A handful of the Maldives police facing allegations of brutality against pro-democracy protesters, opposition MPs and journalists were in fact trained by the Scottish Police College and former Scottish officers, thus making the training of the Maldives officers questionable.
The Maldives is marketed as a tourist’s paradise; nonetheless incriminating behaviour by the Maldives police has obliterated this utopia.
Accordingly following the brutality of the police authority, a series of damning reports by human rights investigators have emerged. The Maldives police service (MPS) is being accused of serious incidents of civil rights abuses against the aforementioned trio.
Violence escalated in the Commonwealth nation drastically after the forced departure of Mohamed Nasheed this February. Being the first democratically elected president, it’s no surprise this incident caused pro-democracy demonstrations.
Reports show how the brutality of events has lead to the mass detention of 2,000 opposition activists, assaults and arrests of 19 opposition MPs, as well as sexual assaults, torture and the indiscriminate use of pepper sprays – including twice against ex-president Nasheed. These accounts alone highlight the questionable nature of the MPS’s action and subsequently the controversial issues surrounding the officers training.
Countless groups have reported to the Guardian about their serious concerns over the UK’s role, please click here to read the article.
Since the release of the above article from the Guardian highlighting the close ties between British and Maldives police, the Foreign Office ministers have raised serious concerns about the human rights abuses.
Accordingly they will now be pressuring the Maldives government into tackling the issue head on, as an official visit next month has been arranged.
After the release of the previous article it has emerged that at least 77 police officers were indeed trained by the Scottish Police College and now foreign secretary, William Hague, and ministers in the Scottish Government have a lot to discuss.
To read the follow up article on the Guardian, please click here.
