:: Dhivehi Observer :: Peoples Press ::

A matter of pride: Compensating the victims of torture in Maldives

By DO International Editor Michael O'Shea - 22 October 2004
Sections of this article were originally published by the Maldives Culture website in 2003.

Torture is a serious crime under the constitution and laws of Maldives, but it is used deliberately as a tool of government by Maumoon Gayyoom and his National Security Service police.

Until the early 1990s, all details of torture by the NSS were recorded in the 'Punishment Books'. Ilyas Ibrahim, Gayyoom's brother-in-law, and now the current Minister of Communications, was Defence Minister at that time and he used the Punishment Books to authorise people to be handcuffed, chained, put in stocks, hung on bars (angallah aruvun), electrocuted with low voltage shocks, and murdered. Specific orders were given to execute prisoners.

These written execution orders stopped after Amnesty International began to publicise human rights abuses in Maldives. Gayyoom also stopped using certain torture techniques. For example, 'saw cuffs' (kees bidi) were adopted from Nicaragua after NSS officers visited that country to learn new torture methods. Ilyas ibrahim had formed a close relationship with Manuel Noriega, and the senior NSS including Gayyoom had been impressed with Central and South American torture practices. Saw cuffs fit around the stomach and have sharp saw teeth that tighten into a victim's flesh each time the person moves. Saw cuffs slowly cut into victims and kill them. Gayyoom ceased using this method to murder prisoners when Amnesty International began investigating.

The Punishment Books contained the authorising signatures of Ilyas ibrahim, Anbaree Abdul Sattar (resigned NSS 2003, now a Maldives diplomat), Isthafa Ibrahim Maniku (a civilian in the Defense Department until 2003, but still director of the Public Servants' club) and Adam Zahir (transferred within NSS in 2004 to head NSS police division). The severity of torture depended on the level of authorisation. For example, minor torture was authorised by Adam Zahir and Isthafa Ibrahim Maniku. Worse torture was authorised by Anbaree and Ilyas; and the most serious torture, such as electrocution by low voltage, was always ordered by Ilyas.

It was a matter of status and personal pride for the most senior officers Abdul Sattar Anbaree and Adam Zahir, and the Minister of Defence Ilyas Ibrahim (Gayyoom's brother-in-law) that they were permitted by Commander-in-Chief Gayyoom to officially enter orders in the Punishment Books.

When Ilyas went into temporary exile in the early 1990s after robbing the Maldives government of millions of dollars, Adam Zahir ordered V. Lhahuththu to collect the Punishment Books, then amounting to five 400-page notebooks, and had him send them to Adam Zahir's home (Vavathee house in Male'). They may have been transferred to the Athama house in Singapore (Adam Zahir's wife's family home) or their residence in UK. The only person who might be willing to talk about this matter is V. Lhahuththu.

Under the command and control of Maumoon Gayyoom, the same NSS practices occurring in the 1980s continue today in Maldives. 'It was even worse during the first part of Gayyoom's rule,' says a highly placed NSS source, 'but the main difference is that Ilyas and the others were stupid enough to authorise in writing the torture and other crimes against humanity. Gayoom is smarter and authorises his crimes in such a way he can deny responsibility when necessary. Prisoners are still killed, but the order is implied rather than direct.'

After the murders at Maafushi prison which led to a riot in Male' in September 2003, a commission of inquiry presented two thick reports to Gayyoom giving full details of NSS torture procedures. Gayyoom ordered his President's Office to censor the reports down to a few pages for public consumption. No serious action was taken against any senior officials.

In February and August 2004, Gayyoom launched full-scale NSS attacks on reformists demanding political change and an end to 'rule by torture'. The use of torture, rape and poisoning, and the videoing of these crimes, has been a major part of the punishment meted out to reformers since August 13 this year.

The NSS is not specifically regulated by any statutes in Maldives. It is run under the absolute command of Gayyoom. There may not even be the equivalents of the red directives (raiiy dhennevun) and green directives (fehi dhennevun) that Gayyoom issues to run the civilian sector. The only surviving piece of legislation dealing exclusively with the NSS is the oldest legislation on the Maldive statute books, dating back to the 1940s when Maldives was officially a monarchy though ruled in practice by Home Minister Ameen Didi. This Act of the then royal parliament stipulates that on the anniversary of the formation of the Sifain (now NSS), and on both Eid festival days, each member of the Sifain must be fed with a whole cooked chicken. Otherwise the NSS operates under the direct day-to-day command of President Gayyoom and his junta of senior officers.

Any new government will have to officially apologise to the thousands of innocent men and women who have been tortured by Gayyoom's NSS.

There is also the matter of compensation to the victims whose lives have been ruined by criminal orders from Gayyoom, Isthafa Manik, Ilyas Ibrahim and senior NSS officers. It would be unfair to expect that the Maldives treasury, which has been looted by Gayyoom and his associates, should also have to bear the cost of this compensation. It should be paid by the same people who ordered the torture.

The assets of Maumoon Gayyoom, Ilyas Ibrahim, Anbaree Abdul Sattar, Adam Zahir and Isthafa Manik should be confiscated to finance the multi-million dollar compensation payments that are rightly owed to their victims. Potential buyers or transferees of the assets of these criminal men should think seriously before doing deals with torturers.