Govt withdraws bill criminalising genocide, threats to economic security

The government has withdrawn a bill seeking to amend the Penal Code to introduce offences relating to genocide and threats to the Maldives' economic security, following criticism that the proposed legislation could be used against opponents of the Ras Malé development project.

The bill, submitted on behalf of the government by Maafannu South MP Abdulla Rifau of the ruling People's National Congress (PNC), had been scheduled for its first reading in Parliament on Tuesday.

However, it was subsequently removed from the agenda.

The bill was also absent from Wednesday's parliamentary agenda and was no longer available on Parliament's website.

Responding to questions from Dhauru, Rifau confirmed that the bill had been withdrawn.

"The bill has been withdrawn because there are matters that require further review," he said.

The amendment sought to introduce genocide as an offence under the Penal Code, covering acts committed against groups identified by nationality, race, ethnicity or religion.

The proposed provisions included killing members of such groups, causing them serious physical or psychological harm, and deliberately imposing living conditions intended to bring about the physical destruction of all or part of a group.

The bill also proposed criminalising measures intended to prevent births within such groups and the forcible transfer of children from one group to another.

The amendment also sought to introduce offences relating to actions that could threaten the country's economic security.

Under the proposed provisions, deliberately carrying out an act while knowing that it could cause substantial damage to the economy, or acting with disregard for that possibility, would constitute an offence.

The bill identified several categories of conduct that could fall within the proposed offence.

These included damaging critical infrastructure or computer systems connected to such infrastructure, disrupting essential services or interfering with systems used to provide them.

It also covered actions intended to halt the operations of a major sector generating state revenue, where such conduct resulted in substantial damage to the national economy.

The proposed legislation attracted criticism after media outlets reported its contents, with critics alleging that the bill was designed to penalise opposition to the government's Ras Malé development agreement.

The criticism centred partly on provisions addressing acts directed against groups based on nationality or religion.

Critics alleged that the provisions could be used to restrict statements concerning Mohamed Alabbar, chairman of Eagle Hills, the company involved in the Ras Malé project, and his alleged links to Israel.

They argued that the proposed offences could be used against people criticising Alabbar, Eagle Hills or Israel in connection with the development agreement.

The economic security provisions also drew criticism, with opponents alleging that they could be used against Maldivians campaigning against the allocation of land in Ras Malé to Eagle Hills.

Legal professionals also raised concerns about several aspects of the bill.

Among the issues identified were the proposed standards for establishing criminal liability and the penalties prescribed for genocide-related offences.

Lawyers questioned whether the bill set an insufficiently demanding standard for proving offences.

They also noted that the proposed punishment for killing a person as part of an act of genocide was less severe than the punishment generally prescribed for murder.

The government has not announced when the bill will be resubmitted or what changes will be made following its withdrawal.