(London) – The Maldives government should withdraw plans to introduce a bill to end the longstanding moratorium on the death penalty in the country, 10 Maldivian and international human rights organizations said today. The authorities should also seek to repeal recent amendments to the Drugs Act of 2011 that allow capital punishment for drug-related offenses, maintain the moratorium on executions,...
The strongest version of this narrative centers on human rights violations and the erosion of judicial integrity. The Maldives government’s push to reinstate the death penalty, particularly for drug offenses, clashes with international norms and the country’s own legal commitments under the ICCPR. The argument gains weight from the documented history of judicial corruption in the Maldives, raising concerns about due process and arbitrary enforcement. The inclusion of regional trends—where countr...