| |
Home page |
Prison numbers hidden from new deputy Home Minister during Maafushi island inspection Maldives Culture special report November 2002
Azeez, the former High Commissioner of the Maldives in Sri Lanka, inspected Maafushi with members of his staff and the head of the Corrections Department. The group was escorted by Captain 'Fusfaru', head of the NSS contingent who act as warders at the prison. The gaol building is a former dry fish warehouse, and it is very hot. Makeshift fans are a necessity for survival, say the sources.
C Block has five cells and is used to accommodate up to 104 prisoners. At this time there were 98. The prisoners are serviced by only three toilets, and usually only one is functioning. Arguments break out among the constant lines of distressed prisoners waiting for the opportunity to relieve themselves. For the official visit, C Block was rearranged so that it appeared to accommodate only 36 prisoners. The remaining 62 inmates were taken to another section of the island called the Range which contains workshops and a torture area, according to the sources. The Azeez party arrived at the cells around 10.30 a.m., accompanied by Capt. 'Fusfaru'. The prisoners were in a state of shock over the events of the morning, and their attempts to speak with Azeez, and others from his group, were often hampered by the guards, according to the sources. Capt. 'Fusfaru' stayed close to Azeez during the interviews with the prisoners. When one prisoner complained that the roof leaked during rain, the guards said it was due to water spray and strong winds. Many of the prisoners did not have the strength or courage to say what they were really thinking because they knew what was in store for them when the group left. Their fears were correct, say the sources, because after the visit, prisoners were handcuffed and taken away to a rocky part of the beach and tortured. One woman from among the inspection group asked a prisoner if there were any bedbugs. The prisoner stamped on the corner of the plywood sheet he slept on, and bugs swarmed out. Every prisoner is given a length of plywood, a pillow and a bed sheet. New inmates sometimes have to sleep on a rough cement bench. To combat the bedbugs, prisoners use soap and disinfectant, if they can get hold of the items when their cells are being cleaned.
The sources say that the standard punishment for minor prison rule infringements, such as shouting or not waking up for early morning prayers, is being forced to stand for 24 hours handcuffed to a metal bar. One prisoner caught sleeping instead of attending morning prayers, was handcuffed and forced to run. When he complained of pains in his stomach, the handcuffs were removed and he was thrown from the jetty into shallow water. Dragged from the the water, he was ordered to run again, but the stomach pains forced him to stop. He was taken off to the Range, and when he returned he could not speak for a week. Later, the other prisoners found bootmarks on his body.  The sources say that one of the prisoners is a Chinese called Richard, who has been on the island for nine years. Richard wrote a letter on a piece of cloth which found its way to a human rights organisation. When the Maldivian government realised what had happened, Richard was moved to a small cell with a mattress. His family has visited him. According to Richard, he had been working for a former minister when his money was confiscated and false charges were laid. After being imprisoned for nine years, he was asked to sign a document stating that he had been held for only 45 days, but he refused and he remains in gaol. Richard has converted to Islam and speaks fluent Dhivehi. Sources say 38 year old prisoner Ibrahim Moosa Luthfee, gaoled for 25 years in July 2002 for publishing the Sandhaanu email newsletter, was handcuffed for eleven days after he smuggled in a watch that he used to get the correct time for midnight prayers. Ahmed Ibrahim Didi, aged 50, also in gaol for 25 years for publishing Sandhaanu, is reportedly suffering from heart disease. The prison doctor, an expatriate, told him there was no need to go to hospital in Malé, and his condition and any complications could be treated in prison. 50 year old Mohamed Zaki, another inmate serving a 25 year sentence over the Sandhaanu publication, has been shifted away from Luthfee and Didi, but his prison conditions are the same. In an ugly incident, sources say that one prisoner, Corporal Agleem, a reputed NSS torturer who had been found guilty of using brown sugar heroin and sentenced to imprisonment, was placed in a cell in C Block where he was immediately attacked by the other inmates and beaten heavily. Agleem is reportedly in the intensive care unit in Malé in a critical condition. |
|
Maldives Culture is an independent internet magazine of Maldivian cultural issues.
Editors and translators: Michael O'Shea and Fareesha Abdulla, Australia
We invite contributions from Maldivians and others interested in Maldives.
Contributions and comments - mc_editors@hotmail.com
