Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has called on the Maldives parliament speaker, “to strengthen press freedom and commit to pursuing justice and ending impunity.”

In a letter addressed to Qasim Ibrahim, by its Asia Program Director Steven Butler, CPJ- an independent press freedom advocacy organization- also urged him to “grant investigative powers to the presidential commission on enforced disappearances and murders.”

While President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih had created inquiry commissions to prove unresolved murders and recover stolen public funds, on his first day in office, parliament is yet to vote on the bill to grant legal powers to these commissions.

Noting that “a broad coalition of civil society members and the families of those involved have called for this vote,” CPJ said that it “supports” those efforts.

“This bill represents an essential step in the pursuit of justice for crimes committed against journalists in the Maldives, yet three previous attempts at holding a vote on the bill could not take place due to a lack of quorum,” added the organization.

Furthermore, CPJ noted Qasim’s recent concerns over the “constitutionality” of the bill, highlighting that he had in December said that “there were no legal obstacles because it had been cleared by the counsel-general.”

Citing the chair of the Commission of Unresolved Murders and Disappearances, Husnu Al Suood, CPJ noted that “the attempted assassination of Ismail Khilath Rasheed (also known as Hilath), the murder of Afrasheem Ali, the abduction of Ahmed Rilwan Abdulla, and the murder of Yameen Rasheed were all connected and orchestrated by a religious militant group that had gang connections.”

“If the government had taken action against Hilath's attackers, Suood said the subsequent attacks could have been prevented. Prosecuting and holding the perpetrators accountable is imperative to preventing any future attacks and lifting the climate of fear for writers,” added CPJ.

It further noted the “lack of due process and the documented police negligence and judicial interference” in the cases, and added that it “is crucial that the parliament approves investigate powers for the commission to carry out its mission in an efficient and effective way.”

Calling on the speaker to bring the bull back onto the agenda and hold a vote before the parliamentary term concludes, CPJ emphasized that “as a democratically elected representative of the people of the Maldives, you owe it to your constituents to allow a vote on the bill.”