Seychelles' truth and reconciliation body to complete mandate end of March

Last year, TRNUC handed over to the President the completed volumes of its final report. (Seychelles Nation)

Seychelles' Truth, Reconciliation and National Unity Commission (TRNUC) will complete its mandate on March 31st in conformity with the second extension granted at the end of last year, said the Commission in a press statement on Thursday.

The Commission said that on that date, all 247 case determinations that had not been filed before President Wavel Ramkalawan in August 2022, will be handed over by the TRNUC, thus completing the final report of the Commission.

TRNUC anticipates that as per Section 10(4) of the TRNUC Act, "the President shall make the complete final report public and lay a copy of it before the National Assembly within one month of receiving it."

Last year, TRNUC handed over to the President the completed volumes of its final report as well as part of the third volume of case determinations, namely 124 of the 371 individual complaints filed before the Commission.

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.

As the Commission was unable to complete its mandate, it was granted an initial extension by the National Assembly until December 2022. The government was informed in November 2022, that considerable investigative challenges meant that the Commission would not be unable to complete all of its determinations under the extension granted.  

The Commission said it "hopes that its recommendation for the establishment of a successor body to implement reparations in accordance with the Commission's victims-led Reparations Policy adopted in accordance with Section 3(7) (e) (i) of the TRNUC Act, will be implemented with the support of all Government authorities."

It also notes in that regard that it has also received recently a number of requests from complainants for reconsideration of their determinations and that "given the end of the mandate of the Commission, these requests will be handed to the successor body, to be established by the government, for its consideration."

TRNUC says it still needs to complete other remaining residual functions which include transcription, translation and making publicly accessible the records of the Commission. 

TRNUC expressed its gratitude to the complainants, witnesses and suspects that cooperated with the Commission in the implementation of its challenging mandate.  

The chairperson, Gabrielle Mcintyre, also acknowledged the dedication, commitment, and impartiality of the National Commissioners and commended their efforts undertaken for the benefit of all Seychellois.  

TRNUC hopes that its "contributions towards revealing and seeking to understand the past will ensure that the human rights violations do not recur, as well as facilitate a broad acceptance of that past. It is that broad acceptance that has the potential to lay the foundation for the building of a better future for all Seychellois."