“Government Must Not Overreact” Warns Advisor After Himandhoo Arrests

By Minivan News
October 21, 2007

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“In the fight against terrorism it is imperative that the Government does not overreact,” the Maldives’ counter terror advisor has warned.

Singapore based Al Quaeda expert Dr Rohan Gunaratna trains the Maldives police and is believed to have the ear of President Gayoom.

He told Minivan News that the Government has a “broad mandate” to fight Islamic extremism for the first time following the Male' September 29 bomb blast.

But following the arrest of sixty three men on Himandhoo after a bloody confrontation, he warns the President must not overplay his hand by taking excessive measures.

“The Malé explosion was an Islamist terror attack intended to kill as many tourists as possible,” Gunaratna insists.

In a report written immediately after the explosion, the head of the Centre for Political Violence at Nanyang University called for a “soft approach” to counter terrorism in the Maldives.

He identified the Supreme Islamic Council as the vehicle to reform religious dissidents through “community engagement and rehabilitation.”

But the Government has opted for a tough approach. The police have arrested up to a hundred people and President Gayoom has proposed draconian regulations including a ban on the full veil and foreign preachers.

The clerics of the Supreme Council are openly questioning Gayoom’s policies, and demanding demanding independence from the President’s office.

And now the secular opposition is also beginning to round on Government measures.

Ahmed Moosa (Sappé), a UK based representative of the main opposition Maldivian Democratic Party, has told the BBC, the Government is “using a sledgehammer to crack a nut.”

And there are increasing concerns about the treatment of detainees.

At least three men are in detention accused of carrying out the September 29 bomb attack, while scores more have been detained for breaking Religious Unity laws in the subsequent crackdown.

A police spokesman today said, “there is no need to worry, prisoners will be treated according to laws and regulations.”

But the police will not say whether detainees have been given access to lawyers, or how many are being held under terrorism charges, which would alter the rights.

“As far as we know none of those being held have had access to lawyers,” warns Shahinda Ismail, the coordinator of local NGO Maldivian Detainees Network, who tracks the treatment of prisoners facing trial.