Hassan Evan Naseem ( dv, ހަސަން އީވާން ނަސީމް; 1984 – September 19, 2003), commonly referred to as Evan Naseem, is the person whose death became a lever for the current, open,

political reform Reform ( lat, reformo) means the improvement or amendment of what is wrong, corrupt, unsatisfactory, etc. The use of the word in this way emerges in the late 18th century and is believed to originate from Christopher Wyvill's Association movement ...

activities in the

Maldives Maldives (, ; dv, ދިވެހިރާއްޖެ, translit=Dhivehi Raajje, ), officially the Republic of Maldives ( dv, ދިވެހިރާއްޖޭގެ ޖުމްހޫރިއްޔާ, translit=Dhivehi Raajjeyge Jumhooriyyaa, label=none, ), is an archipelag ...

. He was serving at

Maafushi Prison Maafushi Prison is a prison in Maafushi on Kaafu Atoll in the Maldives, south of the capital, Malé. It is the largest prison on the islands and has held numerous political prisoners over the years, including the former president, Mohamed Na ...

for drug offences when he was beaten to death by the NSS personnel of the Security unit during a riot which endangered the lives of the prison security personnel.

Early life

Evan attended

Majeediyya School Majeediyya School (Dhivehi: މަޖީދިއްޔާ ސުކޫލް ) is the first Maldivian government school, located in Malé, Maldives. It was a single gender school that used to teach only boys students to the secondary level of education until ...

for his secondary

education Education is a purposeful activity directed at achieving certain aims, such as transmitting knowledge or fostering skills and character traits. These aims may include the development of understanding, rationality, kindness, and honesty. Va ...

. He was jailed several times for drug offences and other related crimes.

Dispute between inmates

On September 19, 2003, inmates of Evan Naseem's cell crossed the partitions, on two occasions, to

assault An assault is the act of committing physical harm or unwanted physical contact upon a person or, in some specific legal definitions, a threat or attempt to commit such an action. It is both a crime and a tort and, therefore, may result in crim ...

a person named Ali Didi who was detained in a different cell. This incident was reported to Maafushi Jail Office by the security unit in writing, along with two separate lists of people who crossed the partitions. Evan's name was not on either of the lists. Later the same day Evan's fellow inmates were throwing objects at other cells. The Officer-in-Charge of the Maafushi Jail Security Unit, Captain Adam Mohamed, exaggerated the matter to police headquarters at

Malé Malé (, ; dv, މާލެ) is the capital and most populous city of the Maldives. With a population of 252,768 and an area of , it is also one of the most densely populated cities in the world. The city is geographically located at the southern ...

. Adam Mohamed was given permission to remove the "troublemakers" from the cell (where Evan was) and to keep them handcuffed. Later the same night a team of five security personnel came to Evan's cell with a list of people who were involved in assaulting Ali Didi and throwing objects at other cells. Though Evan's name was not on the list submitted earlier to Maafushi Jail Office, the new list included his name. As their names were read out, the men came out from the cell. When Evan's name was called out he refused to come out, saying he was not involved in any of the previous unrest or disputes. Upon his refusal one of the security personnel went into the cell and asked him to come out. He still refused to walk out and warned the security person not to come closer or touch him. The security man was attacked twice with a wooden plank as he went towards Evan. Soon after this incident, numerous members of the unit stormed into the cell. Evan then yieldingly walked out of the cell.

Death

After being removed from the cell, Evan was taken to a place called "Range" where he was kept separate from other inmates. There he was beaten up by 12 security personnel. He was beaten up with bare hands, wooden planks and riot batons. On various occasions he lost

consciousness Consciousness, at its simplest, is sentience and awareness of internal and external existence. However, the lack of definitions has led to millennia of analyses, explanations and debates by philosophers, theologians, linguisticians, and scien ...

because of continuous beatings. When he no longer responded, he was taken to Indira Gandhi Memorial Hospital in the early morning of September 20, 2003. According to the medical reports he died on September 19, 2003, 2320hrs due to injuries sustained to his lungs.

Unrest

Inmates of Evan Naseem learned of his

death Death is the irreversible cessation of all biological functions that sustain an organism. For organisms with a brain, death can also be defined as the irreversible cessation of functioning of the whole brain, including brainstem, and brain ...

the same day. This resulted in a protest which then lead to unrest in Maafushi Prison. To control this unrest NSS personnel at Maafushi shot several unarmed prisoners killing 3 and injuring 17 others. News of the death of Evan broke out quickly in the capital city

. A large number of people gathered at his burial service. While people were at the cemetery, news of the shooting incident reached the already angry

public In public relations and communication science, publics are groups of individual people, and the public (a.k.a. the general public) is the totality of such groupings. This is a different concept to the sociological concept of the ''Öffentlichkei ...

Civil unrest Civil disorder, also known as civil disturbance, civil unrest, or social unrest is a situation arising from a mass act of civil disobedience (such as a demonstration, riot, strike, or unlawful assembly) in which law enforcement has difficulty m ...

in Malé grew with this news. Several police stations were set on fire,

government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government is a ...

buildings were attacked, and government vehicles were set on fire or destroyed by the

angry mob Mob rule or ochlocracy ( el, ὀχλοκρατία, translit=okhlokratía; la, ochlocratia) is the rule of government by a mob or mass of people and the intimidation of legitimate authorities. Insofar as it represents a pejorative for majorit ...

. The government controlled the unrest by around 2300hrs and declared a

State of Emergency A state of emergency is a situation in which a government is empowered to be able to put through policies that it would normally not be permitted to do, for the safety and protection of its citizens. A government can declare such a state du ...

, for the first time in the country's history, in Malé and nearby

islands An island (or isle) is an isolated piece of habitat that is surrounded by a dramatically different habitat, such as water. Very small islands such as emergent land features on atolls can be called islets, skerries, cays or keys. An island ...

. A

curfew A curfew is a government order specifying a time during which certain regulations apply. Typically, curfews order all people affected by them to ''not'' be in public places or on roads within a certain time frame, typically in the evening and ...

was imposed in Malé.

Investigation

President

Maumoon Abdul Gayoom Maumoon Abdul Gayoom (; dv, މައުމޫން ޢަބްދުލް ޤައްޔޫމް; born 29 December 1937) is a Maldivian politician and an Islamic scholar who served as the President of Maldives from 1978 to 2008. After serving as Minister of Trans ...

established a Presidential Commission on September 20, 2003 to investigate the death of Evan Naseem and the shooting incident at Maafushi Prison. The findings of the commission were released to the public with the title "Report on the Death of Hassan Evan Naseem". However, several sections from the public report were omitted due to national security concerns.

External links

Report on the Death of Hassan Evan Naseempresidencymaldives.gov.mvweb.amnesty.org
{{DEFAULTSORT:Naseem, Evan 1984 births 2003 deaths Deaths by beating Maldivian people who died in prison custody Prisoners who died in Maldivian detention