An independent United Nations human rights expert today welcomed the adoption of a bill by the Parliament of the Maldives to decriminalize defamation, and urged other States to take similar action.
An independent United Nations expert today welcomed measures taken by the new Government of the Maldives to establish democratic reforms, including on freedom of expression, in the Indian Ocean archipelago, which held its first-ever multi-party presidential elections last year.
A United Nations independent expert on judicial independence today welcomed the appointment of the first-ever women judges in the Maldives and called on authorities in the Indian Ocean archipelago to continue to take steps towards “an appropriate gender balance within the judiciary.”
United Nations agencies are providing much-needed assistance to the Maldives, which is suffering from the effects of two days of wave swells last week which have impacted at least 35 islands in 13 atolls in the Indian Ocean nation.
A United Nations legal expert has called for a completely independent judiciary in the Indian Ocean nation of the Maldives, stressing also that an appropriate police bill is “key” in preventing abuses, while calling as well for improved drug prevention and rehabilitation programmes as criminalization has failed.
A United Nations expert just back from a visit to the Maldives today hailed the country’s efforts at human rights reform but stressed that these must respect religious freedom.
In yet another United Nations-coordinated effort to promote recovery in the countries devastated by last December’s Indian Ocean tsunami, the Government of Maldives has launched a project financed by the Government of China that will provide $500,000 to rehabilitate two remote islands.
