To Amnesty International (5th April 2009)

5th April 2009
IEC Coordinator 
Amnesty International
Dear Luna Atkins,
Thank you for forwarding my email to the team that researches in to Maldives. Since the research would take quite a long time, I would like to plead the Amnesty International to take immediate action to secure my legal position, from that only can relieve me from great suffering in living at the staircase outside the office of Department of Penitentiary and Rehabilitation Services (DPRS).
Also I would like to pass my mobile number to the research team of Amnesty International. My number is: +960-9894099.



Thank you
Your Sincerely
Richard WuMeiD

Reply from Amnesty (27 March 2009)

Letter to Amnesty International (25 March 2009)

The International Executive Committee   
                           
Dear Sirs/Madams,                                                                                                                                                                                        
In early March 2009, I have sent some documents of my issue of a serious human rights violation to Amnesty International through one of my friend. I was expecting that Amnesty International would take action for my issue.  I have no resources and ability to send and receive emails on my own, and how to obtain the information to further process my issue in a right manner, since I have been subjected to 15 years of arbitrary detention and being away from the outside world for such long time. It caused a very big gap for my modern knowledge and ability. So I have to depend on the help of others to send and receive emails and to go ahead with my issue. Please understand my position and difficulty to provide help to protect my dignity and rights set forth in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Any further contacts in this regard please send to Justice Ahmed Shafy (ahmedsa66@gmail.com), he would forward the information to me.

I am Richard Wu Mei De, a Chinese national. I was put in to Jail of Maldives without any legal procedure in November 1993 and was released on 2nd August 1994 with a document of imprisonment time period but again was put in to Jail about a month later without any legal procedure. I was taken out from Jail in February 2009 without any legal procedure. I have attached the documents on the details of the iniquitous intention behind my arbitrary detention and arbitrary releasing also it was very much related with the policy of the Chinese Government.

There were many unbelievable facts on how I was put in to Jail and was taken out. So many legal documents and evidences were taken away by the government of Maldives during the pending period of International Court process.  And also the torturing and ill-treatment I have gone throughout 15 years in Maldivian Jail. Maldivian Human Rights Commission and other related NGO’s in Maldives all denied helping me for such serious case of human rights violations only because I am a foreigner in Maldives. Although, I did several complains to International Human Rights Organizations and International Media, since I was subjected to arbitrary releasing more than a month back but I am still facing the same great difficulties in proper living conditions and my life safety all due to the political power of Maldivian Government. I call for urgent action to secure my position before proper justice to be done through resuming process of International Court case for my long arbitrary detention in Maldives.

I request Amnesty International to investigate on how the government of Maldives uses their political powers to cause the pending of International Court case of my issue and to prolong the pending period, finally trying to close the International Court case by changing the legal ground of the court case through arbitrary releasing me. How political power of Maldivian Government had influenced on UN and Chinese Government to abuse my dignity and rights set forth in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. I plead the Amnesty International will be determined and make my case be heard and help me get away from the cover ups of the truth by the injustice of all political powers.

Thank you
Your Sincerely
Richard WuMeiDe

Amnesty International Report 2000 - Maldives

Republic of Maldives

Head of state and government: Maumoon Abdul Gayoom
Capital: Male
Population: 0.3 million
Official language: Maldivian Dhivehi
Death penalty: abolitionist in practice

As in previous years, the government failed to provide credible information about the situation of political prisoners. Despite AI's efforts, there was no contact from the government. There were continued reports of torture and of official cover-ups to protect the perpetrators.

Background

Parliamentary elections were held in November amid reports of suspected irregularities. Political parties were not allowed to function.

Lack of government response

The government remained silent about the situation of Richard Wu Mei De, a Chinese national detained without due process of law since November 1993 at the instigation of a Maldivian national whom he tried to sue for irregularities in a business partnership; government connivance in the detention was suspected. His detention was declared arbitrary by the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention.

Political prisoners

Possible prisoners of conscience continued to be held. Among those believed to be held were Hussain Shakir, Ibrahim Nusthafa and Mohamed Rasheed, reportedly detained since early 1996 in connection with a demonstration about electricity price rises on Fubahmulaku Island.

Political prisoners were detained on the prison island of Maafushi, in Dhoonidhoo detention centre and in police stations. They reportedly included a parliamentary candidate detained after an argument with a rival candidate with links to the government.

Ten people from Faafu Magoodhoo were banished, reportedly without being tried or sentenced, for seeking to organize a demonstration against the local Atoll chief.

Health concern

There was continued concern about the health of Ismail Saadiq, a businessman arrested in June 1996 for alleged fraud, who was reportedly denied medical attention. In June, for example, he was transferred to Dhoonidhoo detention centre where he was reportedly held in a small cell, denied appropriate food, and prevented from receiving a scheduled blood transfusion. Three weeks later he was transferred to house arrest, reportedly after he fell ill and after he had signed a declaration that he would not seek contact with the outside world. Ismail Saadiq continued to claim that his prolonged detention was politically motivated. During his trials, he was reportedly not allowed to appoint a lawyer and was denied adequate time or access to documentation to prepare his defence.

Ill-treatment

Information emerged indicating that many inmates in Gamaadhoo prison were subjected to various forms of ill-treatment after a fire which burned down the prison. According to reports, security guards beat some prisoners who were tied to palm trees. A former detainee at Dhoonidhoo stated that prison guards regularly beat prisoners, at times on orders from the senior warden.

Amnesty International Report 1999 - Maldives

Amnesty International Report 1999 - Maldives
MALDIVES

Dozens of prisoners of conscience and possible prisoners of conscience were held. Prisoners and detainees continued to be ill-treated.
A presidential election in October endorsed Maumoon Abdul Gayoom as President for the fifth term. As in previous years, political parties were not allowed to function.

At least 20 prisoners of conscience were detained in June, most of them in Dhoonidhoo detention centre, on suspicion of spreading Christian beliefs. They were held without trial until November when they were released. The government denied that they had been arrested for professing the Christian faith, but gave no other reason for their detention.

Wu Mei De, a Chinese national held since 1993 apparently as a result of official connivance in attempts by his business partner to prevent him from seeking judicial redress for business grievances (see Amnesty International Report 1998), remained in Gaamadhoo Prison without charge or trial.

The government provided no information about possible prisoners of conscience Hussain Shakir, Ibrahim Musthafa and Mohamed Rasheed (see Amnesty International Report 1998). Referring to their arrests in early 1996 in connection with a demonstration about a rise in electricity prices in Fuvahmulaku Island, the government said these “were for criminal offences of destroying and attempting to destroy properties. The offenders were arrested on criminal charges and dealt with in accordance with the law.”
In February Ismail Saadiq (see Amnesty International Report 1998) was transferred from house arrest first to solitary confinement in police custody and then to Dhoonidhoo detention centre. On 15 December he was returned to house arrest. The government stated that he had been sentenced to six months’ banishment on fraud charges and that two other fraud cases against him were pending before the courts. It gave no explanation about the date and the manner in which he had been tried or the reason why he was held in Dhoonidhoo detention centre for 10 months.

Prisoners continued to be ill-treated. Women detainees were reportedly held in small, hot and overcrowded cells without adequate sleeping space. Some prisoners of conscience were held continuously for several months in solitary confinement. A former detainee at Gaamadhoo Prison said that she had seen male and female prisoners handcuffed to coconut palms in front of prison cells trying to sleep. During her five-day detention there, she saw girls aged between 13 and 18 almost permanently handcuffed in their cells. Male soldiers jabbed the ribs of female prisoners with wooden batons to wake them for dawn prayers, pointing the batons in a humiliating way, especially at the girls’ genitals.
It was learned that a girl had died in Gaamadhoo Prison in 1994 after she was gang-raped by guard soldiers. No further details were known.
Throughout the year Amnesty International sought information about prisoners, called for the immediate and unconditional release of prisoners of conscience, and expressed concern over reports of ill-treatment. The government responded with information on some cases and an assurance that it takes “human rights protection very seriously”.

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Amnesty International Report 1998 - Maldives

Amnesty International Report 1998 - Maldives

(This report covers the period January-December 1997) Several prisoners of conscience and possible prisoners of conscience were held in detention. There were reports of torture or ill-treatment of detainees. Conditions of detention amounted to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment. Tight restrictions imposed on the right to freedom of expression by the government of President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom made information on human rights violations difficult to gather and verify. In late September, three types of new lower court were established, dealing with civil, criminal and family cases. In November a new Constitution was adopted which for the first time permits rival candidates to compete in the 48-member Citizen’s Majlis (parliament) to obtain its nomination for the presidency. Several prisoners of conscience and possible prisoners of conscience were held in detention. Among them were intellectuals, who were subjected to severe retaliatory measures for criticizing the government. Mohamed Shaheeb, a journalist writing for the newspaper Haveeru, was arrested in January, reportedly in connection with a fictional short story he had written about the treatment of a young woman detained in solitary confinement in police custody. He was held as a prisoner of conscience until his release in March In January Ilyas Ibrahim, a possible prisoner of conscience held under house arrest since March 1996 (see Amnesty International Report 1997), was reportedly released from restrictions on his movements. Also in January, possible prisoners of conscience Mohamed Didi, Hussain Shareef and Ahmed Saeed were reportedly released. They were among a group of people arrested in early 1996 in connection with a demonstration about a rise in electricity prices in Fuvahmulaku Island (see Amnesty International Report 1997). There was no news about the other possible prisoners of conscience, including Hussain Shakir, Ibrahim Musthafa and Mohamed Rasheed, who had been arrested with them. In April it came to light that Wu Mei De, a Chinese national, had been held for over three years in Gaamadhoo Prison without charge or trial. His arrest in November 1993 followed a court case in the Maldives in which Wu Mei De was suing a Maldivian national on grounds of alleged irregularities in a business partnership. His continued detention without charge or trial appeared to be due to official connivance in attempts by his business partner to prevent him from pursuing the court case. Possible prisoner of conscience Ismail Saadiq, a Maldivian businessman who had been held in detention or under house arrest for various periods since July 1996, remained in detention without charge or trial at the end of the year. His detention, for alleged business irregularities, appeared to have been prompted by his support for a candidate in the 1993 presidential elections who was defeated and subsequently tried for “unconstitutional behaviour”. Ismail Saadiq was reported to be passing blood in his urine and suffering from other health problems, for which he was being denied adequate medical care. There were reports that detainees were subjected to torture or ill-treatment. Methods included leaving detainees for long periods on chairs with their hands handcuffed to their feet, and forcing detainees to stand on a chair for hours with arms outstretched and a coconut in each palm Conditions in most detention centres amounted to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment. Seventeen Turkish asylum-seekers were reportedly held in a space meant for 10 people, under a metal roof which caused very high temperatures in the cell. They had to drink brackish sea water, food was inadequate, and men and women had to share the same toilets, with no privacy. The 17, students of Kurdish ethnicity, had been detained on arrival in Malé, the capital, in mid-March, and were held in Gaamadhoo Prison without charge or trial. Fifteen of them were released in May. There was no news about the remaining two. Amnesty International urged the government to release unconditionally all prisoners of conscience, expressed concern about conditions of detention which amounted to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment, and repeatedly appealed to the government to ratify major human rights instruments. In November Amnesty International asked the government to provide adequate medical care for Ismail Saadiq. No responses were received.


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