Human rights organisation Amnesty International says that three political candidates detained in the Maldives Islands of the Indian Ocean have been tortured while in custody.

The three were detained during campaigning ahead of parliamentary elections last November.

According to Amnesty International, two of the three politicians under arrest also face the prospect of being charged with instigating unrest against the government.

Amnesty says this charge carries a maximum penalty of 15 years banishment to a remote island.

The Maldives Islands are made up out of more than a thousand low lying coral islands, many of which are uninhabited.

Torture

Amnesty says the three politicians participated in last year's parliamentary elections, in which political parties were prevented by the authorities from taking part.

It says that, because candidates had to stand as individuals rather than party members, it was easier for the government to pinpoint and arrest people they saw as trouble-makers.

The human rights groups says that prominent in this group was Umar Jamal, who was detained in his house in October after publicly arguing with a candidate closely linked to the government.

Amnesty says Mr Jamal was taken to a detention centre without being told why he was being held.

They say there are fears that he is being tortured there.

Anti-government

The human rights group says that two other parliamentary candidates, Ibrahim Ahmed Maniku and Abdul Rasheed, were detained in early November while peacefully campaigning against the government.

Amnesty says they have been tortured and are at risk of further ill-treatment.

The human rights group says it is also concerned about the health of another political prisoner, Ismail Saadiq, who was arrested on fraud charges which it says appear to be politically motivated.

Amnesty say his condition has further deteriorated, and the government has ignored appeals to provide him with the medical treatment recommended by doctors in the Maldives capital, Malé.

The allegations made by Amnesty have been strenuously denied by a spokesman in Maldives High Commission in London.

He said that a team of international observers had declared the parliamentary elections to be free and fair.

He said there were no political prisoners in the Maldives.

But Amnesty says that, since November's election, about 100 people have been detained for criticising the government.