The former Vice President of Human Rights Commission of the Maldives (HRCM) and current Senior Project Coordinator at Transparency Maldives, Ahmed Tholal says that citizens had rights that the Government had to uphold and as such they are not animals.

Speaking about the death of Abdul Rasheed in jail, while under care of Maldives Correctional Service (MCS) Tholal said, based on the reports from family and media, he had passed away due to negligence. Due to these reports, Tholal said that HRCM must investigate it and the citizens must be made aware of it. At the least, he noted the Commission must release a statement in support of the family.

Noting that around 10 had passed away while in custody, Tholal said the authorities and agencies were silent on the issue. This, he said, gave credence to the rumors that these parties had failed to take it as a serious issue. Tholal added that if HRCM did not see the severity of the issue, then the Commission had failed in its mandate.

The rules regarding visitation and medical care for inmates were not state secrets. As such, these must be known to public, to prevent such sad cases such as that of Abdul Rasheed.