‘Unwarranted and unconstructive’: Maldives slams UK-led call to end state of emergency
President Abdulla Yameen invoked emergency powers and suspended basic rights “primarily because the bench of the Supreme Court was beyond any measure of constitutional accountability,” the Maldives permanent representative told the UN Human Rights Council.
10 Mar 2018, 9:00 AM
The Maldives has dismissed “unwarranted and unconstructive” calls from 41 nations at the UN Human Rights Council to immediately address a deteriorating human rights situation.
In a right to reply delivered in response to the UK-led joint statement, the Maldives permanent representative in Geneva defended the declaration of a state of emergency in response to a Supreme Court order on February 1 for the release of nine prisoners, which the government alleges was part of a coup plot to remove the president from office.
Citing concerns raised by a former UN rights expert in 2013, who had described the Maldivian judiciary as “politicised, inadequate and subject to external influence,” she stressed that the conclusions were previously supported by the UK and EU as well as the UN human rights chief.
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