Abbas Faiz, the Special Envoy to the government of the Maldives, has stated that the Maldives has taken great leaps towards a better human rights future. He made the remark in a message of felicitations as the Maldives celebrates its 58th Independence Day.
In the message, Faiz wished every Maldivian a happy Independence Day. He said that in the past 20 years since Amnesty's full length report in July 2003, the country has taken great leaps towards a better human rights future and has retained its hard earned democracy.
Faiz was appointed the Special Envoy to the government of the Maldives to monitor the investigation, prosecution and trial process of the terrorist attack against the Speaker of the Parliament Mohamed Nasheed on May 6, 2021.
Faiz, a British national, has more than 30 years of experience monitoring the human rights situation in South Asia, including the Maldives. He was previously employed at Amnesty International as the most senior advisor to the Secretary-General on the countries in his brief and has worked as a Lecturer in Law in the Schools of Law, Essex University, UK, for the past three years. He has also published articles on human rights in the Guardian, New Statesman, the Lancet and in several South Asian newspapers, including several papers on the human rights situation in the Maldives.