On 23 March 2026, the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) delivered a statement at the 61st session of the United Nations (UN) Human Rights Council’s for the adoption of the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) of the Maldives. The statement, prepared with the Maldivian Democracy Network (MDN), decried the Maldivian government’s use of religion to sweepingly refuse to accept important UPR recommendations and called for the effective protection of human rights defenders in the Maldives and for the reinstatement of MDN’s registration. Read the statement below.
UN Human Rights Council – 61st session
Item 5: Adoption of the Universal Periodic Review outcome of the Maldives
23 March 2026
Mister Vice-President,
FIDH and the Maldivian Democracy Network welcome the Maldivian government’s acceptance of 83% of the UPR recommendations it received.
However, this number does not tell the whole story. We are deeply disturbed by the government’s use of religion to sweepingly refuse to accept important recommendations.
For example, all recommendations related to discrimination based on religion or sexual orientation and gender identity and the guarantee of freedom of religion or belief, as well as nearly all recommendations to abolish the death penalty, were not accepted.
This behavior denotes a dangerous embrace of religious and cultural relativism and the complete denial of the universality of human rights.
On the issue of capital punishment, the government’s statements that it is not considering an official moratorium and its failure to accept a recommendation to maintain the ongoing de facto moratorium are worrisome and call for increased vigilance from abolitionist states, which should continue to press the Maldivian government to take steps toward the elimination of capital punishment.
While we welcome the government’s acceptance of all recommendations related to the protection of human rights defenders and civil society, including from religious extremism, it is apparent that the government’s commitments have not been backed by action so far.
Members of independent civil society do not feel safe in the Maldives, as the exodus of some prominent human rights defenders from the country and the attacks – at times fatal – against others have demonstrated in recent years.
We reiterate our calls for the effective protection of human rights defenders in the Maldives and for the reinstatement of the registration of the Maldivian Democracy Network.
We also note that the government has refused to provide a timeframe for the public release of the findings of the Deaths and Disappearances Commission, nearly two years after its dissolution. We reiterate our call for the disclosure of the findings to the relevant families without delay.
Thank you.
