ACP Riyaz: Significant changes adopted in investigating cases involving minors

Head of Criminal Investigation Command, Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) Mohamed Riyaz has stated that significant changes have been adopted in investigating cases involving minors within the past three years.

Speaking at the opening ceremony of ‘Violence Against Children: Prevention, Protection and Investigation’ conference held jointly by Maldives Police Service and UNICEF Maldives on Tuesday – ACP Riyaz said that several familiarization programs pertaining to Children’s Rights Protection Act have been conducted for police officers.

He also underscored that statistics show that changes brought to the work environment within the past three years under the police’s efforts to ensure the rights of children has sped up the investigation progress and other procedures pertaining to cases involving minors.

ACP Riyaz stressed that apart from punishing those committing crimes against children – additional measures that can be taken to prevent children from harm and ensure their protection should be inquired into.

“Creating awareness amongst families, and must close doors that have been opened for harm against children,” he had said.

He added that in a conference pertaining to the prevention of harm against children – measures that can be enforced to ensure the safety of children should be discussed at length.

He also said that all stakeholder authorities must collaboratively work on identifying the root cause of issues faced by children – and discuss ways to ensure the rights of children and a safe environment for them.