The Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) on Wednesday night launched its 'Peaceful Society' policies for establishing a holistic system to discourage youth offenders and reduce crime.
The policy was unveiled at a rally in Alif Alif Ukulhas during President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih's campaign tour of the atoll.
Crime prevention
- Setting up a crime prevention council to strengthen the inter-agency coordination mechanism.
- Conducting awareness raising programs in schools to keep youth away from crime.
- Reviewing the legal and enforcement frameworks concerning the current state of the country with resolving drug trafficking problems as a special priority.
- Identifying persons vulnerable to involvement in gang crimes and carrying out intervention programs such as counselling, mentoring and vocational training.
Tackling crime
- Establishing a real-time response center at the police service.
- Establishing a city surveillance system in all population hubs.
- Introducing unmanned surveillance equipment such as drones to combat drug trafficking.
- Expanding cyber protection efforts.
- Improving capacity for investigating gang crimes.
- Enacting legal and enforcement changes needed to stop scams, fraud and economic/financial crimes.
Treament with accountability
- Reviewing and implementing programs for changing children's mindset and teaching the importance of protecting human rights and dignity through restorative justice.
- Strengthening rules for non-custodial punishment for offenders who have reached the age of criminal responsibility.
- Reviewing rules for parole, clemency and sentencing.
- Establishing critical infrastructure in all sectors.
- Completing facilities needed for protecting the human dignity of persons in detention.
Other pledges include formulating an action plan for solving social problems, expanding prison rehabilitation programs and establishing post-rehabilitaiton psycho-social support, peer support and recovery support networks for drug addicts and their families.
Ensuring that juvenile justice programs for repeat offenders require taking individual responsibility and involving the family and community was also included in the polices.
The MDP's manifesto is based on five main policy areas, of which three have now been launched. The policies deal with social issues, youth empowerment and law and order.
