TRNUC resumes after three-month break |10 November 2020

Mr Elizabeth appearing before the commission yesterday (Photos: Jude Morel)

The Truth, Reconciliation & National Unity Commission (TRNUC) yesterday resumed its sessions after a three-month break.

As a general witness, Bernard Elizabeth was among two people who appeared before the commission in open session yesterday.

He was called in with regard to his role with the Democratic Party (DP) led by the late former President James Mancham prior to the coup of June 1977.

The commission had heard some evidence that Mr Mancham had intended to institute a one party state and to make himself president for life and that was said to be the motivating factor that led the also late former President Albert Rene to stage the coup.

In his recollection of the context during that time, Mr Elizabeth said the allegation against Mr Mancham that he wanted to stay president for life and that he was to postpone elections, were total fabrications.

“This never existed and I never heard any such declarations coming from Mr Mancham,” he said, noting that it was only the people involved with the coup who through their actions had wanted to stay in power for life and to postpone democratic elections.

Mr Elizabeth, who besides being a member of the DP was also a trade unionist,   stated that Mr Mancham had no such intentions, and even if he did, the constitution would not have allowed him to do so unless by changing the constitution through a referendum.

He said that the (DP-SPUP) coalition government was working well before the coup and with the country being newly independent, there was not much talk about the election that was to be held in 1979 as much of the attention was focused on the function of the government.

He claimed that at the time of independence on June 29, 1976, the era of fighting and discord between the two main political rivals – Mr Mancham’s DP and Mr Rene’s SPUP – had ended and that brought along a boom in tourism and an influx of foreign investors.

He stated that during the time of coalition, there were opportunities for all Seychellois and not like the system that followed where opportunities were based on partisan affiliation.

He said that though the first-past-the-post electoral system was partly unjust, the two leaders at that time discussed the introduction of proportionate nominative members to give a more balanced and fair representation in the assembly, especially to the losing side.

Mr Elizabeth explained that the DP was in the process of revising the electoral constituencies for a more demographic balanced representation but it did not get to materialise due to the coup that followed.

He added that Mr Rene staged the coup because he wanted absolute power as he wanted to rule by decree.

He said that after the coup he lost his job as an independent trade unionist, through the state acquiring all of the union’s money, and other jobs he got at the Seychelles Public Transport Corporation (SPTC).

He said that if the coup had not happened and the DP had had the chance to implement its programme, progress in the country could have been more evident.

Given that it has been some three months since the TRNUC last appeared in public session, the chairperson, Gabrielle Louise McIntyre, found it necessary to recall the mandate of the commission. She stated that it is a process to receive complaints of allegation of human rights violations related to the coup d’etat of June 5, 1977.

She noted that provided that the commission is satisfied that the complaint is linked to the coup of 1977, it will consider that complaint admissible regardless the temporal time frame and will investigate those complaints to determine the truth of the allegations made and to create an objective public record of those violations.

She added that the commission seeks to help bridge divisions caused by any violations, provide closure to victims and perpetrators, to determine the appropriate reparations for victims, the appropriate rehabilitation for victims and perpetrators and whether or not to grant amnesty to persons responsible for human rights violations.

Mrs McIntyre noted that the objective of the commission is to unite the people of Seychelles around a common agenda that will help them move forward in confidence and with a sense of common purpose and ensure that such violations do not recur.

She called on the perpetrators to come forward and admit their crimes as it will be only then that they will be granted amnesty under the act thus preventing them from being prosecuted.

She claimed that the commission is working with a number of perpetrators who are willing to come forward to admit their crimes but the commission will not commence any amnesty proceedings without being satisfied that the people of Seychelles are ready to hear the evidence, to understand that the violations occurred in a context and to accept that it was the context that drove those actions and not the mere freewill of the perpetrators.

Furthermore, she stated that albeit a difficult process, we also need to understand to forgive, to reconcile and to move forward in national unity.

The commission has heard 180 cases with another 14 new complaint cases scheduled to be heard over the next three weeks. By the end of the year, the commission would have heard 194 cases out of a potential 425 cases.

The other complainant to appear in open session yesterday was ex-soldier Norcy Dick. His case continues today.

Patrick Joubert