9th March 2012; The Maldives delegation to the UN Human Rights Council last week participated in an interactive dialogue with the international Commission of Inquiry on Libya and used the occasion to express the Maldives support for the new Libya and to call on the international community to redouble its efforts to support the country's democratic transition.
The Maldives, along with the UK, Qatar and Jordan, played a leading role in negotiating Council resolutions over the past year which shed light on the human rights violations committed by the previous government, and to move the international community to take robust action in order to save the lives of tens of thousands of innocent civilians.
"As the COI's report makes plain", said Ambassador Adam, "if the Human Rights Council and the international community had not acted, then crimes against humanity would have continued to be perpetrated against the Libyan population, and thousands more innocent people would have been killed".
Looking ahead, Ambassador Adam expressed the Maldives' hope that the people of Libya would now seize the opportunity to rebuild a better, fairer and more equal country, and expressed the Maldives' full support in that regard.
"As the COI report makes clear, the interim Government faces many challenges in overcoming a legacy of serious human rights violations and deterioration of the legislative framework, judicial and national institutions.
The interim Government has nevertheless expressed a commitment to human rights and has taken positive steps to establish mechanisms for accountability. The government is gradually restoring the judiciary by reopening courts and recalling judges, and there has been some progress in the transfer of detainees to central government control.
The Maldives believes it vital, at this critical juncture, that the international community redouble its efforts to support the new Libya in its transition to a democracy based on the full enjoyment of human rights. It is clear that the country is starting from scratch and needs urgent assistance at administrative, law enforcement, judicial and other levels. After doing so much to help Libya, the international community must not now turn away or look elsewhere".
End.