government's
Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs stating that as long as
Article 16, pertaining to banning forced marriages and
permitting inter-religious marriage, and Article 18, calling
for freedom of religion and permitting religious conversion,
were a part of the document, possession of copies of the
Declaration was a criminal offense. The leader of the
Supreme Council is also the country's Chief Justice, and
clause 4(a) of Law 4/75 gives the Supreme Council the
authority to ban certain items. However, Shaheed told poloff
that the Office of the President did not support the Supreme
Council's position, and Attorney General Hassan Saeed said
that his office would never prosecute anyone for possession
of the Declaration. On July 11, Shaheed released a public
statement in the Maldives announcing that the government
supports international human rights standards and that the
Supreme Council's statement had no legal basis for
enforcement.


8. (SBU) Mujthaba complained that his Commission was not
independent because the Office of the President retained
control of appointments and dismissals from the Commission.
He wants the Commission to be codified in law so it can gain
credibility and acceptance in the international community.

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ELECTIONS AND POLITICAL PARTIES
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9. (SBU) The last several Presidential votes in the Maldives
were referenda rather than elections. Mujthaba told poloff
that his Commission sent 19 monitors to the last Majlis
(parliament) election on January 22. The monitors reported 8
procedural improvements, but 12 irregularities that indicated
that the elections were not/not "free and fair elections
without undue influence." The MDP continues to voice fears
that the GORM will permit parties, but not free elections.


10. (C) The government is still putting together a party and
gathering the 3000 signatures required to initiate the
official registration process, but it has not yet released a
party-wide policy statement. As of now, the MDP is the only
officially registered party. The MDP's platform remains
anti-government and anti-President Gayoom, with
democratization as its mobilizing appeal. The Islamic
Democratic Party, the Justice Party, and the Labor Party are
all also attempting to gather enough signatures to begin
registration. The registration deadline for parties was set
to be at the end of July, but Attorney General Hassan Saeed
told poloff that if only the MDP and the government's party
were registered by that time, he would extend the deadline to
allow for at least one more party.


11. (U) According to reports from members of the MDP, as well
as journalists and government officials, the Islamic
Democratic Party has a strong political platform but no real
Islamic roots. The Justice Party, on the other hand, is
reportedly comprised of Orthodox Muslim clergy and Islamic
scholars who are looking for a platform to discuss theology.


12. (SBU) On June 30, the Human Rights Commission held a
meeting for the various parties to relay their positions,
ostensibly on human rights. According to Mujthaba, who
attended the meeting, the Labor Party representatives said
they wanted to ratify the portions of UN covenants on civil
and political rights and social, economic, and cultural
rights that did not violate the Maldivian Constitution or the
tenets of Islam. Mujthaba said that the Islamic Democratic
Party professed a similar platform. However, Mujthaba quoted
members of the Justice Party as saying that multi-party
democracy is "a bastard child" that is anathema to Islam and
Maldivians must reject it. Mujthaba said that government
representatives admitted to past human rights abuses but said
they sought to improve and encompass minority views.
According to Shaheed, the meeting was most heavily attended
by MDP supporters who tried to shift focus from a general
discussion to pointing blame at the President and his
government. Mujthaba noted that the MDP did not offer its
own platform, but only a criticism of current practices.

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THE MDP AND THE GOVERNMENT: A CYCLE OF MISTRUST
-------------- ---


13. (U) Members of the MDP have repeatedly told Emboffs that
they place no credence in the government. They are convinced
that the current reforms are a facade designed to impress the
donor community while not actually providing further rights
to Maldivians. MDP members continue to hold rallies at
various atolls to garner support for their movement. They
remain highly critical of government practices, and they
interface with embassies in Colombo to try to draw
international attention to their cause.


14. (C) Shaheed admitted that the government created some of
its own credibility problems with the MDP. However, he
countered the MDP allegations by saying that its members are
overly suspicious of the government's bona fide attempts at
reform, and that many MDP members hold a personal grudge
against the President. Shaheed told poloff that the MDP
demands change in ways that the West understands, but that
confuse Maldivians. He said that the vast majority of
Maldivians do not understand multi-party democracy, and if
the government permits too much dissent, it will lose public
respect in the face of opposition.


15. (SBU) Poloff asked Shaheed whether the MDP and the
government were in a political Cold War, with each side
trying to take pre-emptive actions against the other. For
example, on the day Parliament approved the existence of
political parties, the government detained four MDP members
out of fear that they would incite violence. For their part,
the MDP often goes to the international community with
suspicions that human rights violations might be imminent.
Shaheed agreed that this was a major problem for the two
groups. He was confident, however, that evolution, rather
than revolution, will slowly bring a multi-party democracy to
fruition in the Maldives.

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OTHER LOCAL PERSPECTIVES
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16. (C) Ismail Nazeer, a journalist for the daily paper
Haveeru (please protect) posited that while the move to
multi-party democracy is positive, the people still equate
power with the President. Nazeer saw problems with both the
government and the MDP. He criticized the government's
monopoly on media and said that of the three daily
newspapers, two are owned by cabinet ministers and the third
is owned by the President's brother-in-law. Yet he faulted
the MDP as well, echoing other critics in saying that the MDP
provides no viable alternatives and exists for the sole
purpose of removing the current government from power.


17. (C) UN Development Program (UNDP) Officer Nashida Sattar
told poloff that there are still many bumps on the road to
democracy. However, she was hopeful, because in her view,
politicians were responding to the public's needs for the
first time.

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COMMENT
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18. (SBU) The current President has been in power for 27
years. Many of the people demanding reform, including
several MDP members, are too young to have a political memory
of a regime before the current one. Their ideas about
democracy have been formed through outside influences,
including satellite television and the internet. They are
unfamiliar with the history of democratic development, but
they see democratic successes in the rest of the world and
want reform instantly.

19. (C) The GORM, for its part, wants to manage change and
bring about democracy piece-meal. Mujthaba told poloff that
his hunch was that the President was sincere in his efforts
at reform, but that he was hampered by relatives and friends
who stand to lose if the government shifts. Shaheed told
poloff that the President, now in his late seventies, sees
multi-party democracy as a way to end his reign and leave a
legacy. Post agrees with Mujthaba's assessment. The
government's actions indicate that it seeks a move to
democratic processes, but the greatest fear for many people
in power is the immediate and complete overhaul that some
reformers are demanding. The Maldives is on the road to
democracy, but there are pitfalls and obstacles on the path.
LUNSTEAD