Member of the Human Rights Commission of the Maldives (HRCM) Moosa Ali Kaleyfaan has resigned from his position, following the decision of the Parliamentary Committee on Human Rights and Gender to remove him and another member from the commission.
The parliament committee had decided to dismiss Moosa Ali Kaleyfaan, along with Vice President of HRCM Mohamed Zahid, over negligence and failure in investigating and taking action on multiple cases of human rights violations, including a case which involves the abuse of children under state care. The decision to remove the two members had been forwarded to the parliament chamber when Moosa Ali Kaleyfaan submitted his resignation.
In addition to the allegations of negligence, Moosa Ali Kaleyfaan was also investigated for his role in a corruption case of National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), involving a sum of USD 1.6 million. The committee stated the presence of a member accused of corruption compromises the integrity of HRCM as an independent institution.
Earlier, President of HRCM Aminath Eenas and member Aishath Afreen had resigned from the commission after the parliament committee launched the inquiry against them. With the resignation of Moosa Ali Kaleyfaan and the impending dismissal of Mohamed Zahid, HRCM would be left with just one member, Naiveen Abdulla, who is currently on maternity leave.