International Human Rights Coalition Calls on Maldives to Abandon Reinstatement of Death Penalty and Repeal Capital Drug Laws

A coalition of ten prominent Maldivian and international human rights organizations has issued a formal appeal to the government of the Maldives, urging the immediate withdrawal of proposed legislation intended to end the nation’s seven-decade moratorium on the death penalty. The joint statement, released following recent executive announcements, calls for the Maldivian authorities to not only halt the introduction of the new bill but also to repeal recent amendments to the Drugs Act of 2011 that expanded the scope of capital punishment to include drug-related offenses. The organizations further emphasized the need for the Maldives to maintain its long-standing moratorium on executions and move toward the total abolition of the death penalty in alignment with global human rights trends.

The coalition includes a broad spectrum of advocacy groups: Human Rights Watch, the Maldivian Democracy Network, Advocates for Human Rights, the Anti-Death Penalty Asia Network, the Capital Punishment Justice Project, ECPM: Together Against the Death Penalty, the International Federation for Human Rights, Harm Reduction International, Parliamentarians for Global Action, and the World Coalition Against the Death Penalty. These groups maintain an unconditional opposition to the death penalty, arguing that the practice constitutes a violation of the fundamental right to life and is inherently prone to irreversible judicial error.

The Legislative Shift Under the Muizzu Administration

The push to reinstate capital punishment has gained significant momentum under the administration of President Mohamed Muizzu. During a media briefing held on March 23, 2026, President Muizzu confirmed the government’s intent to submit a bill to the national assembly, known as the People’s Majlis, during the current parliamentary session. This session is scheduled to conclude in mid-May, suggesting a rapid legislative timeline. According to reports from the Attorney General’s Office, the draft legislation is currently being finalized to facilitate the enforcement of the death penalty.

President Muizzu has stated that once the bill is ratified, the government intends to carry out executions without delay for convicted individuals who have exhausted all avenues of judicial appeal. This marks a sharp departure from the policy of successive Maldivian administrations which, despite occasionally using the threat of capital punishment in political rhetoric, have upheld a moratorium on executions that has been in place since 1954.

This move follows the December 6, 2025, ratification of amendments to the Drugs Act. These amendments significantly broadened the application of the death penalty to include drug trafficking offenses. Under the new provisions, individuals found guilty of trafficking specific quantities of controlled substances—such as more than 350 grams of cannabis, 250 grams of diamorphine, or 100 grams of any other Schedule 1 drug—could face the death penalty. The 2025 amendments also introduced harsher penalties for the import, export, and facilitation of smaller quantities of drugs, signaling a "tough on crime" approach that human rights defenders argue is both ineffective and inhumane.

International Legal Obligations and the ICCPR

The human rights coalition argues that the proposed legislation and the recent drug law amendments directly contradict the Maldives’ international legal obligations. The Maldives acceded to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) in 2006. Article 6 of the ICCPR explicitly protects the right to life and dictates that in countries which have not yet abolished the death penalty, the sentence may be imposed only for the "most serious crimes."

International legal consensus, supported by UN experts and the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, consistently maintains that drug-related offenses do not meet the threshold of "most serious crimes." Furthermore, Article 6(6) of the ICCPR suggests that the treaty’s provisions should not be used to delay or prevent the abolition of capital punishment. Introducing the death penalty for crimes that were previously not punishable by death is viewed by the international community as a regression in human rights protections.

The coalition’s statement also highlighted the Maldives’ non-compliance with various United Nations General Assembly resolutions. These resolutions call on member states to respect international standards regarding the rights of those facing the death penalty, to progressively restrict its use, and to reduce the number of capital offenses. In December 2024, the UN General Assembly saw 130 countries—more than two-thirds of the total membership—vote in favor of a resolution calling for a global moratorium on the death penalty, illustrating a clear international trend toward abolition.

Concerns Regarding Judicial Integrity and Due Process

A primary concern raised by both domestic and international observers involves the integrity of the Maldivian judicial system. Human rights organizations have long documented issues of corruption, political interference, and a lack of accountability within the country’s courts. A 2022 report titled "I Could Have Been Next" detailed the stymied reforms in the Maldives and the failure of the judiciary to provide justice for past crimes, including extrajudicial killings and disappearances.

Given these systemic weaknesses, critics argue that the reinstatement of the death penalty poses an unacceptable risk of executing the innocent or those denied a fair trial. The politicization of the judiciary means that capital punishment could potentially be used as a tool for political repression. The coalition emphasized that until the Maldives can guarantee a transparent, independent, and impartial judicial process, any move to carry out executions would be a catastrophic failure of the rule of law.

Regional Comparisons and Global Trends

The Maldives’ current trajectory stands in stark contrast to recent developments in other Asian nations, where there has been a notable shift away from capital punishment. The human rights groups pointed to several examples of regional progress:

• Vietnam: On June 25, 2025, the Vietnamese parliament voted to remove the death penalty from its penal code for eight different crimes, including drug transportation.
• Taiwan: In September 2024, while the top court upheld the constitutionality of the death penalty, it introduced stringent new restrictions and strengthened due process rights to limit its application.
• Pakistan: In 2023, Pakistan repealed the death penalty for drug-related offenses, acknowledging that capital punishment did not serve as an effective deterrent for trafficking.
• Malaysia: Also in 2023, Malaysia abolished the mandatory death penalty for all offenses, including murder and drug trafficking. This reform led to the re-sentencing and commutation of over 1,000 death row inmates.

By pursuing the reinstatement of executions, the Maldives risks becoming a regional outlier. Currently, 113 countries have fully abolished the death penalty for all crimes, and many others maintain de facto moratoriums.

Analysis of Potential Social and Economic Implications

The decision to resume executions could have far-reaching consequences for the Maldives beyond the legal and ethical spheres. As a nation heavily reliant on international tourism and foreign aid, a perceived decline in human rights standards could impact its global reputation. European and Western nations, which provide a significant portion of the Maldives’ tourist arrivals, often have strict policies regarding engagement with countries that practice capital punishment.

Furthermore, the focus on drug trafficking through capital punishment is viewed by many public health experts as a flawed strategy. Organizations like Harm Reduction International argue that the death penalty does not address the root causes of drug abuse or the socio-economic factors that drive individuals into the trafficking trade. Instead, they advocate for health-led approaches and rehabilitation, which have shown more success in reducing drug-related harm than punitive measures.

The expansion of the death penalty also places a significant burden on the Maldivian legal aid system. With lives at stake, the demand for high-quality legal representation and lengthy appeals will increase, potentially straining the resources of a judicial system that is already struggling with a backlog of cases.

A Call to Action for the People’s Majlis

As the draft bill moves toward the People’s Majlis, the coalition of human rights groups has called upon Maldivian lawmakers to exercise their legislative oversight and reject the proposal. The groups urged the government to prioritize the commutation of all existing death sentences to terms of imprisonment and to engage in a national dialogue regarding the full abolition of the death penalty.

"The Maldives government, recognizing the global goal of abolishing the death penalty and the violations of human rights inherently associated with its use, should withdraw plans to pursue the proposed death penalty law," the organizations stated. They concluded that the current parliamentary session represents a critical juncture for the country’s human rights record.

If the Maldives proceeds with the reinstatement of executions, it would end a 72-year period of relative restraint, a move that advocates warn would be a "dark chapter" for the nation’s democracy. The eyes of the international community remain on the People’s Majlis as the mid-May deadline approaches, with human rights defenders continuing to lobby for a future where the Maldives joins the ranks of abolitionist states.