President Faure meets international lawyer |17 February 2018

President Danny Faure yesterday met international lawyer Richard Rogers who was accompanied by members of the Truth & Reconciliation Committee of the National Assembly.

Mr Rogers has been here for the last six months to assist the Truth & Reconciliation Committee to craft a law that is appropriate for Seychelles for the Truth & Reconciliation Commission that will be set up later this year.

In an interview with the press, Mr Rogers said the discussions with President Faure centred around the work of the committee and the new law as well as issues such as amnesty and compensation.

“One thing which we mentioned in particular is that one of the greatest challenges of the truth committee anywhere in the world is managing the expectations of the people and no truth commission is going to please everybody,” he said.

He stated that if people want an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth then they are going to be disappointed because that’s not what this commission is for.

“This commission is for finding out the truth about what happened in a difficult period of Seychelles history, it’s about allowing victims to tell their story and perpetrators to give their version of events to explain why things happened. It is also about national reconciliation and hopefully with the process we will see some healing with people becoming less bitter and frustrated for the society to be able to move forward in a healthier way,” he said.

He believes that they have come up with a good product which provides a framework with powers and procedures which will go a long way after the commission has been set up as it would serve as a backbone for moving forward.

“At the moment they are drafting a law that will form the basis of the commission’s work so with my background in transitional justice I have assisted the committee in that important task,” he said.

He said that after the law is presented, debated and approved by the National Assembly, it will be ready in May or June.

“I’ve made assessment of the truth commission in Sri Lanka and the main problem there is that it wasn’t independent. That is one example of a truth commission that was simply a tool the ruling party used to try to sweep the crimes of the state under the carpet compared to what I have seen here in the Seychelles where it is cross party committee and everyone is absolutely dedicated to finding the real truth,” he said.

Mr Rogers has been involved with similar committees in Cambodia, Rwanda, Uganda and Bangladesh.

The chairperson of the committee, Wavel Ramkalawan, said they hope to have the law presented to the National Assembly by March. Once approved it will be brought to the executive body and the commission will be set up to bring out the truth surrounding the events of June 5, 1977.

He also stated that there were two tribunals announced by President Faure where one will deal with property of land and the other will handle cases of abuse by the police and army and the latter has not been established.

“The president said the attorney general is working on two other pieces of legislation which will separate the police cases from the military ones,” he said.

Also present during the meeting was the committee vice-chairperson Charles Decomarmond and secretary Jeline Quatre.