CHASING JUSTICE MALDIVES: STUDY ON IMPUNITY FOR CRIMES AGAINST JOURNALISTS AUGUST 2021 2 STUDY ON IMPUNITY FOR CRIMES AGAINST JOURNALISTS 3 4 STUDY ON IMPUNITY FOR CRIMES AGAINST JOURNALISTS CONTENTS EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 4 ABOUT THE REPORT 5 THE SURVEY 6 Maldives Journalist Association (MJA) KEY FINDINGS 6 is a non-governmental organization that represents Maldivian journalists. Established RECOMMENDATIONS 6 in 2009, MJA advocates for journalistic professional rights, facilitates capacity building and professional development, and CHAPTER 1: A HISTORY OF VIOLENCE AND IMPUNITY 7 ensures a safe and free working environment Repression by design 7 for journalists. Fleeting democracy 8 Author: Fazla Abdul-Samad Crushing dissent 8 Editorial support: Lara Pagola, Emily Beck Journalists pay a heavy price 9 Design: Lx9Design.com Every effort has been made to verify the CHAPTER 2: NEW GOVERNMENT, NEW PROMISES 14 accuracy of the information contained in this report. All information was believed to A remarkable turnaround 14 be correct as of March 2021. Nevertheless, Breaking away from a repressive past 14 Maldives Journalist Association cannot Impunity marches on 15 accept responsibility for the consequences of its use for other purposes or in other contexts. CHAPTER 3: SURVEY FINDINGS 16 © 2021 Maldives Journalist Association Lack of safety for journalists 16 Front cover: Journalists protest the Impunity 16 Defamation Bill in Malé in August 2016. Government failings 16 CREDIT: MOHAMED AFRA Government not tackling impunity 17 Previous spread: Activists protest in 2015, Media regulators not performing 17 one year on from the disappearance of Criminal gangs restrict press freedom 18 local journalist and blogger Ahmed Rilwan Abdulla who was only confirmed dead in Low trust in government 19 2019. The online campaign in 2015 to More violence online than offline 19 find Rilwan was called #FindMoyameenaa. Threats reporting on political corruption 20 CREDIT: SUPPLIED Few journalists report attacks or threats 21 This material has been funded by UK aid from the UK government; however the views Not reporting violence 22 expressed do not necessarily reflect the UK Cases are not investigated 22 government’s official policies. Perpetrators enjoy impunity 22 Gender-specific threats 23 Few women report attacks or threats 23 Reported cases not investigated 24 Perpetrators enjoy impunity 24 Self-censorship 25 METHODOLOGY 25 5 One of the key demands of the families of Rilwan and Yameen is to find PREFACE the people who funded their abduction/murder. CREDIT: ASHWA FAHEEM e are pleased to share with you this report on report. Similarly, MJA’s research assistant Ahmed Naish impunity for crimes against journalists in the and IFJ’s Lara Pagola and Emily Beck who all provided WMaldives, based on a study commissioned by the editorial support to finalise the research report. Maldives Journalist Association (MJA) with support The project would not have been possible without from the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) and financial support of Foreign Commonwealth and funding from the British High Commission in Malé. Development Office (FCDO) and the British High This research report documents the history of violence Commission in the Maldives. We are grateful to Safa and impunity for crimes against journalists in Maldives Mustafa, project manager of the Conflict, Stability and and the findings of a survey on current threat perceptions Security Fund (CSSF) program of the BHC in Malé for her amongst journalists in the country. inputs during the designing of the research. As with any work of this magnitude, we are sincerely Last but not least; our sincere thanks go to all the thankful for the support of a lot of people who came survey participants including survey respondents, focus together to make this happen. group interviewees and key informant interviewees I would like to acknowledge the tireless efforts of Fazla who provided data and information. Their insights and Abdul-Samad for her research and this report. Along with observations in the form of responses to the survey and Fazla, I thank IFJ Asia Pacific director, Jane Worthington; other interviews make up the soul of this report. IFJ South Asia coordinator, Umesh Pokharel; and MJA interim coordinator and executive committee member We thank you. Mohamed Junayd Saleem who all worked on the design and implementation phases of this work, providing their Mohamed Hamdhoon input during data collection during the drafting of the President, Maldives Journalists Association (MJA) 6 STUDY ON IMPUNITY FOR CRIMES AGAINST JOURNALISTS EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ournalists in the Maldives have always had to deal with Defamation Act that was used by the previous government to threats of violence while carrying out their jobs, especially silence independent media outlets was repealed. A commission J under autocratic governments seeking to muzzle critics and was established to investigate unresolved deaths and control the dissemination of information. Between 1978 and disappearances, including those of journalist Ahmed Rilwan 2008, former president Maumoon Abdul Gayoom ruled with and blogger Yameen Rasheed. International covenants and an iron fist, controlling every aspect of the state. Fear of torture, domestic laws were ratified with the intention of promoting arbitrary arrests, or being charged with terrorism was the and protecting fundamental rights, checking police and state- lived reality of many journalists and dissenting voices critical led violence, and ending the culture of impunity. of the government. In fact, the following words by an editor However, undoing decades of political patronage that has of a popular media outlet neatly sums up the state of freedom protected and emboldened criminal gangs and extremist under the Gayoom regime: “Once, I wrote about a dream and groups is an ongoing challenge for the Solih administration. they put me in jail for 117 days.”1 Despite evidence that a local extremist group affiliated with Following the country’s first democratic elections in 2008, al-Qaeda is responsible for Ahmed Rilwan’s disappearance and journalists enjoyed a brief period where they could write about Yameen Rasheed’s murder, the delivery of justice has been slow the government without fear. However, the smooth democratic with no closure in sight for the families of the murdered. transition quickly gave way to a bitter zero-sum political Meanwhile, journalists continue to write, scrutinize, and struggle. In 2012, the government of Mohamed Nasheed fell, inform the country while being intimidated and harassed with the Maldives sliding back to autocratic control once again. by various sources. Although there has not been a single Between 2013 and 2018, former president Abdulla murder, abduction or physical assault against journalists since Yameen led a ruthless campaign to crush dissent. Attacks Solih assumed office, what has increased is online violence on journalists and media outlets took many forms: murder, against journalists delivered through anonymous social media enforced disappearance, arbitrary arrests and detention, direct accounts. According to the findings of the survey and focus threats and intimidation, physical assault, and defamation group discussions presented in this study, some anonymous or criminal lawsuits. In many cases, the attacks were carried accounts are believed to be linked to government officials and out in collusion with criminal gangs and gangs radicalized extremist groups. into violent extremism. These groups enjoyed complete state In addition to online violence, journalists also report being protection and political patronage. pressured and intimidated by government officials and political Yameen’s autocratic rule came to an end in 2018 with appointees through indirect behind-the-curtain threats for the election of President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih and his being critical of the government and reporting on political coalition government committed to wide-reaching reforms. corruption. Three months into Solih’s presidency, the draconian Anti- As for offline violence, although threats from criminal gangs 7 Left: Citizens protest in Malé following former president Abdulla Yameen declaring a state of emergency in February 2018. CREDIT: RAAJJE TV ABOUT THE REPORT Above: Families of slain blogger Yameen Rasheed and journalist Ahmed Rilwan march in 2018, one year on from Yameen’s death. CREDIT: MALDIVES his report, presented in three chapters, provides INDEPENDENT a broad picture of the dangers faced by many T journalists in the Maldives. It describes the types of are less frequent than they used to be, gangs continue to be a violence and threats journalists encounter along with the big threat for journalists. nature and frequency of these types of violations. Gender-specific threats against women journalists were also For the purpose of this report, a journalist is defined as identified as a concerning problem. The perpetrators range “a wide range of actors, including professional full-time from online threats and harassment from anonymous sources reporters and analysts, as well as bloggers and others to sexual harassment from sources, contacts, and colleagues. In who engage in forms of self-publication in print, on the fact, given that sexual harassment and gender discrimination internet or elsewhere.”2 is normalized in the workplace, women journalists feel their The first chapter of the report looks at the political bosses and editors do not take gender-specific threats seriously.