MALE, March 11 - The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Dr. Ahmed Shaheed has welcomed the US State Department's recent report on the human rights situation in the Maldives as indicative of the tremendous strides forward that the country has taken towards its human rights goals in the past 12 months.
Speaking on Friday, Shaheed praised the report's openness in highlighting areas for improvement, whilst reiterating the government's commitment to bring the Maldives into line with internationally accepted human rights norms and standards.
“We maintain a close dialogue with the US government and view this report as an important continuation of that dialogue”, Shaheed said.
“We hope our observers and stakeholders will take note of the many improvements and areas of progress highlighted in the report. The report's positive reaction to our efforts to improve the human rights situation in the Maldives will, I hope, provide the necessary encouragement for the government to press ahead with legislation intended to further improve our implementation of human rights standards. Of course there is criticism in the report -- we welcome that as well. No country in the world has a perfect human rights record. But the important point is how far we have come, and that our determination to improve remains as strong as ever”, he added.
The US report comes in the same week as the Maldives' own Human Rights Commission's Annual Report, released on 9 March. Looking forward to further improvements in the Maldives' human rights record, Chief Government Spokesman Mohamed Hussain Shareef said:
“Both these reports highlight not just where we need to improve and how far we have come, but also how determined we are to bring about those improvements and to consolidate our achievements. With the passing of the First Amendment to the Act on the Human Rights Commission of the Maldives, currently awaiting time in the People’s Majlis (the Parliament), and the subsequent appointment of new members to the Commission, we will once again have a fully active and independent watchdog to hold the government to account.”
“Of course, there will be inevitable tensions between the Human Rights Commission and the Executive. These are to be welcomed as an indication that the Commission is able to perform its function fully and independently. We have seen some excellent work from the Human Rights Commission, not least in its rapid and thorough investigation of recent allegations concerning Maafushi Prison, and we hope this is indicative of things to come.”
“Combined with the recently-tabled package of media reform bills, we expect human rights in the Maldives to continue to stride forward, and look forward to further recognition of this from the State Department's next report in twelve months' time.”