Attorney General Ahmed Usham stated tonight that the government's proposal to include genocide as a criminal offense in the Penal Code of the Maldives was submitted because it is mandated by the international treaty on the prevention and punishment of that crime (Genocide Convention).
While amendments have been submitted to the Penal Code to make genocide and calling for it a criminal offense with harsher penalties for individuals holding senior state positions, work on the bill is scheduled to begin in the People's Majlis tomorrow.
In a post on X tonight regarding the bill, Usham stated that the Maldives joined the Genocide Convention on 24 April 1984, and that in order to implement the treaty, member states are obligated to enact necessary laws and determine statutory penalties under law for genocide-related offenses.
However, the Attorney General noted that even as 42 years passed since then, the Maldives had not fulfilled that responsibility.
When the Penal Code encompassing various offenses was passed in 2014, the offense of genocide was not included.
The Maldivian government has intervened in ongoing cases at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) against countries that have committed and continue to commit acts of genocide against Muslims, specifically "The Gambia v. Myanmar" and "South Africa v. Israel."
Usham stated that while the Maldives advocates for holding countries that commit genocide accountable and taking strict measures, calling on other nations to respect the Genocide Convention, failing to do what the Maldives itself is obligated to do under the treaty affects the legal points submitted by the Maldives.
Usham stated that the amendment submitted by the government to bring to the Penal Code is an amendment proposed to define committing genocide as a criminal offense in accordance with the Genocide Convention and to specify penalties for the offense.
"This is something the Maldives is obligated to do under international law," the Attorney General said.
According to the bill, carrying out specific acts against a group belonging to a particular nation, race, ethnicity, or religion is an offense.
They are:
- Killing members belonging to such a group.
- Inflicting serious bodily or mental harm on members belonging to such a group.
- Knowingly and intentionally subjecting members belonging to such a group to conditions of life calculated to bring about their physical destruction in whole or in part.
- Forcibly transferring children belonging to such a group to another group.
According to the bill, this is a first-degree felony. It is an offense for which a basic sentencing standard of a 10-year prison sentence is established. Additionally, as the maximum penalty, a 25-year prison sentence may be imposed.
In addition to committing those acts, directly and publicly inciting to commit them is also an offense.
The bill states that in a prosecution brought under this section, it shall not be a defense that the accused acted pursuant to an order of a superior or that committing the offensive act was something permitted by law.
If this crime is committed by a person holding the position of the President of the Republic, a Minister, a Member of the People's Majlis, a Judge, or a commanding authority in a security service, it is a first-degree felony. In other circumstances, it is a second-degree felony.
