US embassy cable - 04COLOMBO1337

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 04 COLOMBO 001337 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR SA, SA/INS; NSC FOR E. MILLARD 
 
E.O. 12958:    DECL:  08-16-14 
TAGS: PGOV, PHUM, PREL, CASC, MV, Maldives 
SUBJECT:  Maldivian reform in peril after August 12-13 
demonstration and subsequent arrest of MPs 
 
Refs:  (A) Colombo-SA/INS 08-16-04 fax 
-      (B) Parto 00012 (Notal) 
-      (C) Colombo 842, and previous 
 
(U) Classified by Charge' d'Affaires James F. Entwistle. 
Reasons 1.5 (b,d). 
 
1.  (C) SUMMARY:  On the evening of August 12, 
Maldivians began massing outside police headquarters on 
the capital island of Male', demanding the release of 
several political prisoners.  The crowd continued to 
grow until the police moved in with tear gas on the 
afternoon of August 13 to end the demonstration. 
According to the GORM, the police dispersed the crowd 
when the demonstrators set fire to a government building 
and charged the police headquarters.  A State of 
Emergency was issued on August 13 and Male' had largely 
returned to quiet as of August 16.  There is no 
indication that this turmoil on the capital island has 
affected the tourist industry; we have no reports of any 
AmCits being affected.  Under the State of Emergency, 
the police have been arresting people alleged to be 
involved with organizing the demonstration and the 
number detained is approximately 180.  Among the 
detainees are two reformist members of Parliament (MPs) 
and a Commissioner with the Human Rights Commission.  If 
the government tries to implicate these three in the 
organization of the protests, the response from the 
populace will not be a quiet one and the GORM will have 
a growing problem it may not be able to handle.  Given 
the high profile arrests, the possibility of police 
brutality, and the impact on the ongoing reform process, 
Mission suggests the Department consider issuing a 
statement (see para 15).  END SUMMARY. 
 
PROTESTORS MASS ON MALE' 
------------------------ 
 
2.  (C) On the evening of August 12, a group of 
Maldivian citizens began massing outside the 
headquarters of the National Security Service (NSS) on 
the capital island of Male'.  According to several 
contacts, the crowd converged originally to protest the 
arrest and detention of several "political" prisoners 
and to call for their release by the NSS.  Dr. Ahmed 
Shaheed, Chief Government Spokesman and former Permanent 
Secretary at the MFA (and close Embassy contact), told 
 
SIPDIS 
poloff that some prisoners were released in response to 
the protestors' demands. 
 
3.  (C) Other non-government interlocutors told poloff 
that the demonstrators were also calling for the 
resignation of some of President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom's 
cabinet.  In addition, the crowd was also demanding a 
resolution to the debate surrounding the election of a 
Speaker for the Special Majlis (Special Parliament). 
(Note:  Many members of the Special Majlis walked out of 
the first session in mid-July when the presiding 
official refused to allow secret ballot voting for the 
Speaker.  The issue has yet to be resolved and the 
Special Majlis has not yet met for a second time.) 
 
4.  (C) From the government's perspective, on August 13 
Shaheed characterized the crowd as one of extremist 
supporters for an outspoken Islamic "fundamentalist" who 
was released on bail in recent days.  In the same August 
13 conversation, Shaheed said the government did not 
think the crowd was "genuine" in its calls for reform, 
instead intent on preventing the parliamentary process. 
As a result, the President did not feel it appropriate 
to respond to these "hooligans," Shaheed said. 
Therefore, the GORM would let the police disperse the 
crowd in a "patient and restrained manner." 
 
5.  (C) While figures vary, most estimate the August 12- 
13 crowd to have been around 5,000.  (The population on 
the capital island is approximately 74,000.)  Following 
ongoing dialogue by the police urging the crowd to go 
home, police moved in to disperse the crowd around 3:15 
pm local time on August 13.  According to Shaheed, the 
police reacted to a physical charge on the NSS 
headquarters as well as in response to "impending plans 
to attack other police stations and government 
buildings."  (Comment:  No other interlocutor -- all 
non-government -- has given poloff any indication that 
the demonstration was violent although crowds did burn 
and sack government buildings in the disturbance last 
September.  End Comment.)  News reports and other 
contacts stated that the police used tear gas to break 
up the crowd.  Shaheed said that two police officers 
were injured in an August 13 morning altercation with 
demonstrators but that no one was seriously injured when 
police moved in. 
 
6.  (SBU) Note:  This is the second time in twelve months that 
Male' has been rocked by a demonstration.  The 
government was stunned in September 2003 when citizens 
on Male' rioted in response to a custodial death of a 
prisoner on a nearby prison island.  The September 2003 
riots were a watershed event that focused the government 
on addressing political reforms.  End Note. 
 
IN THE WAKE OF THE DEMONSTRATION 
-------------------------------- 
 
7.  (C) President Gayoom declared a State of Emergency 
of August 13 "to prevent the deterioration of law and 
order," according to media release from the President' 
office.  The State of Emergency is valid for three 
months, unless revoked earlier by the President and was 
"proclaimed...in Male' and nearby islands."  In an 
August 16 conversation with poloff, Shaheed stated that 
a curfew had been imposed for the past three nights 
(August 13, 14, and 15) only to prevent people from 
"loitering."  Shops were open past the curfew and 
citizens were allowed to go about their business. 
 
8.  (C) Minh Pham, UN Resident Representative for 
Maldives and an AmCit (please protect), told poloff on 
August 16 that Male' was calm but tense.  The UN system, 
which has declared a Phase II security alert -- advising 
people to stay home -- on August 13, was back to a Phase 
I posture -- business as usual -- on August 14.  Shops 
were open on Saturday, August 14, as well.  Shaheed said 
that schools and offices opened as scheduled on Sunday, 
August 15, the customary start of the work week in this 
Muslim nation.  In addition, Shaheed described the 
police presence as minimal.  Internet access, which had 
been suspended according to Pham on August 14, is now 
restored. 
 
9.  (C) Despite the seeming return to normalcy, disquiet 
continues.  The State of Emergency allows the government 
to arrest and detain people in connection with the 
demonstration and the police have arrested approximately 
180 people as a result, according to the official 
government figure.  Other sources have put the figure 
higher.  On August 16, Shaheed told poloff that 140 
people are in detention, but that figure is not an 
absolute number as some people arrested have been 
released while the police are still pursuing others.  It 
is unclear where most of the arrests have occurred, 
although contacts claim that the police went to people's 
homes in a targeted effort.  On August 17, DATT 
attempted to call senior officers in the NSS and was 
consistently and repeatedly told that all were 
unavailable.  During an August 16 conversation with 
poloff, Shaheed stated that while all interviews with 
detainees are being recorded, the detainees' right to 
access to a lawyer had been suspended.  According to 
Shaheed, under the Constitution, the State of Emergency 
allows the President to suspend fundamental rights from 
time to time.  Shaheed added that the Attorney General 
was currently drafting the State of Emergency 
proclamation that would outline which fundamental rights 
were being suspended. 
 
10.  (C) Shaheed confirmed on August 16 that two 
parliamentarians were among those arrested.  The two MPs 
arrested are Dr. Mohamed Munavvar, the former Attorney 
General, and Ibrahim Hussein Zaki, the former Minister 
of Planning and past Secretary General of South Asian 
Association for Regional Cooperation.  Although they are 
well-known and regarded as senior MPs, both men have 
become outspoken critics of the government and have 
publicly aligned with the anti-Gayoom Maldivian 
Democratic Party (MDP).  This August 16 comments, 
Shaheed stated that he did not know when the two would 
be released, but qualified his remarks by adding that 
they "may have played a major role" in the 
demonstrations.  (Poloff spoke early August 13 with 
Munavvar, who admitted having been in the demonstration 
area on August 12.) 
 
11.  (C) There are reports that other parliamentarians, 
recently elected as part of the Special Majlis, were 
also among those arrested.  The Special Majlis meeting, 
scheduled to resume work on August 16, was cancelled but 
the body may attempt to reconvene on August 18. 
 
12.  (C) In an August 16 conversation with poloff, Ahmed 
Mujuthaba, Chair of the Maldivian Human Rights 
Commission (HRC), confirmed that one of the 
commissioners had also been arrested.  Mujuthaba said 
that he did not believe the gentleman had been at the 
demonstration and speculated that he could have been 
arrested in connection with planning or organizing the 
August 12-13 protest.  The HRC Chair also told poloff 
that he had heard lots of stories, mainly from 
eyewitnesses, of brutality and abusive language by the 
police during these recent arrests.  Mujuthaba and 
others also cast doubts on the government assertion (Ref 
A) that the police headquarters was attacked and a 
government building torched. 
 
INTERNATIONAL RESPONSE 
---------------------- 
 
13. (C) In a late August 16 conversation with Charge', 
British deputy High Commissioner Peter Hughes said that 
the High Commission was encouraging London to initiate a 
high-level phone call to President Gayoom.  Hughes 
agreed that the points they were suggesting were similar 
to those the U.S. was proposing (see para 16).  Hughes 
added, however, that if ForSec Jack Straw or the Deputy 
PM were not available to make the call, the High 
Commission would then press for a statement in lieu of a 
lower-level phone call. 
 
COMMENT 
------- 
 
14.  (C) The government seems determined to either 
ignore or downplay the root causes for the August 12-13 
demonstration, attributing the protest to those "against 
the reform process."  The GORM's interpretation of 
events is likely the opposite of what actually occurred: 
Maldivian citizens, responding to the burgeoning 
opportunities for political reform and strengthened 
democracy, are testing the waters by speaking their mind 
and demanding the government's attention.  Despite 
President Gayoom's public support of such reforms, 
government actions over the past several days seem to 
indicate that the political elite in Male' are yet 
unable to work through this reform process, fearing any 
possible loss of power.  As a result, they are tamping 
out any attempts by the populace to engage the 
government in an open dialogue on these issues.  If the 
government goes ahead and charges the two senior MPs 
arrested, it is unlikely that the reformists will accept 
this quietly.  Any possible trial for Munavvar or Zaki 
will only serve to incite some Maldivians and the 
government will have a growing problem that is may find 
unable to control.  The tourism industry, Maldives' 
economic backbone, does not appear to be significantly 
affected so far, we have no reports of AmCits being 
affected.  END COMMENT. 
 
ACTION REQUEST 
-------------- 
 
15.  (C) The Department may wish to consider issuing a 
statement -- see suggested text below -- in response to 
the government's actions since August 12 given the 
arrest of the MPs and the impact on the current reform 
process.  The GORM has been careful to align itself with 
the global war on terrorism and was very appreciative of 
the brief July 1 meeting with Secretary Powell (Ref B). 
A statement from the United States should express hope 
that the weekend's events will not derail the reform 
effort initiated by last year's disturbances.  Given the 
British colonial legacy, we think it appropriate to let 
them take the lead on high-level phone calls to Gayoom. 
END ACTION REQUEST. 
 
16.  (SBU) Draft text of a statement: 
 
The United States notes with concern the recent events 
in Maldives surrounding the August 12-13 demonstration 
on the capital island, Male'.  We hope that the events 
of August 12-13 and subsequent arrests will not 
undermine the impressive process of political and 
constitutional reforms to which the Government of 
Maldives has committed itself.  The U.S. also calls for 
all detainees to be treated humanely and fairly and in 
accordance with the Maldivian Constitution and norms of 
human rights. 
 
End Text. 
 
ENTWISTLE