Truth, Reconciliation and National Unity Commission – Hearing number 91 |23 July 2020

TRNUC continues to hear from witnesses, learn more about the people’s militia

The Truth, Reconciliation and National Unity Commission yesterday heard evidence from four witnesses who appeared in both open and closed sessions.

Two ex-junior area commanders of the former People’s Militia also appeared before the commission to give an overview of what they know in relation to the functions and roles of the People’s Militia back then.

Case 091: Wilna Laporte

Daniel Valencia was a witness in Case 091: Wilna Laporte, concerning the unlawful killing of her husband Philippe Laporte in December 2000. According to Mrs Laporte and her sons, Mr Valencia (a cousin) was present during the attack on her husband at the Katiolo discotheque. The family had claimed that the attacker, they alleged was working for the state, had mistaken the husband and father for somebody else. They had also claimed that the case was not presented in court because of the attacker’s connection with the state.

Speaking about the circumstances surrounding the incident that early morning, Mr Valencia said Mr Laporte and his two sons and himself had gone out for a dinner that night and afterwards went to the Katiolo discotheque. He added that Mr Laporte did not stay for long before leaving and later came back to pick them up.

On the way back at Point Laue after dropping off the girlfriend of Mr Laporte’s son at Roche Caïman, he said Mr Laporte signaled to them that a car seemed to be following them and they slowed down to let it pass them. He added that upon arriving at the Katiolo nightclub, the car, which was now in front of theirs, suddenly stopped without giving any warning.

He stated that when Mr Laporte drove near the car to ask the driver why he had no warning signals before stopping, an argument started. Mr Laporte parked his car and got out followed by his two sons to again confront the driver. He said that a commotion started involving some other people who were at the scene. He claimed that while the two sons were fighting the group of people, Mr Laporte continued his heated conversation with the driver of the car.

Mr Valencia stated that at one point during the heated conversation, he saw Mr Laporte staggering backwards and at that moment the driver of the car sped off. He added that he got out of the car to catch him from falling down and in doing so he noticed a small patch of blood on the left side of his (Mr Laporte’s) stomach. He claimed that he did not recognise the driver or even remember the plate number and model of the white car.

He added that a few months after the incident, somebody in a white car tried to run him over, an incident which he reported to the police but never received any feedback. He alleged that he was not called to testify in court in Mr Laporte’s incident.

Case 0151: Adeline family

Captain Guy Adam was called before the commission as he was named by Pascal Adeline, representing the Adeline family in Case 0151 when giving evidence in relation to land acquisition. Mr Adeline said Mr Adam is one of the persons who benefited from the acquisition of the family’s property at Anse Kerlan, Praslin, by the state, in 1980.

He had also claimed that Mr Adam, as one of the directors of a company, Le Refuge du Pêcheur, had participated in the selling or leasing of the acquired part of their property to Lemuria Resort for a substantial amount of money. He had further claimed that at the time of acquisition, his mother had been told the land was being acquired for agricultural purposes.

In his response, Captain Adam said he knows nothing about the acquisition as he was at sea at that time. He said that he was a seaman from 1960 to 1992. He explained that it was another family who truly owned the land, where Lemuria Hotel has been built, who approached the company to invest in the hotel project. He claimed that the company he represented (Le Refuge du Pêcheur) owns no land in Seychelles.

Case 0102: Albert Napier

George Constance was a witness in Case 0102: Albert Napier who had named him in his complaint as the other shop steward who together with him (Napier), in 1977, tried to negotiate work conditions on behalf of the workers of the Seychelles Breweries Ltd and in the process they were both dismissed. He had also claimed that Mr Constance was re-instated after the intervention of the National Workers’ Union but the union did not support him when he had suffered the same fate.

Mr Constance acknowledged that he was dismissed because he was part of a team that were mobilising the workers for better working conditions and was further reinstated not once but twice. He said he was part of a group of three shop stewards, including Mr Napier, who were elected to negotiate for better working condition on behalf of the workers. He added that he later left Seychelles Breweries Ltd to work with the National Workers’ Union after spending some time with the Seychelles Marketing Board (SMB) fish division.

On claims that the National Workers’ Union owning shares in Seychelles Breweries Ltd and therefore sided with the company on work relation matters, Mr Constance noted that as per the union’s constitution, it was allowed to invest for additional revenue but denied that it sided with the company on work relation matters. He noted that he was not working with the National Workers’ Union when Mr Napier was dismissed. He reminded the commission that the union was affiliated with the party in power at that time.

People’s Militia junior area commanders

Joe Ragain, an ex-army high ranking officer and who was also a People’s Militia junior area commander following the coup d’Etat of June 5, 1977, was before the commission to give evidence in relation to allegations that the militia was used to harass and intimidate people.

Mr Ragain said he was appointed as the People’s Militia junior area commander for the Plaisance, Cascade and Anse Aux Pins districts on June 26, 1979 until October 20, 1981 as part of his military job with the Seychelles People’s Liberation Army (SPLA) now Seychelles People’s Defence Forces (SPDF). He stated that he was in charge of the militia operations only at night and during the day he worked with the military. He claimed that apart from supervising them while they were on duty, he was also responsible for the distribution of arms and ammunitions to them, which they had to account for.

Mr Ragain stated that the militia was used to guard government properties and do patrols including on beaches. He claimed that he was never instructed to send militia to spy on people on the streets or at their place of residence. He explained that spying on people was not part of the job of the militia at that time. He added that the militia was mostly trained by the Tanzanian forces in Seychelles at that time. He said that there were other junior area commanders in charge of other districts and he had no known incident of harassments or intimidations by the militia under his command, to people in the area under his command.

Another ex-high ranking army officer, Frank Bonté, who joined the army in June 1977, was the other People’s Militia junior area commander to appear before the commission in relation to numerous complaints of harassment and intimidation by the militia.

He said that the militia under his command were responsible for patrolling and guarding government properties, including beaches in the districts of Anse Royale, Takamaka and Baie Lazare. He said that the militia started work from 6pm to 6am every day.

He acknowledged that he did get complaints from residents about cases of misconduct by some members of the militia which he claimed he had to address. He said he left the army in 1982.

Patrick Joubert