|
|
|
Site Index
|
Murderous NSS rampage at Maafushi, prisoner tells 2 Oct 2003 translated by Maldives Culture editors Photos of injuries to the body of Hassan Eevaan Naseem (below)
I was in jail that day during the incidents at the prison in September and I watched everything that happened with my own eyes. In the beginning (Friday), some prisoners left their cellblock and went to another block, to settle a dispute with someone. They beat up another young prisoner, and then came back to their registered block. At this time, Dhawlah Fafa (a NSS officer) and a force of NSS arrived at the scene, and they called the prisoners out of the block just as they were climbing back in (over a low wall). The prisoners ignored the NSS officers, and Dhawlah Fafa and his men tried to open the cellblock door. From inside, Hassan Eevaan Naseem yelled out to them that the door was locked and couldn't be opened. According to the rules, the cellblock can be only opened by a Corrections warden. After hearing this, Dhawlah Fafa and the NSS force went away quietly. Maybe they obtained a Corrections department permit, but they returned with a Corrections warden at night. After opening the cellblock, they began to read out a list of names, and called about 15 people outside. Hassan Eevaan's name was last on the list, and when he heard his name, he asked why he was being taken outside. 'What is my offence?' he wanted to know. Their reply was that his name was on the list and they said when he left the cellblock he would find out what he had done. Repeatedly, Eevaan said that he wouldn't go outside and he told the NSS they couldn't take him. Two NSS officers moved into the block and Eevaan told them not to touch him. He said he would hit back if they tried. One of the officers grabbed Eevaan, and Eevaan hit him three times. When they saw this, the NSS force of about 70 officers suddenly poured into the cellblock, seized Eevaan and took him outside. The police used a video camera for a short time to record this. There is a check-point a short distance away from the cellblock. It is where prisoners arriving from Malé are processed. Right in front of us, the NSS force took Eevaan in there and they must have shackled him. We heard the sound of metal restrainers being put on. Then they began to beat him. Eevaan was just the first prisoner they beat that night. We heard Eevaan crying out with pain, 'Mother! Father!' he kept on calling out loudly. Then there was no sound. The NSS took Eevaan out and brought other prisoners in, and chained them together in a line. Eevaan wasn't tied into this line. The NSS officers took Eevaan to a coconut palm near the new workshop being built by the Corrections department. Part of the workshop is a big sheltered hall. Next to the hall there is a structure made of iron bars. The NSS officers handcuffed Eevaan's hands together above his head and wrapped a tarpaulin around his body. They lifted him up with a pulley so his feet just touched the ground. He was beaten and when he stopped making any sound, they threw water over him and resumed beating him again. They kept beating him with a measuring rod and police batons for a long time after he stopped making any sound. The Corrections warden said Eevaan was faking and being tricky, so they put fire on various parts of Eevaan's exposed arms as they continued beating him. They also broke a chair against his head. Eevaan was probably already dead by this time. While the NSS were killing Eevaan, the other prisoners whose names had been called were being tortured and beaten. The NSS took Eevaan's body away and I don't know who took him to Malé, but there would have been people from the Corrections department and some NSS officers aboard the boat. Next morning (Saturday) a secret phone call informed us that Eevaan had died. Prisoners in the Warehouse cellblock were sad and subdued when they heard the news, but at first they remained silent. Slowly, prisoners' emotions began to boil and they wanted to find out what had happened to the others taken out of the cellblock with Eevaan. They wanted to know where they were, if they were ok, and whether they were still alive. The prisoners remained calm and there was no discussion or planning among them. They stayed quietly in their cells. At noon, the prisoners refused to leave their cellblocks for lunch, but they were ready for the midday prayer. With loud voices they said the funeral prayer for Eevaan, so the duty officers would hear their words and understand who they were praying for. The NSS officers realised the prisoners knew of Eevaan's death. After the funeral prayer, the prisoners left the praying area and pushed over a small shed made of corrugated iron near the duty officers' tent. Prisoners from all the other cellblocks, including those kept in small single cells, came outside as the news spread and the crowd of prisoners grew. The police were waiting for them, equipped with new plastic riot shields and batons. There were buildings nearby that the police use for eating and sleeping, and the police began retreating slowly towards that area. Some of the prisoners broke the glass windows of these NSS buildings, and the windows of a van and pickup truck. An old experienced NSS officer was there with Fusfaru, the Officer Commanding (OC) the prison. The old officer was standing just in front of Fusfaru and he turned to the prisoners, put his hands in the air and told them all to calm down. He told the prisoners to wait and talk, he said things can only be settled by talking. Some prisoners did stop and calm down, but there were too many prisoners and it was difficult to stop this mob that quickly. The NSS became frightened. Then the prisoners noticed two NSS officers, Appa and Aalim, standing behind Fusfaru. Appa fired the first shot, a single round up into the air. The second shot was fired directly at the prisoners. I don't know whether it was Aalim or Appa who fired directly at prisoner Faseeh. Two prisoners fell down, Faseeh and Clinton, and they both fell right in front of the NSS building on either side of the entrance door. All the other prisoners turned back and began to run and the NSS began to fire into their backs, and kept on firing. There was at least one spray of automatic fire. At that stage, prisoners were running for their lives. I did not look back. When the first shot went off, the prisoners thought it was only rubber bullets, but when they saw Faseeh hit in the leg and Clinton hit in the head and they saw blood, they realised the NSS was using real bullets. There was no plan by the prisoners to attack NSS officers and Corrections wardens. It wasn't a dispute with the Corrections people, it was a problem between the NSS and the prisoners, caused by the killing of Eevaan. Regarding the claims that prisoners attacked the armoury, the prisoners were not even aware the armoury existed! Anyone examining the scene of these events will agree, after seeing where the bodies fell, and where the prisoners had been, that the armoury was not the reason why prisoners were shot at by the NSS. The NSS armed themselves with guns, long before the prisoners began protesting. Between them, Fusfaru the prison chief, and Faseeh the inmates' leader, could have controlled the prisoners. Faseeh wanted to talk to the NSS but before that could happen, Appa fired the gun into the air. In the shooting, some people were hit and they fell. Prisoners face down on the ground, calling out their surrender, were shot where they lay. Some prisoners were shot again by the NSS, even after they were already wounded... Photos of the body of Hassan Eevaan Naseem, taken in Malé after his family and their supporters prevented his secret burial. The injuries on the body are consistent with the prisoner's account of Eevaan's torture by NSS officers at Maafushi prison.    |
|
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.
Contributions and comments - mc_editors@hotmail.com