President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu, on Wednesday, has appointed Dr. Aishath Rameela, the incumbent administration’s first Minister of Agriculture and Animal Welfare, as the president of the Human Rights Commission of the Maldives (HRCM).
Rameela’s appointment was announced by the President’s Office on Wednesday. However, President Muizzu is currently overseas on a nonofficial visit.
The former minister received parliamentary approval for the post during an extraordinary sitting held on Tuesday, with the vote on her appointment as the only matter on agenda.
Her appointment was approved with the unanimous votes of all 38 lawmakers in attendance.
The President’s letter nominating Rameela as HRCM’s president was sent to the Parliament on December 3rd. The letter was read out during the extraordinary sitting out of session held on Monday morning. Subsequently, Rameela’s nomination was forwarded to the Parliament’s Human Rights Committee for review.
The Committee unanimously approved Rameela’s appointment during a meeting held on Monday. The Committee approved the appointment without conducting an interview as Rameela had only been appointed to HRCM at the end of October.
Rameela was appointed a member of HRCM on December 3rd after receiving parliamentary backing in a unanimous vote on October 29th.
A PhD holder in social science, Rameela was appointed to head the Ministry of Agriculture and Animal Welfare – a new ministry – on November 17, 2023.
On November 29, 2023, Rameela announced that she had been diagnosed with advanced metastatic serous papillary carcinoma - a highly malignant form of ovarian cancer.
She underwent surgery, chemotherapy and immunotherapy abroad as part of her treatment, before she tendered her resignation on December 1, 2024.
Prior to this, she had served as a state minister at the Health Ministry on two separate occasions.
Apart from Rameela, the five-member HRCM currently comprise of:
Mohamed Shafeeg Mahmood, vice president
Samau Ahmed Najeeb
Ismail Habeeb Abdul Raheem
Ahmed Magsoom