US embassy cable - 04COLOMBO1686

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 COLOMBO 001686 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR SA/INS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/07/2014 
TAGS: PGOV, PREL, PHUM, MV, Maldives 
SUBJECT: MALDIVES:  GOVERNMENT LIFTS EMERGENCY FOLLOWING 
AMBASSADOR'S VISIT 
 
REF: A. STATE 216176 
 
     B. COLOMBO 1610 
     C. COLOMBO 1582 
     D. COLOMBO 1516 
 
Classified By: AMB. JEFFREY J. LUNSTEAD.  REASON:  1.4 (B,D). 
 
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SUMMARY 
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1.  (C) In an October 6-7 visit to Maldives, Ambassador urged 
the President, Attorney General and Cabinet Ministers to 
relax the State of Emergency, continue the process of 
democratic reform, and improve conditions for detainees, 
including restoring the right to legal counsel.  He 
emphasized that reconvening the Special Majlis (which is 
scheduled for October 12) without the participation of 
Members in detention could raise serious questions about the 
credibility of Government reform efforts.  In an 
unprecedented move, the Government also allowed the 
Ambassador unsupervised conversations with detained Members 
of the Special Majlis.  President Gayoom indicated to the 
Ambassador that he believes that some of the detained MPs 
were involved in a plot to overthrow his government and will 
likely be charged accordingly.  Just before the Ambassador's 
departure the evening of October 7, the Government Spokesman 
informed him that the State of Emergency will be lifted 
before October 12 and that the President had decided to allow 
the detainees access to legal counsel, reading materials and 
exercise.  (Note:  The Government lifted the State of 
Emergency early the following day.  End note.)  President 
Gayoom asked for an update on the status of Guantanamo 
detainee Fowzy.  The Government seems anxious to repair the 
diplomatic damage wrought by its earlier rebuff of visiting 
EU Chiefs of Mission (Ref D) and to defuse international 
criticism of its actions after August 12-13.  If, however, 
the Government reconvenes the Special Majlis without the very 
Members who pushed for its formation, the credibility of its 
commitment to reform will continue to be questioned.  End 
summary. 
 
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GOVERNMENT VIEW:  UNDER SIEGE 
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2.  (SBU) The Ambassador visited Maldives October 6-7 and met 
with President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom; Deputy Foreign Minister 
Shihab Hussain and Foreign Secretary Abdul Zakariyya; Home 
Minister Umar Zahir; Defense Minister Ismail Shafeeu; and 
Attorney General Hassan Saeed.  In addition, he also met with 
members of the Maldives Human Rights Commission, Indian High 
Commissioner  S. Gavahi, UNDP Resident Representative Moez 
Doraid, and Members of the Special Majlis detained after the 
demonstrations of August 12-13. 
 
3.  (C)  With Government of the Republic of Maldives (GORM) 
interlocutors, the Ambassador welcomed the October 5 signing 
of a Memorandum of Understanding between the GORM and the 
International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).  (Note: 
ICRC will likely have its first visit to detainees in 
November after Ramadan.  End note.)  Noting GORM plans to 
reconvene the Special Majlis on October 12, he cautioned that 
holding such a meeting without the participation of more than 
10 percent of its membership (who remain in detention since 
the demonstrations) could severely diminish the credibility 
of the Special Majlis as a reform body and raise serious 
questions about GORM intentions about reform.  If reconvening 
the Special Majlis is viewed as a facade to pass only 
cosmetic reforms, it could be worse than not reconvening the 
body at all.  The desire for reform among ordinary Maldivians 
appears both broad-based and deep-seated; attempts at 
suppression could subvert that healthy desire into negative 
and destructive channels like radicalism, he warned.  As a 
friend of Maldives, the U.S. wants to see the country 
progress along the path to reform and greater 
democratization.  Moreover, the credibility of evidence 
against detainees gathered under a State of Emergency, when 
the normal checks and balances of the legal system have been 
suspended, may be questioned by the international community 
and ordinary Maldivians, he said. 
 
4.  (C)  He pressed the President to lift the State of 
Emergency and continue with proposed reforms as soon as 
possible.  The Ambassador noted that while none of the 
detainees he interviewed showed signs of physical abuse, many 
seemed to display symptoms of acute psychological stress, 
which could be attributed to their extended solitary 
confinement.  Many complained that they had been interrogated 
only briefly and wondered why they were being held for 
"investigation" if they were not being investigated, he 
reported.  If the Emergency cannot be lifted for reasons of 
national security, he urged the Government to restore the 
detainees' right to legal counsel and make other improvements 
in their conditions, including allowing them access to 
reading material, exercise and more frequent family visits. 
(Note:  Detainees are allowed one visit every 20 days.  A few 
prominent detainees have had more frequent visits.  End note.) 
 
5.  (C)  GORM interlocutors, including the President, 
indicated that the State of Emergency would likely be lifted 
before the Special Majlis reconvened on October 12.  The 
President noted that he had drafted some articles for a new 
Constitution for the Majlis' consideration.  "I don't mean 
they have to pass (his proposed draft);may be released in 
time to participate in the October 12 session, both the 
Attorney General and the President indicated, but others will 
likely remain in detention to face "very serious charges" of 
conspiring against the Government.  The Attorney General is 
in the process of drawing up these charges.  The 
demonstrations of August 12-13 were "the culmination of a 
long-time process," the President charged, involving  various 
groups, including "fundamentalists, political activists and 
common criminals" conspiring to overthrow the government. 
The results of ongoing investigations, once disclosed, will 
substantiate that charge, the President promised.  He 
undertook to review the conditions of detention the 
Ambassador cited, indicating that he would consider allowing 
the detainees access to legal counsel, reading material, 
exercise and more frequent family visits.  (Note:  Just 
before the Ambassador left Maldives the evening of October 7, 
the Government Spokesman told him that the President had 
decided to restore the detainees' right to legal counsel and 
make other improvements in their conditions and that the 
State of Emergency would be lifted in the next few days.  The 
State of Emergency was lifted early October 8, according to 
the Government-owned website.  End note.) 
 
6.  (C)  President Gayoom also asked for an update on the 
case of Guantanamo detainee Ibrahim Fowzy.  The Ambassador 
advised the President that Fowzy's case remains under active 
review. 
 
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DETAINEES COMPLAIN OF ISOLATION 
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7.  (C)  On October 6 the Ambassador met with 10 Members of 
the Special Majlis detained on Dhoonidoo Island.  (Two of the 
detainees are also Members of the Regular Majlis.)  An 
eleventh MP was in the hospital and not available to be 
interviewed.  At the Ambassador's request, the Government 
agreed to allow him some unsupervised discussion with each of 
the detainees--the first time the Government has granted that 
request to anyone.  (Note:  Under the agreed arrangement, a 
police escort was present for part of the conversation.  At 
the Ambassador's request, the policeman left at the end of 
each interview, giving each detainee an opportunity to speak 
to the Ambassador in private.  Surprisingly, none of the 
detainees said anything during this confidential exchange 
that they had not already said during the supervised portion 
of the interview.  End note.) 
 
8.  (C)  With the exception of one detainee, who complained 
of being roughly handled when he was first arrested, none of 
the detainees complained of physical abuse.  Each said he had 
adequate food and access to medical care.  All complained of 
severe psychological stress--and many showed evidence of such 
strain--because of their extended detention in solitary 
confinement.  The prisoners are strictly forbidden from 
communicating with one another; doing so means the revocation 
of "privileges" like food and water, according to one 
detainee.  Except for the Koran, they are not allowed reading 
or writing material.  (One detainee's request for a copy of 
the Constitution was denied.)  Except for a few detainees who 
have been given a special exemption for medical reasons, most 
are confined in 8x8 cells with no opportunity to exercise. 
Family visits are rare and heavily supervised.  Most 
detainees have been permitted only one visit.  Only wives, 
apparently, are permitted to visit; even babies and small 
children are not allowed.  One detainee's request to 
telephone his children (one and three years old) was denied. 
Many also complained that they had been interrogated only 
briefly.  One detainee, who said he had been interviewed for 
no more than ten minutes in a three-week span, asked 
rhetorically why he was being detained for investigation if 
he was not being investigated.  Many inferred from the GORM's 
apparent lack of interest in interviewing them that other 
"evidence" against them was being compiled.  Some said that 
the police had confiscated computer equipment from their 
homes several weeks earlier and speculated that the GORM 
might plant incriminating e-mails or other documents to build 
a case against them.  A number of detainees intimated that 
the Government seemed to be focusing its attention--and thus 
likely its case--on Ibrahim Gasim, a prominent businessman 
and popular new Member of the Special Majlis who had seemed 
poised to win the post of Speaker. 
 
9.  (C) Each detainee denied that he was seeking to overthrow 
the government.  A few said that they hoped President Gayoom 
would finish out his current term and leave a legacy of 
democratic reform that the whole country could be proud of. 
Gasim himself, who said he had been given anti-depressants 
and whose hands were shaking, said he was suffering from 
"mental problems" as a result of sleep deprivation in the 
early days of his confinement.  (Note:  He appeared to be 
suffering from acute psychological strain.  End note.)  His 
wife was attempting to bring a neurologist from Germany, he 
reported, but it seemed uncertain that the GORM would permit 
the doctor access to him.  He denied ever giving money to 
"Sheikh" Farid, a radical Muslim preacher facing subversion 
charges.  "I want women to be able to run for President," he 
declared; "Farid is against that."  "People are framing me," 
he concluded sadly.  Ibrahim Zaki, a former SAARC Secretary 
General and government servant for 38 years, also seemed to 
be showing signs of mental stress.  Declaring that he was 
suffering from heart and back problems, he said that he had 
signed a "statement," after which, he believes, he will be 
released from detention and given time with his family before 
being sent to the hospital. 
 
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COMMENT 
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10.  (C)  The GORM realizes it must repair the diplomatic 
damage done by its reaction to the events of August 12-13 and 
its ill-judged treatment of a high-level EU delegation 
reviewing the situation (Ref D).  The lifting of the State of 
Emergency, promised improvements in the detainees' conditions 
and the October 5 signing of the MOU with ICRC are all 
encouraging developments.  That said, it seems certain that 
the GORM will proceed with "very serious charges"--possibly 
relating to treason or subversion--against at least some of 
the detained MPs.  These events will  cast a long shadow over 
the next sitting of the Special Majlis and could undermine 
its ability to pass credible reforms.  A reconstituted 
Special Majlis, neutralized by the absence of the most active 
and vociferous proponents of reform, is unlikely to satisfy 
most Maldivians' genuine desire for greater democratic 
change. 
 
 
LUNSTEAD