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Gayoom’s EU Blues 15 - 30 September 2004 Graphics added by Maldives Culture and contributors
According to pro-Gayoom hate websites run by his sons, extended family and the NSS (an excellent source of insight to Gayoom’s mindset) EU is on Gayoom’s hate list - almost on par with such stalwarts as Amnesty International. Since he is more scared of the EU than AI (who cannot impose sanctions on him) he shows more official restraint when dealing with EU. However, Gayoom’s government has basically called the EU Heads of Mission, liars. According to Gayoom’s Foreign Ministry mouthpiece, the government takes “strong exception to the statement that the EU delegation was not granted access to the detained members of the Special Majlis.” Either the EU Heads of Mission is lying or Gayoom is lying. If past record is anything to go by, Gayoom, an inveterate liar, would seem the culprit. Besides it is difficult to imagine that EU has too much to gain by lying about a matter that is, from their point of view, not quite of earthshaking importance. Heads of Mission of EU are not widely known to lie about who they get to meet or do not get to meet. Besides, just as in the case of AI and ICRC, EU – one may be reasonably confident – is not after Gayoom’s sovereignty nor are they known to have imperial designs on Maldives. It is a bit like Gayoom’s oft repeated lie that the pro-democracy activists are causing violent unrest in the country because they (and not those actually entrenched in power – Gayoom’s family and cronies) have too much to lose when Gayoom takes the country to the promised land of rule of law, respect for human rights and dignity, absence of torture, an end to corruption and nepotism, separation of powers and a system of good governance based on transparency and accountability.
Yes, Gayoom’s lies are getting more outrageous by the day. Here are some comments on Gayoomspeak presented through his Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Some of it is quite hilarious: "The state of emergency has not affected the general population in any tangible manner but is effectively limited only to the suspension of certain rights of those detained."
Suspension of certain rights including all the fundamental rights in the constitution is of course, of no “tangible” importance to Gayoom – in spite of the fact he has signed international conventions that specifically prohibit many of the draconian steps he and his NSS thugs indulged in. "The state of emergency is a preventive matter taken in the interest of public safety and national security in the face of threats of bombs and arson made by anonymous entities." The State of Emergency is a stage managed act “taken in the interest “ of keeping Gayoom, his family and cronies in power and in wealth . For Gayoom, “national security” is equivalent to “family security” of perpetual rule. Bombs are a figment of Gayoom’s hyperactive mind while arson is arranged by younger brother Yameen as an excuse to keep dissidents in custody. Gayoom has, despite the bravado, not an iota of proof for his claims. "The Government of Maldives wishes to highlight that “mass arrests” were not made in connection with the incident of August 12th and 13th and that only 78 people are being held in custody for investigations." Hundreds were arbitrarily detained and openly tortured by Gayoom’s NSS. In a population about 300,000 that number of detainees, for Gayoom, does not constitute mass arrest. We need to bear in mind that these are not mere detainees but are hostages. "The Government of Maldives desires to resume the sitting of Special Majlis as soon as it becomes possible." It will “become possible” only when Gayoom decides that he can rig the process to his hearts desire. Eleven of the leading pro-democracy members are in jail, including Mr. Gasim Ibrahim who was tipped to become the Speaker of the Special Majlis. If voting is conducted as specified by the constitution, Gasim would be elected which, of course, is why he remains in jail. The members of the Special Majlis will remain in detention or will be sentenced because he needs the constitution molded to suit his purposes. He does not need reformist advocates to upset his grand design to perpetuate his brand of feudalism. "The government of Maldives is determined to press with the reform proposals articulated by the President." So determined is the President that most of the pro-democracy activists (or people who dare oppose his despotic family rule) are in jail. "There is strong resistance by Islamic extremists to the introduction of reforms which they claim would be demeaning to Islamic injunctions and values."
His close friend, Minister Zahir Hussein, is the Maldivian head for “Call of Islam”. Many of his closest advisors – including the head of the Supreme Council of Islam - are Saudi trained Wahhabis turned Gayoomis. The only time Gayoom went to jail was for airing his views against the sale of alcohol in resorts. His earlier legitimacy in fact came from his portrayal of himself as a pious Islamic scholar. It is not Sheik Fareed but Gayoom himself, currently setting himself as the champion of women, who ensured that a woman cannot be head of an Islamic state. Some may believe that Gayoom does not believe in any God (other than himself that is) but most know that Gayoom’s main tool of oppression is through the abuse of Islam. A few weeks back one of his Wahhabi trained apologists spread a fatwa (over the state television) that the people must obey and not go against their God-given ruler even if the ruler is guilty of wrongdoing. It is not reform that demeans Islam but the cynical abuse of Islam to claw onto power at all costs that is “demeaning to Islamic injunctions and values.” "Among the people who were arrested by the government, none of them is a “reformist leader” who has put forward any proposals on reform." When the reformists who are now in jail tried to “put forward” their reform proposals, they were prevented from doing so in violation of their constitutional right to freedom of assembly and expression. Now they are in jail and Gayoom will ensure that the only “reform” that will come out would be to perpetuate his cruel and corrupt rule. Not too many people with any sense would believe that a cruel, violent despot who has ruled for 26 years over a country he believes is his (and family’s) personal property, would give up his property voluntarily for an abstract concept of reform. Concepts of good governance – rule of law, transparency, accountability, answerability – are not, most would agree, compatible with Gayoom’s violent, despotic kleptocracy. "The Government of Maldives has assured the EU Delegation that the Government is studying the MOU with the ICRC carefully with the intention of concluding the MOU at a future date." Gayoom loves to give “future dates” for reforms. Definite, time-bound reform agendas cramp his free and loose style of “reform”. Everything the international community proposes would be studied “carefully” and action would be taken at a “future date” – a future that never comes. ICRC is an apolitical humanitarian concern interested in the welfare of prisoners. Most societies (including contentious heterogeneous ones) accept the ICRC. How much “studying” does a small homogenous nation (which even Gayoom claims is peaceful) need? ICRC is not allowed simply because Gayoom does not want the rest of the world to discover the dark, cruel secrets of torture and abuse that people who oppose Gayoom’s brutality are subject to. "Meanwhile the Government of Maldives is party to a number of conventions on human rights, including the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment." None of which the despot of Maldives Maumoon Abdul Gayoom honors.
Dr. Shaheed is such a bare-faced liar that most people would recognize him as an embarrassment. Gayoom is not most people. He is a connoisseur of lies and liars, one who could recognize a kindred spirit. Here are some examples that make Shaheed as proficient an exponent of Gayoomspeak as Gayoom himself: "We have in place an electoral system that has functioned since 1968. Therefore, President Gayoom did not invent this system nor does he manipulate it. In fact, he has widened the ambit for opposition with the electoral system which is why we have people like Mohamed Latheef who are working presently to oust him from office. Elections under Gayoom’s rule have been very free and fair." Gayoom did not “invent” it but, being a sensible man, let the excellent system for dictators remain. Why would Mohamed Latheef (or anyone) opposed to Gayoom’s tyrannical rule want “to oust him from office” for bringing in changes in the electoral system that would actually help oust the dictator? This type of “sensible” reasoning is exactly why liars like Gayoom and Shaheed have so completely lost credibility in the international community. The election which brought Gayoom to power 26 years back was indeed free and fair. However, like in the case of most of his Baathist colleagues, the free and fair election takes place only once – in the very first election only. The reformists are not fighting against Gayoom’s tyranny because of democratic space provided by Gayoom through electoral reform. Despite the real possibility of assassination, they fight Gayoom’s brutal autocracy because they have no choice but to do so if they want to live as free men. "Gayoom has put into place two independent bodies namely, the National Human Rights Commission which came into being last December and early this year a Prison’s Oversight Committee comprising of MP’s and Judges who have unlimited access to our jails and prisoners." I find it hard to believe that any person could be so infantile in their lies. It is on public record that Gayoom is the effective head of this charade. Two members of the Commission (including their lawyer) are in jail because of their reformist ideology. The story about “unlimited access” is a barefaced lie. The two “independent bodies” are mere tools that Gayoom hopes would help whitewash his atrocities. "This is not true, all these men are in perfect heath…" Some of the men detained are sick people who need close medical care. Zaki is a heart patient who recently went through a near fatal heart attack. Munavvar (a diabetic) and Gasim too require close medical supervision. Shaheed’s claim that “all these men are in perfect health” seems stretching the truth a bit too far. There is no scientific data or valid medical proof that substantiates the claim that middleaged diabetics and heart patients become “perfectly healthy” when they are subject to torture, cruel and degrading treatment under Gayoom’s not-too-benign detention centers. If this were the case, the Maldives should market itself as a health tourism destination. Terminally ill? Visit the invigorating, health-enhancing torture chambers of Gayoom. Get cured while undergoing the most excruciating, delectable torture and human degradation on the beaches and among the swaying palm trees of the darker side of paradise. "One of them (Jennifer Latheef) very brutally assaulted a police officer in September last year. Then after she was released early this year she went into a hospital together with a group of friends they made a huge disturbance in a public hospital threatening staff and doctors, this is why she is under arrest."
In a case conducted in Gayoom’s court of injustice, no one among the hundreds in the crowd came out to claim that they saw Jennifer commit an act of violence – leave alone assault a policeman. All even the “ very brutally assaulted” cop did claim was that a stone thrown by her hit him while his back was turned towards her. The “assaulted” policeman did not attempt to prove he had eyes in the back nor how a stone thrown many meters away in a throng of hundreds hit in the front of his ankle nor how, quite miraculously, he was totally cured of such a “very brutal assault” in a few short weeks. Gayoom’s torture gives people “perfect health.” Likewise “brutally assaulted NSS goons become “perfectly healthy” within weeks. The Spin Doctor needs to go easy on his lies. At the rate he is going, he may well surpass the Master Liar – Gayoom himself. The good doctor may soon find himself going through a course of “perfect health” himself if he does not watch out. Gayoom hates competition. Jennifer never went into the hospital on the day of “the huge disturbance.” However, she was questioned by cops and released for this reason. “This is why she is under arrest,” says Shaheed. One wonders why the cops waited so many months to detain her. One also wonders why the cops found it necessary to physically and mentally torture her. No, one need not really wonder. Latheef’s two children are being held hostage as a sick attempt by Gayoom to “punish” him for daring to question the legitimacy of his brutal kleptocracy. |
Maldives Culture is an independent internet magazine of Maldive cultural issues.
Editors and translators: Michael O'Shea and Fareesha Abdulla, Australia
We invite contributions from Maldivians and others interested in Maldives.
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