US embassy cable - 04COLOMBO1427

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 COLOMBO 001427 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR SA, SA/INS 
NSC FOR E.MILLARD 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/26/2014 
TAGS: PGOV, PREL, PHUM, MV, Maldives 
SUBJECT: MALDIVES:  OFFICIAL BLAME OF FUNDAMENTALISTS FOR 
PROTESTS CONTINUES WHILE OUTSIDERS SEE GORM FEAR OF REFORM 
 
REF: COLOMBO 1400 AND PREVIOUS 
 
Classified By: Charge' d'Affaires James F. Entwistle.  1.4(b,d) 
 
1.  (U) This is an Action Request -- please see Para Thirteen. 
 
2.  (C) SUMMARY:  The Maldivian government continues to 
allege that fundamentalists are behind the August 12-13 
demonstrations.  In an August 26 address before Parliament, 
President Gayoom reiterated his commitment to reform and 
explained his reasoning for the state of emergency.  Of the 
approximately 200 people arrested, only 74 remain in 
detention as of August 26, including 7 parliamentarians and 5 
women.  In a debriefing on the EU's August 23-24 visit, one 
member of the delegation questioned the government's 
explanation of its actions in the wake of the protests, 
instead believing the GORM was desperately trying to control 
the reform process.  The crackdown on pro-reformists was in 
reaction to the GORM's fear that the reform process was 
getting beyond its control, the EU delegate thought.  The GSL 
Foreign Minister described his meeting with the Maldivian 
envoy earlier this week as "expected."  Meanwhile, the 
International Committee of the Red Cross is requesting 
assistance from the international community to encourage the 
GORM to enter into a formal relationship with the 
organization.  Given widely disseminated information, the 
GORM will likely have a hard time convincing the 
international community of its version of events and an even 
harder time controlling the reform process it began.  END 
SUMMARY. 
 
Government blames fundamentalists 
--------------------------------- 
 
3.  (U) On August 26 Presidential Communications Director Dr. 
Ahmed Shaheed told poloff that President Gayoom had addressed 
the Majlis earlier in the day to brief MPs on the August 
12-13 incidents and the subsequent declaration of the State 
of Emergency.  Gayoom also used the opportunity, Shaheed 
said, to reiterate his commitment to continue the process of 
reform despite the recent disturbances, a process in which, 
according to Shaheed, the president hopes to enlist the aid 
of the National Democratic Institute (NDI). 
 
4.  (SBU) The State of Emergency allows the authorities to 
&waive8 several Constitutional provisions, including 
detainees, right to access to legal counsel, the requirement 
that detainees be officially notified of the charges against 
them within 24 hours of their arrest, and the seven-day limit 
within which suspects must be produced before a magistrate, 
Shaheed reported.  In addition, the Emergency gives the 
authorities the permission to &intercept8 the detainees, 
communications and to restrict freedom of movement through 
the imposition of curfews.  (Note:  The curfew, which now 
runs from 12:30 a.m. ) 4:00 a.m., is limited only to the 
capital of Male, and is not in operation on resort islands. 
End note.)   Although the Emergency allows detainees to be 
held without charge for an indefinite period, Shaheed 
asserted that authorities were &working round the clock8 to 
frame charges against those involved as quickly as possible. 
 
 
5.  (C) Those detained in connection with the events of 
August 12-13 generally fell into three categories, Shaheed 
contended:  those with a &political agenda8; Muslim 
&extremists8 that are loyal to &Sheik8 Ibrahim Fareed,  a 
local religious figure recently charged with committing acts 
against the state, and common criminals.   Most of those 
released so far fell into the third category, Shaheed said. 
He confirmed that 74 individuals remain in detention, 
including five women, two members of the Regular Majlis and 
five Members of the Special Majlis.  To date, 122 of those 
originally detained have been released, Shaheed said, 
including 25 minors under the age of 18.  He emphasized that 
members of the Maldives, National Human Rights Commission 
had been given access to all prisoners (although he did not 
know how many had actually been visited) and that the 
Government had invited the ICRC and Amnesty International to 
visit as well. 
 
EU Delegation sees official fear of reform 
------------------------------------------ 
 
6.  (C) An EU delegation, consisting of Colombo- and New 
Delhi- based diplomats from the Dutch, French, and British 
missions visited Maldives August 23-24 to speak with the 
government and the detainees arrested in the wake of the 
protests.  On August 26, Harry van Dijk, Deputy Head of 
Mission at the Netherlands Embassy in Colombo described the 
visit to polchief and poloff as informative and troubling at 
the same time.  Van Dijk said the entire five-person 
delegation was left with the impression that the government 
was engaged in a power struggle that began on June 9 when the 
President announced his sweeping views for constitutional 
reforms.  When the government experienced the first 
contentious meeting of the Special Majlis -- convoked to 
address the constitutional reforms -- van Dijk said he 
believed the government quickly realized that it may not be 
able to "control" the reforms, as it had envisioned.  In 
response, the GORM was using the veil of fundamentalists to 
crack down on those in the pro-reform movement, van Dijk 
said.  Describing Gayoom as having "village syndrome," van 
Dijk added that the President was likely unable to cope with 
the widespread change he suddenly saw coming. 
 
7.  (C) In addition to their meetings with GORM officials 
(the police, Human Rights Commission, MFA interlocutors, but 
not the President or Foreign Minister), the EU delegation 
also met with several of the detainees including six MPs, 
Sheik Fareed, the government-characterized fundamentalist who 
instigated the August 12-13 protests, and one commissioner on 
the Human Rights Commission.  The GORM had placed constraints 
on the meetings with the detainees, requiring both a police 
and MFA official to be present and restricting detainees from 
speaking about the events leading to their arrest.  Regarding 
their arrest and detention, the prisoners told the EU 
delegation the following: 
 
-- They alleged physical abuse in the arrest process, but 
said that they had been treated fairly while in detention at 
Dhoonidoo prison.  All alleged psychological abuse in prison 
however; 
 
-- All the men had been kept in solitary confinement, without 
access to lawyers or legal books, including the constitution. 
 
 
-- The one female detainee visited stated that she had been 
abused while in detention at another prison facility, 
although that the abuse had stopped upon her transfer to 
Dhoonidoo.  She had, however, been held in a cell with 
another female; 
 
-- Those who had requested family visits were allowed such, 
but under the same constraints as the EU delegation visit. 
 
With the exception of one of the detainees, the EU delegation 
said the rest of those visited seem to be good physical 
condition. 
 
8.  (C) The delegation also quietly met with those who had 
been arrested August 13 and "conditionally" released.  They 
spoke on condition of anonymity, van Dijk said, since their 
release was contingent on not speaking to outsiders about 
their experience.  Van Dijk said those released were still in 
fear of the government and had a strong sense of intimidation 
by the government.  In his impression, van Dijk said, the 
"bystanders" who were released were also likely abused in 
prison to "discourage further support for the reform group." 
 
9.  (C) Contemplating ways to go forward, van Dijk said that 
the EU would likely issue a statement, politely saying that 
it was not fooled by the government's official version of 
events.  Further the statement would probably call for the 
restoration of fundamental rights and the rescinding of the 
state of emergency.  Van Dijk felt that, given Maldives' 
strong dependence on EU tourists, the EU likely had leverage 
with the Maldivian government.  Confirming van Dijk's 
impressions, Margaret Tongue, poloff at the British HC told 
poloff on August 25 that the Maldivian Minister of Tourism 
was acting as Special Envoy for the GORM in visits to the UK, 
France, and Italy.  Tongue added that the Maldivian 
minister's first stop had been with HMG on August 25. 
GSL meets GORM envoy 
-------------------- 
 
10.  (C) In an August 25 conversation with Charge', Sri 
Lankan Foreign Minister Lakshman Kadirgamar said that the 
August 23 GSL meeting with the Maldivian envoy, Health 
Minister Ahmed Abdullah, "went as expected."  The GSL 
subsequently issued a statement -- note: very similar to the 
U.S. one -- that said Abdullah had assured both Kadirgamar 
and GSL Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapakse of the safety of the 
detainees.  In a separate press conference after the meeting, 
Abdullah was quoted as saying that GSL officials were 
"supportive of the political development...and hoped the 
situation would return to normal." 
 
 
ICRC intent on official relationship 
------------------------------------ 
 
11.  (C) During an August 25 meeting, Robert Przedpelski, 
International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) Deputy Head 
of the Regional Delegation for South Asia, updated polchief 
and poloff about the status of ICRC's proposal to the 
Maldivian government.  Przedpelski said that ICRC had 
presented a draft MOU to the GORM in April 2004 to establish 
a formal relationship.  He added that several government 
officials supported the proposal, including the Attorney 
General and Human Rights Commission, and stated it had 
reached the level of the president.  In the wake of the 
August 12-13 protest and subsequent arrested, Przedpelski 
said the Attorney General had indicated that the ICRC could 
visit the detainees even without an MOU.  In response, 
Przedpelski said he declined because he wanted an officially 
defined relationship so that ICRC could visit under its own 
terms and not for the GORM's political expediency.  While 
Przedpelski said he was going to continue the dialogue with 
the GORM, he asked for quiet help from the international 
community to bring about a resolution to the ICRC's proposal. 
 
Comment 
------- 
 
12.  (C) That Gayoom seems to believe that he can publicly 
insist on his continued commitment to reform while 
simultaneously detaining leading pro-reform forces 
incommunicado offers the best example of the "village 
syndrome" the Dutch DCM observed in him.  The "reform" Gayoom 
referred to in his August 26 address before the Majlis 
clearly does not seem to be the same kind of reform 
envisioned by his political opponents, who, for the time 
being, have become his political prisoners.  Although some of 
the remaining detainees may be legitimate threats to 
Maldives' security, the GORM's continued insistence on 
linking pro-reform detainees with murky "extremists" 
paradoxically appears to be an attempt to discredit a reform 
process that Gayoom himself originally championed.  Despite 
his provincialism, Gayoom appears sensitive to international 
criticism and opinion.  We should continue to remind him that 
events in his "village" have gained a far wider audience, one 
that expects him to uphold his commitments to true reform. 
END COMMENT. 
 
Action Request 
-------------- 
 
13.  (C) Mission requests that Department officials raise the 
issue of a potential GORM-ICRC MOU when they meet with 
Maldivian Envoy Latheef next week.  Signing an MOU with ICRC 
can only help the government, as it can potentially refute 
allegations of prison abuse with the contention that it 
receives official visits from the Red Cross.  END ACTION 
REQUEST. 
ENTWISTLE