Press Release: Joint letter to President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih regarding attempts to unduly influence judicial redress by the Maldivian Democracy Network (MDN) – (ENG)
- April 8, 2021
A joint letter signed by 30 human rights organisations worldwide has requested the Maldives’ president, Ibrahim Mohamed Solih on 7 April 2021 to provide the legal basis for the unfair administrative action against the Maldivian Democracy Network (MDN) in December 2019. The letter was sent in response to President Solih’s recent comments, on 10 March 2021, regarding the ongoing investigation against MDN and its founders, which were both factually and legally inaccurate.
MDN, the oldest human rights group in the Maldives, was arbitrarily shut down by the Maldivian Government in response to, and legitimising, a smear campaign against the organisation instigated by violent groups and religious hardliners in late 2019, accusing MDN’s 2016 report on violent extremism of containing blasphemous content.
The letter called on President Solih to stop his attempts to influence an ongoing judicial process where MDN is seeking redress for its de-registration. It further reminded the president that his actions potentially risk the security and safety of those associated with MDN, while his government failed to protect them from death threats and other violent threats during the smear campaign in late 2019.
Signatories are as follows:
1. ALTSEAN-Burma
2. Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development (Forum-Asia)
3. Asian Resource Foundation (ARF), Thailand
4. Association of Parents of Disappeared Persons (APDP), Kashmir
5. AwazCDS-Pakistan
6. BALAOD Mindanaw, Philippines
7. Bytes For All, Pakistan
8. CIVICUS: World Alliance for Citizen Participation
9. Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (CHRI)
10. Freedom House
11. International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH)
12. Jammu Kashmir Coalition of Civil Society
13. Karapatan Alliance Philippines
14. Kazakhstan International Bureau for Human Rights and the Rule of Law
15. League for the Defence of Human Rights in Iran (LDDHI)
16. Maldivian Democracy Network – Geneva
18. Manushya Foundation, Thailand
19. Metro Center For Journalists Rights & Advocacy, Iraqi Kurdistan Region
20. National Commission for Justice and Peace (NCJP), Pakistan
21. OPEN ASIA / Armanshahr Foundation
22. Philippine Alliance of Human Rights Advocates (PAHRA), Philippines
23. Public Association Dignity (Kazakhstan)
24. SUARAM, Malaysia
25. Sudanese Development Initiative (SUDIA), Sudan
26. The Association of Women for Awareness and Motivation (AWAM), Pakistan
27. Think Centre, Singapore
28. Universal Rights Group, Geneva
29. Vietnam Committee on Human Rights
30. Vietnamese Women for Human Rights
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ENDS.