National Security Committee to work through recess

The parliament will go into recess tomorrow, however, the Committee on National Security Services (241 Committee) will remain working according to the Speaker of the Parliament Mohamed Nasheed.

The decision was made in today's parliamentary session, which will be the last session for this term. Speaker Nasheed stated that the 241 Committee needed to remain prepared for any sudden issues. He stated that the work by the 241 Committee will be carried out throughout the recess period.

"The report by the Presidential Commission on Investigation of Murders and Enforced Disappearances will be concluded today. The (241) Committee can then carry on its work regarding the report. I do not have any withholdings against any other members of the parliament going on holiday. However, the Committee on National Security Services needs to carry on its work throughout September," said the Speaker Nasheed.

The report of the Presidential Commission is now being debated in the parliament, after which it will be sent to the Committee. MP for Thulhaadhoo Hisaan Hussain had proposed three measures regarding the report yesterday.

They are: 

• Amending or changing the necessary laws involved such as the law regarding police, after a careful evaluation of the Commission on Murders and Enforced Disappearances report.
• A special procedure to be introduced and implemented as the law for the issues noted in the Commission on Murders and Enforced Disappearances report.
• A task force to be formed that includes members from all the relevant institutions to evaluate and oversee how the issues noted in the Commission on Murders and Enforced Disappearances report are being investigated and addressed.

The Commission on Murders and Enforced Disappearances revealed on Sunday that three witnesses have come forward to testify that journalist Rilwan, who had been missing since 2014, was abducted, forced into a car, put on board a dinghy boat, transferred to another vessel, and then murdered by decapitation in the early hours of August 8, 2014.

The  Commission also stated that the Al-Qaeda branch in the Maldives was responsible for Rilwan’s abduction and murder, and named Mohamed Mazeed, who had a history as a leader of the Dot movement, as the official leader of Al-Qaeda branch in the Maldives.