Rights body urges CCTV in police cells after custody deaths

The Human Rights Commission of the Maldives (HRCM) has called on the Maldives Police Service to install CCTV cameras in and around all police detention centres, expressing deep concern over a recent spike in custodial deaths and incidents of self-harm.

The call comes in the wake of multiple distressing incidents reported from the Kulhudhuffushi Police Station. Earlier this month, a 34-year-old man being held in police custody attempted suicide and later died while receiving treatment at a hospital. He had been on a ventilator for a week before his death on Thursday.

The HRCM issued a statement on Monday, four days after his passing, confirming it had launched an investigation into the case.

The commission revealed that its investigation team had been dispatched to Kulhudhuffushi on April 4, the day the police officially submitted the case to the commission. The team has since been gathering statements from the victim’s family and examining the circumstances surrounding the incident.

The HRCM further disclosed that another detainee in the same police station had recently attempted to harm himself, raising further alarm about the safety and mental wellbeing of individuals held in state custody. The commission has also reopened an investigation into the 2022 suicide of Aboobakuru Faisal, who died while being held at the same station.

“In light of these incidents, the commission has requested the police to install CCTV cameras inside and outside all the police stations,” the HRCM stated.

The police have cited budget constraints as the primary reason for the delay in installing surveillance systems.

However, the commission stressed that such limitations should not prevent immediate action and recommended that the installations be carried out in phases. Until full coverage is achieved, the HRCM advised that detention cells be closely monitored by officers at all times.

The commission also noted that it has met with relevant government bodies to raise concerns over the growing number of suicide and self-harm cases in detention.

In addition to the three incidents in Kulhudhuffushi, two other prisoners have recently died by suicide in other jails across the country.