Parliament's Standing Comittee on Human Rights and Gender have declared Criminal court Chief Judge Ahmed Hailam's conduct in sending a greeting card that depicted cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment of human beings as a violation of human dignity.
Judge Hailam posted a controversial image on the occasion of Victory Day to a social network group of the Criminal Court's recreational club on November 3.
The illustrated image depicted the Victory Day hero, Martyr Hussain Adam dragging President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih and Parliament Speaker former president Mohamed Nasheed and those convicted for the November 3, 1988 terror attack by a chain locked around their necks as an act of punishment and torture.
In a statement released late Saturday, the committee condemned the use of the image and said it violated the inherent dignity of the human person.
The statement said the judge's flagrant action is a violation of the principles of Article 3 of the UN Convention against Torture and Other Cruel Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, an international human rights treaty Maldives is party to, calling upon states to take measures to prevent such acts instigated by a state official or those acting on behalf of a statesperson.
His conduct is also in violation of Article 2)c) of the Anti-Torture Act 12/2013 which recognises that every human is entitles to inherent dignity of the human person, to respect that dignity at all times, and that the dignity of every human person is entitled to the protection of the law. The guarantee is synonymous with the constitutional right of every person to be protected from the degradation of his/her inherent dignity, said the statement.
It further said the judge's action unequivocally encouraged cruel and inhuman degrading treatment.
The presiding judge over former President Abdulla Yameen Abdul Gayyoom's money laundering trial, the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) suspended Ahmed Hailam last Tuesday mere hours ahead of a hearing during which a verdict was set to be delivered in the trial.
While Hailam has apologized for his actions and claimed he did not realise the president and the speaker were illustrated in the cartoon, he has released a statement alleging that top government officials contacted him directly and indirectly to ensure that the former president would receive a jail sentence.
The opposition has criticized the parliament for releasing a statement further condemning Hailam's action instead of probing the allegations made against government officials by the judge.
Suspended Criminal Court Chief Judge Ahmed Hailam
