Rights group urges India's engagement over Maldives rights issues

Amnesty International on Thursday urged India to lead diplomatic engagement with authorities in Maldives, where the group reported a deteriorating human rights situation. A delegation from the human rights group visited the Indian Ocean island nation and tourist paradise this month and said vigilante religious groups and criminal gangs were attacking peaceful anti-government protesters while police looked the other way. Maldivian authorities were muzzling peaceful protesters and abusing police and judiciary to imprison opposition politicians, the group found.  Amnesty's delegation met lawyers, journalists and activists. But it wasn't allowed to meet government officials and jailed former President Mohamed Nasheed and instead was told to come again in May, Amnesty researcher Abbas Faiz told reporters in New Delhi.

``As an influential neighbor and an important regional power, India has a responsibility to work toward a human rights-friendly environment in the Maldives,'' said Raghu Menon, the group's advocacy coordinator in India.  He said rights activists in the Maldives felt that the international community was not bothered about what was happening there and warned that the Maldives might destabilize if the situation deteriorated unchecked.  Amnesty's report said a climate of fear was spreading. ``The authorities have a growing track record of silencing critical voices by any means necessary _ be it through the police, the judicial system or outright threats and harassment,'' it said.

Nasheed is serving a 13-year prison sentence for ordering the arrest and detention of a senior judge three years ago. His imprisonment has cast doubt over the Maldives' transition to democracy, which began after Nasheed was elected in 2008, ending 30 years of autocratic rule by Maumoon Abdul Gayoom. Opposition supporters said the case was aimed at eliminating Nasheed as a potential candidate in the 2018 presidential election. Earlier this month, the defense minister in Nasheed's government was sentenced to 10 years in prison for conspiring to arrest the judge and helping detain him on an island used for military training. ‎ (Source: AP)‎