President Yameen has revived jail brutality, says Ali Nazeer

Adhaalath Party's media coordinator Ali Nazeer stated that police brutality which was minimalized with the introduction of the new constitution has been revived by President Yameen Abdul Gayyoom.

On RTV's Fala Surukhee program aired on Wednesday, Nazeer noted that the current most urgent issues in Maldives include our nonfunctioning parliament and the compromised judiciary. Nazeer urged to highlight these issues whenever we speak about human rights violations in the Maldives.

Furthermore, Nazeer mentioned the revolutionary changes were accomplished to break away from the culture of jail brutality in the Maldives. He also added that after the aforementioned culture became obsolete with the introduction of the new constitution, President Abdulla Yameen has revived it in his administration.

"Unlawfully jailing people itself is inhumane. Even people who are rightfully jailed must be given basic rights. It is absolutely necessary to do so. Faris Maumoon was subjected to physical violence and other inhumane treatment while in jail. The culture of brutality is being normalized again. But we will put an end to it very soon. Yameen cannot stay in power while continuing inhumanity", said Nazeer.

The fact that no one from Maldives Correctional Services would meet with the opposition to address their concerns regarding how political prisoners were being treated in the jails, shows the legitimacy of these issues, mentioned Zareer and added that it has become normal for people to talk about police brutality once again. He also noted that inhumane treatment occurs beyond jail cells including during investigation processes, to people under custody, in filing cases against people, as well as, Home Ministry's actions towards prisoners.

Zareer mentioned that being jailed does not mean people can be exempt from basic rights, given that these rights are to be ensured to all citizens under our constitution.

Although the new constitution brought about revolutionary changes to governance, according to Zareer, the judicial sector has been stagnated from improvement. He also noted that the court order released by the Supreme Court on 1st February was a good opportunity for Maldives to bring about judicial reform. However it could not be accomplished because of President Yameen.

"The new constitution accomplished revolutionary changes on how Maldives should be governed. However, we failed to bring any positive changes to the judiciary and the biggest obstacle in achieving that objective is President Yameen. The events that followed the release of the court order by the Supreme Court on 1st February proved the legitimacy as well as urgency of the said concerns. Nevertheless it could not be done because of President Yameen", said Zareer.