The Human Rights Commission of the Maldives (HRCM) has established a guideline for conducting autopsies and other post-mortem examinations.

The HRCM said in a statement on Monday that these guidelines are to preserve dignity after death and to further scrutinize deaths under suspicious or irregular circumstances.

The new guidelines also include on how the state should share information with the family of the deceased and that results of an autopsy needs to be examined within a ‘quick’ time frame.

HRCM said in Monday’s statement that the guidelines also intend to make procedures carried out different medical facilities uniform, and so overcome current challenges in using test results in legal proceedings.