No: 2012/06
The adoption of the Maldives' first democratic constitution in 2008 marked the end of a four-year process through which the political and human rights landscape of the country was changed beyond all recognition. This process, known as the Reform Agenda was governed by as associated Roadmap which had, as its end point, free and fair multiparty elections in 2008 and 2009.
However, despite the Roadmap ending with those historic elections, it is clear that the Maldives' democratic and human rights transition still has a long way to go both in terms of strengthening existing institutions and in terms of completing the secondary legislative framework to implement the rights and principles foreseen in the new Constitution.
Unfortunately, since 2008, the Maldives has made little progress in either regard. For example, reform of the judiciary has unfortunately not kept pace with the changes taking place across the rest of Maldivian society. Similarly, key independent oversight bodies such as the Judicial Services Commission, the Human Rights Commission of the Maldives, the Police Integrity Commission and the Media Council, despite some progress, have not yet been able to fulfill their key roles in the system of democratic checks and balances. The police and the army have also not yet evolved into the strong non-politicized institutions necessary to protect law, order and security.
These significant gaps in the construction of the democratic framework of the new Maldives reflect, to an extent, the normal growing pains of a new democracy. They are also, in the same sense, partly unavoidable as human and technical capacity struggles to keep up with conceptual and legal changes. However, the gaps are also reflective of the over- politicization of all aspects of Maldivian society and a lack of political will, both on the part of those institutions themselves and on the part of the former Government and other politicians, to work consistently and methodically to strengthen independence and reduce political influence.
The story is even more clear cut with regard to the creation of a new secondary legislative framework foreseen and needed under the new Constitution. It is a disappointing but unavoidable fact that, since the adoption of the new Constitution, only a handful of the dozens of necessary legislative bills needed to strengthen human rights protection and the rule of law have been enacted. While the Disabilities Act, the Judges Act, the Misuse of Drugs Act and the Act on Drug Rehabilitation are now on the statute book and while defamation was made a civil rather than criminal offense in late 2009, other pieces of crucial legislation identified or foreseen in the Reform Agenda remain at the drafting and negotiation stage. This includes the new revised Penal Code, the Criminal Procedure Code, the Evidence Bill, the Legal Aid Bill, the Juvenile Justice Bill and the Judicature Bill – all vital for the proper functioning of the justice system; a Freedom of Information Bill; and a new Prison and Parole Bill, based on the recommendations of the UN Subcommittee on the Prevention of Torture, which is central to penal reform. It also includes legislation to safeguard the rights of vulnerable population groups such as a bill on equality and non- discrimination, a bill transposing the Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women into domestic law, a bill on domestic violence, bill on sexual harassment, an amended Children's Rights Act, a bill on mental health and a bill on trafficking in persons.
In the international field, efforts to use the Maldives' international human rights commitments, obligations and mechanisms to strengthen domestic human rights protection have also seen mixed results. Although important steps have been taken, such as signing the Convention on Enforced Disappearances, removing one of the Maldives' reservations under CEDAW, submitting and presenting various reports under the human rights Treaty Bodies, and becoming a member of the UN Human Rights Council, the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, the International Labour Organization and the International Organization for Migration. Nonetheless implementation of pledges and commitments has sometimes not kept pace. For instance, at the time of assumption of office by the new administration, the Maldives has not yet ratified the eight core ILO Conventions and has not yet begun the process of implementing the hundred-plus recommendations put to it during the Universal Periodic Review in November 2010.
The National Unity Government headed by H.E. Dr. Mohamed Waheed has set itself the goal, for its time in Office, of completing these core unfinished parts of the Maldives' democratic and human rights reform agenda, in order to ensure that whichever government comes to Office after the next elections will do so with the benefit of a more complete and robust
The National Unity Government headed by H.E. Dr. Mohamed Waheed has set itself the goal, for its time in Office, of completing these core unfinished parts of the Maldives' democratic and human rights reform agenda, in order to ensure that whichever government comes to Office after the next elections will do so with the benefit of a more complete and robust democratic system.
ENDS.
