It's the archetypal island photograph with deep shimmering azure seas, impossibly white sugar sand, and gently swaying coconut palms.

All I need is a hammock, a fruity drink with minature umbrella, and a copy of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Eh?

It seems the Republic of Maldives issued a press release on July 5 stating:

The Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs has banned distribution and possession of the universal declaration of human rights, as some of its articles violate the rules set by Islam and the constitution of the Maldives.

The council mainly stresses on articles 16 and 18 of the declaration. Article 16 states; "Men and women of full age, without any limitation due to race, nationality or religion, have the right to marry and to found a family. They are entitled to equal rights as to marriage, during marriage and at its dissolution".

Article 18 states; "Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion; this right includes freedom to change his religion or belief, and freedom, either alone or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest his religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship and observance".

The Council revealed that these two articles violate rules and regulations set under the constitution of the Republic of Maldives and that it violates codes and ethics obliged by Islam. Stressing that no Maldivian encourages any another religion in the Maldives, the Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs has stated that the International declaration of human rights could be possessed or distributed without Articles 16 and 18.

Following the fatwa, legal scholars are raising questions as to whether President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom—who has ruled the the archepelago of 26 small atolls southwest of India as a dictatorship since 1978—intends to secede from the United Nations, which requires "[the declarations] to be disseminated, displayed, read and expounded.”

Couple this development, with the 2002 arrest and life imprisonment of three Maldivian bloggers for "defamation" and "attempting to overthrow the government", according to a report at Reporters Sans Frontières/Reporters Without Borders.

Then, earlier today an arrest warrant was issued for Gulhee Shareef, a journalist and News Co-coordinator of the Maldivian Democratic Party, which officially registered as a party on June 26.

According to the news report:

Earlier Hon. Shareef told Minivan News that he knows the Police had taken some statements from regime supporters accusing him of various remarks of dissent. Another matter of contention was the continuation of publishing the daily MDP Newsletter, an in-house publication for members.

Reporters Sans Frontières writes that the new opposition party's communications as well as human rights websites and online publications originating from the Maldives are regularly censored, blocked, and harrassed.

Meanwhile, the US State Department and CIA remain blissfully unaware of the situation in the Maldives, short of this chirpy optimism from the CIA World Fact Book, last updated on June 30, 2005:

Following riots in the capital Male in August 2004, the president and his government have pledged to embark upon democratic reforms, including a more representative political system and expanded political freedoms.

Paradise lost, indeed.

• democracy