The government of Maldives has said that UK-led statement on the situation in the country “is unwarranted and unconstructive”.
A joint statement made led by the United Kingdom at Wednesday’s session of the 35th United Nations Human Rights Council called on the Maldives to ensure independence of the judiciary, as well as other institutions.
In her response to the statement, Maldives representative at the United Nations Office in Geneva, Dr. Hala Hameed noted that the statement “is unwarranted and unconstructive, misrepresenting the reality in the Maldives and unduly attempting to affect domestic politics in the country”.
“It is concerning that we see this pattern repeat itself,” added the Ambassador.
Noting that it is ‘inevitable to attract attention and become scrutinized” for a country like the Maldives that has achieved “immense development benchmarks in a short period”, she asked the country’s international partners “for a little bit more patience, encouragement and support”.
“Guaranteeing human rights requires constant vigilance and effort, with multiple challenges for a small country with limited resources like Maldives”, she said, noting that human rights “continue to enjoy a central place in [Maldives] democratic consolidation process”.
The UK-led statement also highlighted the recently troubling murder of one of the most prominent bloggers in the country Yameen Rasheed, as well as the disappearance of journalist Ahmed Rilwan “whose fate remains unknown”. Yameen’s father, Hussain Rasheed was present at today’s session noted the statement, highliting that he had visited the Council “to raise awareness of the shrinking space for freedom of expression”, as well as the disappearance of Rilwan.
Welcoming the government’s commitment “to ensuring an objective and impartial investigation” into Yameen’s killing, the joint statement called on the Maldivian government to “take steps to prevent the intimidation of human rights defenders including by those promoting violent extremism”.
“This statement blatantly politicizes the issue of religious extremism, undermines the initiatives of the Maldives government, and in particular the efforts of the Maldives Police Service. Given the only three working days provided for any consultation or consideration of this statement, there has been only a token effort at being constructive, and is tantamount to a small nation being targeted by a large one. We take all comments positively, and the government of the Maldives will continue to work towards guaranteeing fundamental human rights and democratic reform”, she said.
Ambassador Hameed’s statement also noted that the United Kingdom “has many human rights violations”, adding that “UN says that the standards for human rights that UK calls internationally are not implemented domestically”.
