Home Minister Imran Abdulla have the newly established commission to expedite audit of prisons, describing the matter as one of ‘great public concern’.

Minister Imran, who was appointed in November this year, met with the commission on Wednesday and conveyed his confidence in its members, whom he described as ‘skilled and immensely qualified’.

The seven-member commission is led by Sheikh Ahmed Abdul Kareem and includes well-known activist Shahindha Ismail, Dr. Abdulla Isneen Hilmy, Ahmed Mohamed, Zuleikha Dawood, and lawyer Shadiya Adam, and Aminath Naheen.

An audit of prison and detention facilities in the Maldives is one the new government’s pledges for its first 100 days in office.

There are four prisons in the Greater Malé Area, one in capital city Malé, in Maafushi, in Himmafushi, and Hulhumalé. While there are remand facilities at these institutions as well, there is one facility used only for remand, in Dhoonidhoo island. There is also one jail, where police can keep an individual for a period of 24 hours without charging them, which is in Malé.

Nearly all inmates, from across the country, are kept in one of these facilities. There have been numerous cases of basic human rights violations at these institutions, including lack of access to adequate health care, clean food and water, and in some cases being barred from access to legal representation.