Human Rights Watch has described a series of recent arrests for consensual gay sex in The Maldives as being politically motivated and called on the country to decriminalise consensual sex between same-sex partners.
Authorities should drop cases against four men and cease investigations to identify others who may have engaged in consensual same-sex relations in steps that appear aimed to appease extremist groups, Human Rights Watch said on Wednesday.
The human rights watchdog said the government of the Maldives should take immediate measures to repeal the provisions of Maldives’ 2014 penal code that makes “unlawful sexual intercourse” and “unlawful sexual contact” criminal offenses.
Police in the Maldives have announced they are investigating dozens of men they suspect of engaging in consensual same-sex activities.
The investigation follows the arrest of an Bangladeshi man who allegedly had sex with several men and recorded video of their interactions, after the videos leaked police arrested him and sought out the men filmed in the videos.
It has been reported that the young man was a sex worker and may have been using the videos to blackmail his clients.
Charges have been laid against three prominent men. Nazim Abdul Sattar, who is the brother of the current speaker of the parliament. alongside Mohamed ‘Colonel’ Nasheed a former MP, and Abdul Rahman Rafeeq, an officer of the police’s Drug Enforcement Department.
The three man face prison sentences ranging from five to eight years if convicted of the offences, and may also be subjected to 100 lashes.
On Tuesday Commissioner of Police Mohamed Hameed (pictured) said 38 people had been identified as having had same-sex relationships with man they initially arrested. The Police commissioner said they would be sent for prosecution as soon as their cases are investigated.
Police also that they had seized the passports of 18 people in connection with the case. Many of the people identified in the case were immediately suspended or fired from the employment despite no charges yet being laid.
“The Maldives authorities should immediately drop the unjust and apparently politically motivated investigations, and instead abide by international standards on rights protections,” said Graeme Reid, director of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Rights Program at Human Rights Watch.
“The government should repeal laws criminalizing consensual same-sex relations, which discriminate against lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender citizens, migrants and tourists, and are a recipe for abuse.”
“The arrest of four men for consensual same-sex conduct shows the arbitrary nature of these discriminatory laws,” Reid said. “The law leaves people open to blackmail and other abuse, and easily becomes a political tool in which those prosecuted bear the brunt of the abuse. The government should repeal the laws immediately.”
The arrests occurred while the Maldives government is facing backlash from extremist Islamist groups for detaining over 20 people, including two religious leaders and a former member of parliament for their alleged involvement in a violent attack on an event celebrating International Yoga Day on June 21.
These groups deemed the event, attended by government officials and foreign diplomats, as heretical, a celebration of idolatry or polytheism. On July 25, the Adhaalath party – a partner in the ruling coalition whose leader is the minister of home affairs – declared yoga forbidden.
Prior to the arrest of Mohamed Nasheed’s brother, opposition supporters, as well as Islamist groups, had been using social media to pressure the government about its arrests for the Yoga Day attacks while taking no action against the people allegedly involved in the leaked videos.
OIP Staff
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