The Forgotten victims of Gayyoom's torturous regime in Maldives:: Dhivehi Observer

Editorial
The forgotten victims of Gayyoom’s torturous regime in Maldives

A.S.I.Moosa (Sappe'), Dhivehi Observer, 13th May 2005

The plight and suffering of the families of those detained by Gayyoom is something that we hardly acknowledge or talk about. When a reformist or a critic of Gayyoom is arrested and detained as a prisoner of conscience, all we say is "what can we do, they have arrested him as well". But in reality there is a lot we can do without breaking the law or risking our own livelihoods and without falling prey to Gayyoom as well. We can lend a helping hand to those disenchanted families of the detainees in whichever way we can. Untold despair, distress and hardship is experienced by them and if we are true to our beliefs and principles, we must help them and look after them to the best of our ability.

Unlike most countries, in Maldives many are proud to have served a jail sentence or banishment. These people are looked upon as heroes because they had been or are jailed and tortured by Gayyoom for no other reason than being critical to his rule and wanting to inform people of their rights as well as defend the constitution of the country.

In the heave of things, we tend to forget the real victims of Gayyoom, mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters, wives or husbands or the children of the persons jailed or whose freedom has been restricted by Gayyoom. Surely, their families will suffer enormously when in most cases the person detained in the main breadwinner of the family. Someone has to take the responsibility for the welfare of these families and we all know that Gayyoom does not have the capacity or the humility for that matter to think about them. That is why in Maldives people are scared to face up to Gayyoom because they also know that their actions, however noble, will result in heavy loss and suffering to their families.

Thousands of Maldivians have suffered directly or indirectly at the hands of Gayyoom over the last 27 years. Directly by being in solitary confinement and tortured. Indirectly by being a relative of that person or sometimes by being an employee as well. Statistics have shown the number in Maldives to be more than 38,000 which is nearly 14% of the population.

To put this argument in perspective, let us reflect on just some of the prisoners of conscience in the Maldives. Naushad Waheed was the best selling contemporary artist in the country and a very well known figure with high reach and affiliations. He earned a great deal more than an average Maldivian. His family totally depended on him for their bread and butter, not just his kids and wife but many others in the family too were dependent on him. When Naushad was arrested in 2001 and subsequently sentenced for 15 years in prison for expressing his views in defence of democracy and freedom, his family suffered enormously then and continue to suffer even today, both mentally and financially. Similarly, when prominent businessman Nazaki Zaki was arrested and sentenced for allegedly participating in the publication of the internet newsletter Sandhaanu, his family came into a lot of difficulties. His business also suffered heavily and many people lost their jobs as well. In addition to that some of his children had to postpone their studies to run the family business. These are just a few examples of thousands of people suffering in Maldives even today as a result of Gayyoom’s unconstitutional and uncivilized tactics of arbitrary arrests, defamation and inhumane and unfair justice system. Sheikh Fareed has many children and a wife left to fend for themselves. He was the main breadwinner of the family and all depended on him. Zahid from Feydhoo has two little children and a wife as well as a mother to look after but Gayyoom does not bother to think about their plights or suffering. In fact, he wants to set examples each and every time. "You speak against me and I will make sure that your whole family suffers with you" is the policy of this brutal dictator, who has destroyed a whole generation of Maldivians.

We as a community however must combat this problem by being compassionate and by looking after each other. We must help the families who are suffering because their father or mother has spoken out or worked to protect our rights and who have given so much to bring democracy and freedom to us all.

There are so many people like Naushad Waheed, Sandhaanu Didi and Zaki, Sheikh Fareed, Abdul Gafoor, Ibrahim Shiham, Zahid, Faiz (PH), Mohamed Didi (Muhamma), Ahmed Mohamed (Chilli) and many many more people who are held in jail or in detention in complete voilation of the constitution. They all have been convicted in grossly unfair trials based on false allegations and convictions. They all have families and they all need our help. When a reformist or a freedom fighter is detained and thrown in jail, it is not enough for us to say, “you see I told you, he is also in jail now and that is why it is dangerous to retaliate or oppose Gayyoom and this regime” and instead we must all unite and ensure that their families are well looked after so that when they come out they will appreciate what we have done for them and renew their commitment for the course. Let us not forget that Nelson Mandela spent 26 years in jail and came out to change his nation and rule it. One must never give up hope and one must never give into to torture and intimidation.