The Maldives government has told the UN that it has nothing to do with the disappearance of journalist Ahmed Rilwan, who is missing since August 2014.
In a submission given five days ago to the UN Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances, the government stated that despite “extensive efforts” of the Maldives Police Service, it could not find Mr. Rilwan, also a blogger, and bring those responsible for his disappearance to justice.
Human rights activists and organisations such as the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative have been complaining that since 2011, there have been “politically and religiously motivated attacks and abductions” targeting bloggers, moderate clerics and parliamentarians. The disappearance of Mr. Rilwan is one among, they say. . Two months after the journalist went missing, the UN Working Group had appealed to the government to pursue the matter. The government denied the suggestion that that the law enforcement agencies had “failed to act diligently or have been negligent” in their conduct of the investigation.
Male argued that several individuals had been arrested and interviewed following over their alleged involvement in the matter. However, they were not charged amid lack of evidence.
The government added that the police “gives highest priority” to the case and was confident that “the matter will be brought to a satisfactory conclusion”.
