Malé, Maldives – Ombudsperson’s Office for Transitional Justice (OTJ) has commenced public hearings of the Thinadhoo forced depopulation in 1962 in March 2022.
The hearings for the case were scheduled into two sessions with the first session aired live this morning. The second session is live from 14:30 to 18:00.
On 2nd February 1962 Havaru Thinadhoo was destroyed on the orders of the Maldivian Prime Minister Ibrahim Nasir to end the separatist movement of the United Suvadive Republic.
Between 200 and 300 prisoners were taken back to Malé, where they were tortured and the majority killed. Thousands were allegedly killed or disappeared in the depopulation.
The Ombudsperson’s Office for Transitional Justice was established under the Transitional Justice Act (Act number: 28/2020) and provides a framework for redress and reparations for victims of the abuse of power, and outlines measures to avoid such abuses of authority in the future.
The eligibility timeframe for cases that may be investigated according to this Act runs from 1st January 1953 to 17th November 2018.
