{"id":4720,"date":"2016-10-24T08:00:22","date_gmt":"2016-10-24T12:00:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/thediplomaticenvoy.com\/?p=4720"},"modified":"2016-10-24T00:20:03","modified_gmt":"2016-10-24T04:20:03","slug":"maldives-withdrawal-from-commonwealth-conjures-images-of-corrupt-government","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/thediplomaticenvoy\/2016\/10\/24\/maldives-withdrawal-from-commonwealth-conjures-images-of-corrupt-government\/","title":{"rendered":"Maldives’ Withdrawal from Commonwealth Suggests Government Corruption"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Joshua Corpuz<\/strong>
\nStaff Writer<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

On October 13, the Republic of Maldives, an island nation in the Indian Ocean, announced that it will be withdrawing from the Commonwealth in an official government statement<\/a> by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The Maldives, a member of the Commonwealth for over 30 years, decided to withdraw due to accusations of human rights infringements and violating the Commonwealth Charter.<\/p>\n

President Abdulla Yameen of the Republic of Maldives writes that the country has been treated \u201cunfairly and unjustly<\/a>\u201d by the Commonwealth. Yameen reasons that the punitive treatment is \u201cin the name of democracy promotion,\u00a0to increase the [Commonwealth\u2019s] own relevance and leverage in international politics.\u201d<\/p>\n

The country has been charged with violations such as lack of independence of the Human Rights Commission of the Maldives, detaining political dissenters, lack of freedom of assembly, and the reintroduction of the death penalty, according to the Annual Amnesty International Report<\/a>. Due to these violations, the Commonwealth has been considering suspending the Maldives since 2012, if these issues were not addressed by the next meeting in March 2017.<\/p>\n

Amnesty International\u2019s South Asia Director, Champa Patel, criticized the Maldives\u2019 withdrawal<\/a>. She said, \u201cThe Maldives authorities should address their own human rights situation rather than lash out at legitimate criticism. [\u2026] Human rights have been in a complete freefall in the country over the past few years. [\u2026] Instead of complaining about unfair treatment, the Maldives government should look at engaging more constructively with the international community.\u201d Patel also talked about the governmental intervention in human rights perversions that violate the Commonwealth Charter, a document of laws and regulations the Maldives signed.<\/p>\n

Although the country will go through with the withdrawal process, many people assert that the withdrawal may be detrimental to the country. Ahmed Shaheed, a former foreign minister of the Maldives, says that the withdrawal will be counterproductive to the country\u2019s goals. The New York Times reports<\/a> him saying in a telephone interview, that Yameen is getting deeper and deeper into isolation and that he will receive more criticism from the Commonwealth because of it.<\/p>\n

Commonwealth Secretary-General Patricia Scotland is apologetic regarding the departure<\/a>, and \u201cwill be hoping that the Maldives\u2019 separation will be temporary, and that the Maldives will fee able to return to the Commonwealth family and all that it represents in due course.\u201d<\/p>\n

Boris Johnson, Foreign Secretary of the Commonwealth, said, \u201cWe believe in the Commonwealth and its commitment to improving the lives of people across all its member states. The Commonwealth is an organization dedicated to developing free and democratic societies, and to promoting peace and prosperity. And we regret that the Maldives has chosen to leave.\u201d He also mentioned that the United Kingdom will still be assisting with the Maldives, even it is not a formal member of the Commonwealth.<\/p>\n

The Commonwealth has a membership of 53 countries, most of which are former British colonies. The Commonwealth has sought to improve the lives of its member countries through the promotion of democracy, human rights, share interests, and rule of law. Although the Commonwealth has many cooperative states, it has suspended members such as Pakistan, Fiji, Nigeria, and Zimbabwe. No country\u00a0has formally been expelled but some have withdrawn, such as Zimbabwe in 2003 and most recently The Gambia in 2013, BBC reports.<\/a> Despite the departure of the Maldives, the Commonwealth will be supportive of the country if it ever returns to become a member state once again.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Maldives, a member of the Commonwealth for over 30 years, decided to withdraw due to accusations of human rights infringements and violating the Commonwealth Charter.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3544,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"colormag_page_container_layout":"default_layout","colormag_page_sidebar_layout":"default_layout","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[382,386],"tags":[646,865,917],"class_list":["post-4720","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-international-news","category-asia","tag-maldives","tag-asia","tag-commonwealth"],"yoast_head":"\nMaldives' Withdrawal from Commonwealth Suggests Government Corruption - The Diplomatic Envoy<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/thediplomaticenvoy\/2016\/10\/24\/maldives-withdrawal-from-commonwealth-conjures-images-of-corrupt-government\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Maldives' Withdrawal from Commonwealth Suggests Government Corruption - 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