On
Maldives As Yameen Declares
Emergency, ICP Asked UN, 18
Hours Later Guterres Speaks
By Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED NATIONS,
February 6– With Maldives'
President declaring a state of
emergency, on February 5 Inner
City Press asked the
spokesman for UN Secretary
General Antonio Guterres
Stephane Dujarric about it at
noon on February 5, before the
US then spoke, below.
Under Guterres and his
outgoing head of Political
Affairs Jeffrey Feltman, both
headed to Korea,
it took the UN a full 18 hours
to come out with these two
paragraphs on February 6: "The
Secretary-General is seriously
concerned about the unfolding
situation in the Maldives, in
particular the declaration of
a state of emergency and the
entry of security forces into
the Supreme Court premises.
The Secretary-General urges
the Government of the Maldives
to uphold the constitution and
rule of law, lift the state of
emergency as soon as possible,
and take all measures to
ensure the safety and security
of the people in the country,
including members of the
judiciary." From the UN transcript:
Inner City Press: it seems
like President Abdulla Yameen
[Abdul Gayoom] has not
complied with releasing the
opponents. In fact, he's
issued a state of
emergency. I'm
wondering, is there… is DPI…
is DPA (Department of
Political Affairs) actually
involved, or is it just… is it
issuing statements from New
York, or is it trying to speak
with him and engage and…?
Spokesman: I think we're
very concerned with the
ongoing developments in the
Maldives, including what we've
seen in the last 24
hours. We're following
it very closely. And I
would… you know, the
Secretary-General would,
again, call on the Government
to respect the court ruling
and for restraint to be
exercised. And we… I do
expect a more formal statement
on this shortly." A the UN,
shortly means 18 hours. Much
before, the US put out this:
"The United States is troubled
and disappointed by reports
that Maldivian President
Yameen has declared a State of
Emergency, which gives
sweeping powers to security
forces to arrest and detain
suspects, bans public
gatherings, imposes travel
restrictions, and suspends
parts of the Maldivian
Constitution. The
President, army, and police
have also failed to obey a
lawful Supreme Court ruling,
contrary to the Constitution
and rule of law. Despite
being elected in 2013 with the
support of a broad coalition,
President Yameen has
systematically alienated his
coalition, jailed or exiled
every major opposition
political figure, deprived
elected Members of Parliament
of their right to represent
their voters in the
legislature, revised laws to
erode human rights, especially
freedom of expression, and
weakened the institutions of
government by firing any
officials who refuse orders
that run contrary to Maldivian
law and its Constitution. The
United States calls on
President Yameen, the army,
and police to comply with the
rule of law, implement the
Supreme Court’s ruling and the
rulings of the Criminal Court,
ensure the full and proper
functioning of the Parliament,
and restore constitutionally
guaranteed rights of the
people and institutions of the
Maldives." From the May 27,
2017 UN transcript:
Inner City Press: I
wanted to ask you, in the
Maldives, the army has
blockaded the parliament and
fired teargas at opposition
lawmakers. So I wanted
to know, I know there’s been
some involvement in the past
by the UN on it. Is this
something, particularly under
the idea of conflict
prevention or otherwise, that
the UN is aware of, and do
they have any… are they going
to do anything about it?
Deputy Spokesman Farhan
Haq: We’re aware of the
situation there, and we are
studying the situation as it
stands. If there’s any
need for UN involvement, we
would be willing to play a
helpful role if asked by the
various parties.
Inner City Press: But is
the army blocking elected
lawmakers from entering the
parliament and shooting
teargas at them? Is that
of concern or would require
the Government to ask for your
assistance to have some
greater concern about it?
Deputy Spokesman: We’re
concerned about the media
reports of activity in the
recent days, and we’re
monitoring and trying to
follow up.
Now two
days later, Haq has emailed
out this: "The
Secretary-General is concerned
about recent developments in
the Maldives with the gradual
erosion of basic democratic
norms and principles in the
country. He calls on the
Government to uphold the
constitutionally guaranteed
rights of speech and
assembly. The
Secretary-General urges the
Government to refrain from all
acts that result in the
harassment and intimidation of
Members of Parliament,
political parties, civil
society and the media.
The Secretary-General
encourages effective dialogue
and consultations on political
issues." We'll see. Back
on November 4,
2015 with a
state of
emergency
declared in
the Maldives,
Inner City
Press on asked
UN Secretary
General Ban
Ki-moon's now
holdover
spokesman
Stephane
Dujarric if
the UN had any
comment --
really, if the
UN is doing
anything at
all. Dujarric
responded to
Inner City
Press with an
if-asked
statement,
below.
The
UN has said nothing since.
Others have pointed
out that "the whole
democracy project was derailed
by ex-UN official Mohamed Waheed
who staged a coup in Feb 2012"
-- not the first, or last,
connection between the UN, its
staff and coups d'etat.
Meanwhile,
the head of the UN Development
Program on November 6 re-tweeted
praise
of the Maldives, here (as
UNDP has refused for a week to
provide a copy of a document its
Teresa Liu signed with now
indicted David Ng Lap Seng and
Dominica's Prime Minister
Roosevelt Skerrit, click
here for that.)
On
November 4, the US State
Department issued this clearer
statement, here.
At
the State Department's November
6 briefing, this was asked:
QUESTION:
Maldives – day before yesterday
you issued – it’s quite a strong
statement on the imposition of
emergency in the Maldives.
That hasn’t been lifted, there’s
more people who have been
arrested. What do you have
to say about the situation
there?
SPOKESPERSON: I would just
say what I said in a statement
earlier, that we are deeply
concerned with recent events
there in the Maldives, including
the announcement of a state of
emergency that curtails the
vital civil liberties, human
rights, and fundamental
freedoms. We’re concerned
by reports of continued
politically motivated arrests
and call on the Government of
Maldives to afford all its
citizens due process. We
again urge the government there
to take steps to restore
confidence in its democracy and
judicial independence.
QUESTION: But they haven’t
done – taken any of these steps.
SPOKESPERSON: Is that a
question?
QUESTION: Yeah, so what do
you have to say? They
haven’t --
SPOKESPERSON: I would
simply restate what we said
before. I mean, we’ve made
our position very, very.. The –
we’ve – we continue to make our
case and will continue to do
so. I mean, I think where
we’ve been on this issue has
been very, very clear and very
consistently so. That’s
not going to change.
Here's
was the UN's, which may now
post-US, and two days and
counting later, be supplemented:
“The
Secretary-General is concerned
about the recent political and
security developments in
Maldives. States have legitimate
national security concerns, but
the Secretary-General emphasizes
that states of emergency should
be used only when strictly
necessary, in proportion to the
stated threat and in accordance
with the human rights
obligations. In this regard, he
hopes that all civil and
political rights of the
Maldivian people will be
restored as soon as possible.”
Back
on March 27, 2015 Inner City
Press went to the US State
Department's daily briefing and
asked spokesman Jeff Rathke
about the conviction of the
country's former defense
minister Nazim, and threats to
deport migrant workers if they
protest, amid attacks on free
press.
From the State
Department's transcript:
Inner
City Press: I wanted to ask you
about in Maldives the former
defense minister has just been
sentenced to 11 years. And I
know the State Department has
expressed some concern about
former President Nasheed’s
trial. There’s also a situation
in which migrant workers there
are being told if they
demonstrate about their rights
they’ll be deported. So I’m
wondering, is the State
Department monitoring this? Do
you have any comment on
developments in the Maldives?
MR. RATHKE: Certainly, we are. I
don’t have a comment in front of
me. We’re happy to look into
that and come back to you.
While this is often said at the
UN - and this week in Washington
at the IMF on Inner City Press'
question about Haiti -- in this
case the US State Department DID
come back with a comment, issued
as a “Question Taken”
later on March 27:
For
Immediate Release TAKEN
QUESTION March 27, 2015
Concerns
on Recent Developments in
Maldives
Question:
Does the United States have any
comment on the arrest of the
former Maldivian Defense
Minister?
Answer:
The United States is deeply
troubled by recent developments
in Maldives that call into
question that nation’s
commitment to democracy and
individual human rights.
These developments include the
conviction of former Defense
Minister Mohamed Nazim, who was
sentenced to 11 years in prison
on weapons charges March 26, and
the March 25 arrest of Maldivian
journalists under allegations of
obstructing police duties.
Nazim’s
trial was particularly
concerning, as it was marred by
the same apparent lack of
appropriate criminal procedures
as the recent trial of former
President Mohamed Nasheed,
including the inability to call
the requested number of defense
witnesses and concerns regarding
the lack of impartiality and
independence of the judges.
Freedom
of the press is a fundamental
democratic right, and we are in
touch with Maldivian authorities
to clarify why the journalists
have been detained without
charges.
We
call on the Government of
Maldives to take steps to
restore confidence in its
hard-fought democracy and the
rule of law, including judicial
independence and freedom of the
press.
We'll have more on this --
including, from the Free
UN Coalition for Access,
on the situation of the press in
the Malvides. Watch this site.
***
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