The Maldives government must immediately reverse the politicisation of the country’s judiciary and the erosion of rule of law in the country، said the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) and South Asians for Human Rights (SAHR) in a joint fact-finding report released on Tuesday.
A joint delegation of the ICJ and SAHR conducted a fact-finding mission to the Maldives in May 2015 to assess the human rights situation since the current government assumed power in 2013.
 
The team called on the government to “immediately release Nasheed from detention and to ensure he receives necessary medical care and access to his family and lawyers.”
“We documented a serious erosion of the independence، impartiality and integrity of the judiciary، which has resulted in the deterioration in the rule of law in the Maldives and the stalling of the country’s transition toward a more representative government،” said Hina Jilani، SAHR Chairperson and a Commissioner of the ICJ.
 
The team further noted in their statement that the ‘current crisis in the rule of law risks turning the country back to the authoritarian days’.
Noting that the political crisis in Maldives has ‘hurt its human rights situation’ ICJ and SAHR emphasized that it can only be resolved with “the establishment of credible and impartial institutions in the country، particularly the judiciary.”
The Maldives’ human rights record will be discussed at the UN Human Rights Council later next month as part of the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) process.
 
Member states of the UN have already made a range of recommendations to the Maldives، and can make further statements at the Council session.
 
In addition، the statement said that the government will be expected formally to respond and indicate which of the recommendations it will commit to implement over the coming years.