Mandate of Seychelles' truth and reconciliation body extended until March 2023

TRNUC presented an interim report to the President in August. (Seychelles Nation)

(Seychelles News Agency) - The mandate of the Seychelles' Truth, Reconciliation and National Unity Commission (TRNUC) has been extended until March 2023 to give it more time to finalise its report.

The extension for three months was approved by the National Assembly on December 13 for TRNUC to work through 373 determinations.

This was the second time the mandate of the TRNUC has been extended. It received an extension on September 14 until the end of December 2022 to complete its report after only an interim one to the President in August.

According to the vice chairman, Michael Green, there are still outstanding cases and this is part of the reason why the TRNUC needed another extension.

"We have to determine if there is a human right law that has been violated, secondly we have to assess if the violation being reported is related to the coup d'état of 1977, if the answer is yes then the Commission will look into what type of violation has occurred because under our laws there are 14 types of violation," he said.

Green said that during 2022, the TRNUC has listened to cases up to the end of July and then they have been working to determine the cases.

The TRNUC was established in 2018 to work on settling past political divisions and grievances that were a result of the coup d'état in Seychelles on June 5, 1977. It had a three-year mandate which was expected to end in August 2022.

With the extension, the Commission expects to finalise its report before submitting it to the President.

Currently, there is still administrative work left to do, including transcription and interpreting translations. Green said that after the Commission will put all the documents and exhibits in a proper place to archive them.

Green said that "One of the reasons for the setbacks in our work is access to certain files requested from some ministries. In certain situations, we were told the files have been damaged."

He also talked about the reparation and said the Commission has held meetings with the victims to discuss the sum for the reparations.

"As a Commission, we do not say how much the reparation should be. This is work that the government will have to do when the mandate of the Commission comes to an end," said Green.

He added that "even if TRNUC will come to an end in March 2023, the Human Rights Commission will always be there for people to lodge their complaints. There will be no need for another TRNUC."