“Sharing practical methods for implementing human rights ideals will further boost the police’s image in the local community.” - Rabab Fatima, Head, Human Rights Unit, Commonwealth Secretariat.
Human rights training for Maldives police
8 November 2006
The Commonwealth Secretariat has conducted human rights training for Maldives police instructors and legal officers through a programme in the capital Malé this month.
Supported by the Commonwealth Fund for Technical Co-operation, the workshop was conducted by the Secretariat's Human Rights Unit with law enforcement trainers from Commonwealth countries.
During the event -- held from 4 to 8 November 2006 -- participants received advice on how to ensure that international human rights standards are observed during core policing and prisons management duties.
Maldives' Minister for Home Affairs Ahmed Thasmeen Ali opened the workshop and said that the programme was part of the Government's roadmap for democratic reform. In fact, less than two months ago, Maldives ratified the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights -- a United Nations treaty based on the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
"We have greatly benefited from the detailed explanations on the rights of police officers, suspects, victims and the general public," said Corporal Aishath Shahula, one of the 30 participants at the workshop.
Rabab Fatima, Head of the Secretariat's Human Rights Unit, noted that it was important to incorporate human rights principles into the organisational culture and work of state agencies.
"Sharing practical methods for implementing human rights ideals will further boost the police's image in the local community. With the necessary training ideas and review systems in place, a good institutional mind-set and an organisational culture of good policing would be achieved," she stated.
Ms Fatima added that it is important for police forces to be trained in human rights to enable them to use this knowledge to properly balance the freedom of the individual with the maintenance of law and order.
The initiative is part of the Secretariat's programme to assist law enforcement training institutions to incorporate human rights standards and best practices into their curricula. The next workshop for Commonwealth police instructors from Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia, Swaziland and Zambia takes place in Lusaka, Zambia, from 27 November to 1 December 2006.
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