Maldives: UN experts on arbitrary detention launch official visit

The UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention will carry out an official visit to Maldives, from 29 November to 9 December 2021, to assess the country’s situation regarding deprivation of liberty. 

The delegation – comprising five members of the group, Elina Steinerte, Miriam Estrada-Castillo, Leigh Toomey, Mumba Malila and Priya Gopalan – will visit Male as well as other parts of the country. They will meet Government officials, civil society groups and other relevant stakeholders. 

The experts will also visit a variety of places where people are held, including prisons, police stations and institutions for juveniles, migrants and people with psychosocial disabilities, to gather first-hand information which will form part of their overall assessment. 

The Working Group will share their preliminary observations at a press conference on 9 December 2021 at 12.00 hours (TBC) at the Hotel Maagiri in Male. Access will be strictly limited to journalists.  

The Working Group will present its final report on the visit to the UN Human Rights Council in September 2022.

ENDS

For media registration for the Press Conference, please contact Ms. Aminath Jala Zuhury  (ataminath.zuhury@un.org / + 960 7927727) and Ms. Fathimath Didi (fathimath.didi@one.un.org /+960 7978337).

The Working Group on Arbitrary Detention was established by the former Commission on Human Rights in 1991 to investigate instances of alleged arbitrary deprivation of liberty. Its mandate was clarified and extended by the Commission to cover the issue of administrative custody of asylum-seekers and immigrants. In September 2019, the Human Rights Council confirmed the scope of the Working Group's mandate and extended it for a further three-year period. The Working Group is comprised of five independent expert members from various regions of the world: Ms. Elina Steinerte (Latvia; Chair-Rapporteur), Ms. Miriam Estrada-Castillo (Ecuador; Vice-Chair on Communications); Ms. Leigh Toomey (Australia); Mr. Mumba Malila (Zambia) and Ms. Priya Gopalan (Malaysia).

The Working Group is part of what is known as the Special Procedures of the Human Rights Council. Special Procedures, the largest body of independent experts in the UN Human Rights system, is the general name of the Council’s independent fact-finding and monitoring mechanisms that address either specific country situations or thematic issues in all parts of the world. Special Procedures’ experts work on a voluntary basis; they are not UN staff and do not receive a salary for their work. They are independent from any government or organization and serve in their individual capacity. 

Database of the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention.

UN Human Rights, Country Page — Maldives

For press inquiries, contact Ms. Lucie Viersma (lucie.viersma@un.org); Ms. Margarita Nechaeva (margarita.nechaeva@un.org) or write to ohchr-wgad@un.org.

For media inquiries related to other UN independent experts please contact: Mr. Jeremy Laurence (+41 22 917 9383 / jeremy.laurence@un.org) 

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