TRNUC hears more victimisation complaints |19 June 2021

Nichol Gabriel
Gilbert Kilindo was the first person to appear before the Truth, Reconciliation and National Unity Commission during its 169th hearing on Thursday June 17.
Before setting out his complaints, Kilindo wanted to know if in its mandate the commission had the power to jail people who had violated the human rights of others or the power to ban a political party under which such violations had been allowed to take place. He also wanted to know if he will be compensated for being victimised by people in the previous ruling party.
In response, chairperson Gabrielle Louise McIntyre said that the commission has no power to undertake the actions he had mentioned and explained that its mandate is based on granting reconciliation and amnesty.
She said the commission is to receive complaints of allegations of violations and to investigate those allegations and further provide closure for the victims and perpetrators of the violations.
The commission has to also determine the appropriate reparations for victims, the appropriate rehabilitation for victims and perpetrators and to decide whether or not to grant amnesty to perpetrators.
She added that the commission’s report will be presented to the President for him to decide on the recommendations to be taken by the commission in which will also include granting of compensations to victims. As for him (Kilindo), he can use other means like the court, among other legal avenues, to set up a case against the party or people that have violated his rights. He was made aware that people granted amnesty by the commission after admission and have sought for forgiveness for their crimes committed, will not be able to be prosecuted in the court of law.
After some further discussion with the commission on the matter, Kilindo decided not to set out his complaints until later and he had been rescheduled for January 2022.
Case 040 - Ahtee Labonte
Ahtee Labonte was before the commission to complain about victimisation with regard to land issues that he and his father, Roch Labonte, endured by the government of the former ruling party.
He said that his father bought a piece of land at Greenwich from government after the coup d’etat of 1977 and following that he was accused by a high official of the state of being in the possession of the piece of land to spy on the Union Vale army camp down below. He stated that although his father, who was a strong democrat, had started to build on the land, he was told to vacate the place and was allocated with a smaller parcel in another area in the same district of Mont Buxton. He said the original piece of land is still lying idle and the family should be given the right to buy the land back.
Speaking on his personal case, Labonte said that in 2003, after working for three years in Britain from 1998, he bought his first plot of private land, situated at Anse Marie Louise, Praslin, to build a guest house. He said he hired an architect from England who designed a four-bedroom guest house, including his personal house, adjacent to the guest house, only to be refused planning permission by the Planning Authority on the grounds that the development was above the fifty metre mark, above sea level, where such establishment is not allowed to be constructed. He said he was also told that his land was in a sensitive area not suitable for any construction.
Mr Labonte said that he made an investigation and found out that there were some people in the same vicinity who had built. He said that after being refused permission to build, he bought another piece of private land at Anse La Blague in 2008, also on Praslin, to build 21 villas and again he was refused planning permission on the grounds that the area was too rocky and that it also falls into the natural beauty category where construction cannot take place.
He said that after some back and forth, he felt disappointed and returned to England. He added that he continued with the back and forth between the two countries in relation to his eco-friendly project until he was allowed permission to build only on 10% of his land. He added that even through an approved Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) he was still not able to go ahead with his eco-project while again some other people, in the area, were going about with their construction projects. He said that at one point he wanted to subdivide the land to sell but was also refused permission to do so but in the end he managed to sell the whole plot of land in one piece in 2017.
Mr Labonte stated that following the hassles with the past government to at least have a business of his own, he has only managed to get permission to construct a mineral water bottling plant on the land at Anse Marie Louise, which is in its conception phase. He said the issues he had with the former government had contributed to the collapse of his marriage.
Case 0293 - Julita Delpech
Speaking to the commission through Skype from South Africa, Julita Delpech complained that her husband, Clay Delpech, was wrongly dismissed from the police force on May 15, 1981 and that their property was sold and they were not compensated.
Mrs Delpech, who was working as a receptionist at the Reef Hotel at that time, said that her husband, who was an assistance superintendent, was dismissed along with several other police officers that day for unknown reasons. She further said that he had joined the force in 1962 and had held different positions with the force. She added that her husband called on Police Commissioner James Pillay on two occasions to ask for the reason of his dismissal and he was given the same answer – that he (Commissioner Pillay) had been asked to carry out the orders.
She said that her husband was advised by the commissioner that he better leave the country, after which she accompanied him to South Africa on May 22, 1981 where he stayed with a Seychellois leaving there. She stated that she came back to Seychelles a month later to pick up their two kids and returned to meet her husband in South Africa. She said that he was never paid his police pension and he sadly never got the chance return to his home country as he passed away on April 1993. She said apart from his personal political opinion, he was never involved in any political activities while living in Seychelles.
Mrs Delpech said that they tried to sell their property at Ma Constance (Parcel H676), bought in 1976 but was unable to do so as they still owed Seychelles Housing Development Company (SHDC) at that time. She added that she had her sister rent the house and the rental earnings were used to pay back the loan taken from SHDC (Seychelles Housing Development Company). She said the tenant stopped paying his rent and claimed that he was paying directly to SHDC and when her husband wrote to SHDC on November 1984 for the loan balance, he got no response. She added that her husband offered the SHDC the possibility to buy and sell the house to another person but his proposal was turned down. She said Dolor Ernesta, who was the minister responsible for housing at that time, sold the family house for R175,750, just three months after the death of her husband and she received no compensation. She said that like her husband, she has never come back to Seychelles since leaving the country in 1981.
With regard to the dismissal of her husband and other police officers from the force, Mrs McIntyre explained that from information gathered, it was President Albert Rene, who was attending a meeting in Libya with Muammar Gaddafi, who ordered for them to be removed from the force following information he received that they were not loyal to the state. She said that the commission will investigate the sale of her property.
Lawyer Nichol Gabriel appeared as a general witness before the commission to provide evidence of an internal plot to stage a coup d’etat that was to take place on September 4, 1986.
Mr Gabriel said that he came back to Seychelles in August 1986 after studying law in France and was given at job at the Ministry of External affairs and Planning at that time. He added that it was President Albert Rene who held the ministerial responsibility of the ministry following the resignation of Minister Maxime Ferrari two years before.
He stated that in September 1986, President Rene, headed a delegation to the 6th Non-Aligned Movement summit that was being held from the 1st to 6th in Zimbabwe . He said that apart from the summit, the President had also planned to conduct state visits to Mozambique, Tanzania and he was to return in the country on September 18. He further said that on September 4, 1986, he received a call in the afternoon from the Indian high commission that President Rene was returning that night onboard a private plane belonging to Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi. He noted that the news came as a surprise to him and he related the news to Minister Ogilvy Berlouis who was in command of the ministry in the absence of the president.
Mr Gabriel added that Minister Berlouis, who was also surprised about the imminent arrival of the president, told him to make arrangements for the President’s arrival at the VIP lounge. He said that the usual high level protocol delegation including Minister Berlouis, Minister James Michel and some members of the diplomatic corps were present but what was unusual was the presence of the many soldiers in the area.
He said that somebody from Skychef called on him to take a call from the catering service and he received instructions from Maurice Loustau-Lalanne that only him (Gabriel) and Captain David Savy were to meet the President onboard the plane which came to park at the domestic terminal instead of at the international parking area. He further said that after Captain Savy had had his conversation with President Rene, he (President Rene) asked him (Gabriel) to guide him down the stairway to a jeep that was waiting. He added that there was also a heavy presence of soldiers at the domestic terminal and after the President had left, he had to explain to the waiting party at the VIP lounge that President Rene had arrived but left immediately for his residence at L’Exile, Sans Souci.
Mr Gabriel stated that the President called him the following day to discuss the events where he also learned about those to be dismissed from the administration. He said from what he understood, the plan was to shoot down the plane while landing or to shoot the President upon disembarking from the plane. He said the plan was foiled as the plane arrived days earlier before the planned coup. He stated that the incident was reported in some international press only but not in detail. He added that the President must have learned of the coup attempt from external sources, most probably from Indian authorities.
He said it was common knowledge that telephones were tapped in the country and he was not aware that popular radio presenter, Marjorie Baker, was killed because she had informed the President of the planned coup, other than hearing it through the commission.
Patrick Joubert