Torture and repression exposed in holiday paradise of Maldives

Independent
By Daniel Howden
02 April 2005


Behind its picture postcard façade, the Maldives are being run as a "secret dictatorship" engaged in "arbitrary arrest, detention and torture", according to a human rights report.

The Indian Ocean archipelago, a favourite luxury holiday destination for well-heeled Westerners, relies on a culture of repression and fear to prop up a brutal regime, said the report by the Asian Centre for Human Rights, entitled Maldives: The Dark Side of Life.

The former British protectorate, which gained independence in 1965, has established itself as one of the world's premier upmarket holiday spots, marketing itself as "The sunny side of life".

The Maldives boast a string of five-star resorts charging up to £3,000 a night, guaranteeing rest, relaxation and pampering amid white sands and palm-fringed beaches. Life for the population of 300,000 is less sweet.

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with a regime change