Beleaguered Maldives
President Abdulla Yameen is adamant that the first execution of a convict in
sixty years will take place under his watch as a reiteration of Maldives'
Islamic credentials.
The politically
isolated president, who is shunned by colleagues and family, is refusing to
intervene despite several scholars calling the proposed execution un-Islamic.He
has also ignored appeals of human rights groups and even the United Nations to
stay the execution.
Twenty two-year-old
Hussain Humaam Ahamed was condemned to death by the Maldives Supreme Court in
2014 for the murder of a Member of Parliament, Afrasheem Ali, in 2012.
The verdict was based
on a confession that was obtained when he was in custody, which he retracted
later. The Supreme Court, over which President Yameen has a stranglehold,
disregarded the claim that Humaam has a mental disability and the request for
an independent psychiatric evaluation.
If the death sentence
is carried out, it will be the first execution in the Maldives since 1953.
The voices of protest
have been crushed in the Maldives due to strict curbs, but renowned Islamic
scholar at the University of Oxford, Tariq Ramadan, in a letter to President
Yameen, has listed out reasons why the proposed execution is un-Islamic.
Citing extensively
from the Hudud - the Islamic Penal Code, Ramadan has argued that 22-year-old
Humaam's death penalty contravened many basic prescriptions in the Shariah.
Stating that Humaam's
`confession' was forcefully obtained, undermining fairness of his trial at a
basic level, Ramadan has pointed out that pleas made by Humaam's family that he
was suffering from mental disability, has been totally disregarded by the
court.
This, Ramadan argues,
is also against Islamic law and jurisprudence as any doubt about the mental
health of a murderer should play in his or her favour.
The heavy conditions
found in the Islamic legislation have as a raison d'etre (`illah) to avoid any
doubt; if there is the slightest doubt, then the punishment should be
suspended.
Ramadan also
emphasises that it was un-Islamic on the part of President Yameen to ignore
requests of the victim's father and brother, who have stated that they do not
wish the death sentence to be implemented.
This call to spare
Humaam's life by two members of the victim's family cannot be ignored under
Sharia law. According to the principles of qisas, if the family of the victim
asks for the sentence not to be implemented at any time before the execution
(for the majority of the `ulama'), the latter should be suspended whatever the
public authority might decide.
If Yameen were to
respect Shariah conditions, it is imperative for him to listen to the family's
position, says the scholar. Ramadan adds that the above and beyond all of this,
Rahmah (compassion) is an absolute necessity and an essential principle even if
there is no element of doubt and conditions are met.
Tariq Ramadan has
categorically stated in his letter to President Yameen that Humaam's execution
would contravene the fundamental principles of Islamic law and urged the latter
to take all possible actions to prevent the execution.
Tariq Ramadan has got
support from human rights groups around the world who have appealed to the
Maldivian president that International law prohibits the use of death penalty
against people with mental disabilities. But President Yameen, who has
reintroduced capital punishment after a moratorium of 60 years, seems
determined to not just stop the arbitrary deprivation of life but also break
the tenets of Islamic law.
Ever since President
Yameen reintroduced the death penalty in Maldives, execution facilities have
been constructed at the Maldives' Maafushi Prison.
The age of criminal
responsibility is 10 in the Maldives which means that even juvelines could
potentially face execution.
Representative
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Source:
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