A ceremony to handover the Dhivehi translation of “United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners (The Nelson Mandela Rules)” to Maldives Correctional Service has been held today at Male’ Prison.
The ceremony was attended by Chief Guest Minister of Home Affairs Hon. Imran Abdulla, Minister of State for Home Affairs Mr Ali Nazeer, Inspector of Correctional Service Noora Mohamed, Commissioner of Prisons Ahmed Mohamed Fulhu, Deputy Commissioner of Prisons Uz. Ibrahim Mohamed Didi, Programme Coordinator of UNODC Ms. Thoiba Saeed, commissioned officers and section heads.
While commencing the ceremony, Commissioner of Prisons Ahmed Mohamed Fulhu specially thanked Home Ministry and UNODC. He also stated that today is a positive change towards the Government’s policies to reform the Maldivan prisons as per international standards and he sincerely acknowledged the efforts of the senior management and officers working in the frontline and thanked them. CP further added that he believed that today’s initiative will pave the way for learning more accountability and responsibilities.
In his speech, the Chief Guest and Minister of Home Affairs Honourable Imran Abdulla commended the steps taken by the leadership of Maldives Correctional Service to ensure the protection of inmates against Covid-19 and thanked the officers for their hard work. Even though the majority of the planned projects are on hold due to the Covid-19 situation, the translation of this book and the handing over of the said translation to Maldives Correctional Service is a result of the continued valiant efforts, said the Minister. He also added that training on the Book will commence starting from next week.
As the Minister mentioned, UNODC, Ministry of Home Affairs and Maldives Correctional Service will be jointly commencing the first batch of the training on “The Nelson Mandela Rules” from 20th September 2020 to 26th September 2020. The sessions will be facilitated by a special consultant of UNODC. The training will also be conducted for all officers in the near future.
On behalf of UNODC, Programme Coordinator Thoiba Saeed noted the importance of holding such a ceremony to show the significance of “The Nelson Mandela Rules” and stated that the Book sets the minimum standards for the treatment of prisoners as per the international standards and conventions. Thoiba further stated that UNODC will continue to provide full cooperation in the training of officers and the reformation of prisons.
