The Parliament of the Maldives has approved the appointment of Mariyam Muna as the President of the Human Rights Commission of the Maldives (HRCM), and Dr. Ahmed Adham Abdulla as the Vice President of the commission.
Muna and Adham had been nominated to the presidency and vice presidency of HRCM respectively by President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih, and approved by the Parliamentary Committee on Human Rights and Gender before taking the vote in the parliament floor. Muna and Adham’s names were passed by the parliament with votes from 47 and 46 parliamentarians respectively.
Muna was the director of operations at the Police Integrity Commission from 2012 to 2014 and previously served as a member of the Employment Tribunal of the Maldives. She holds a Master of Business Administration from Edith Cowan University, Australia.
Meanwhile, Dr. Ahmed Adham Abdulla holds a Doctor of Philosophy in Law from the University of Wollongong, Australia. Adham is a recipient of the President's Award for Achieving the Highest Academic Qualification, and of the Australia Leadership Award. He previously served as a Lecturer for Public International Law at Villa College.
The parliament approved Muna and Adham as members of HRCM last year to fill the vacant seats following the resignation and dismissal of some members.
HRCM was established in December 2003 as an independent and autonomous body to lead the promotion and protection of Human Rights under the Maldives Constitution and international human rights conventions.