Letter to the Editor |11 April 2026

The end of atrocities of the 1977 coup d’Etat

This 87-page Interim Report is a detailed document that I have written as a follow-up to my 2017 First Report which kick started the process of delving into the atrocities of the 1977 coup d’Etat and finding ways to recompense the victims for their losses.

The victims wish to extend a special thank you to President Patrick Herminie, Fourth President Danny Faure, the TRNUC commissioners, the newly appointed successor team and the National Unity Commission team for their courage and tenacity to make this final settlement a reality. Our whole nation looks forward to a final closure of this horrible chapter in our history when murders, rape, disappearances, land confiscation were inflicted on our brothers and sisters and that it has taken 48 years for us to agree to make reparation.

We pray our future generations will take heed of the sufferings of the victims and the damage unnecessarily inflicted on our nation just because a few people wanted to be in politics. We hope this report and the monuments we have erected will serve as reminders to our future generations never to go down this road again. No one has really benefited from the atrocities committed on the victims of the Coup d’Etat and will not do so in the long run either.

Following thee plus years of hard work, on March 31, 2023 the TRNUC commissioners handed the final report to Fifth President, Wavel Ramkalawan. He announced a successor team but gave them no contract, no office and no authority. Yet President Wavel Ramkalawan was the one who shouted the loudest when he was leader of the opposition in the National Assembly, he even sacrificed his blood to the cause when we saw pictures of him with his blood splashed all over his stomach region being taken to hospital. What changed his mind? We will never know.

Barry Laine FCIM, FInst SMM, MCIM, MBSCH

Chairman, TRNUC Victims Association (TRNUC-AOV)

Disclaimer

The views expressed in this letter do not necessarily represent the views of the Seychelles NATION newspaper.