Reconciliation Should Happen But Not On A Tyrant’s Terms And Conditions.

By Josette Hoarau

So Albert Rene has finally looked up his dictionary and has learnt a new word – reconciliation. After so many years of hardline dictatorship with acts aping the behavior of notorious dictators like Mugabe, Kim Il Sung, Gaddafi etc., one must question the timing of this call by an ailing hard man in the twilight of his years. Reconciliation - it sounds great! So should we all jump up, rush and reach out to the dictator and again let him dictate the pace of change in our country?

Firstly, I would be very interested to hear what Albert Rene’s definition of reconciliation is. In my opinion reconciliation means more than just a senile old dictator uttering some words over the radio or even sitting at a table so that we can reach over, listen to a shallow insincere apology, shake hands, then we all go back home and we live happily ever after with the current status quo maintained.

When Rene executed the plans of his coup in 1976, he knew exactly what he was doing. He moved quickly to consolidate absolute power and assume the role tantamount to that of a feudal lord over the country. He controlled all the politics, the media and the army but in particular his goal was to plunder the economy of the country for his own benefit. His family and in particular his stepsons assumed crucial roles in this new order. His other sycophants were also well rewarded. However this dictatorship was never to be accepted by many free-spirited Seychellois and invariably many fought back to restore the freedom and democracy that existed prior to 5th June 1976. Those brave hearts that fought back were killed, exiled or made to disappear never to be seen. After years of oppression and having hijacked all the resources of our country, Rene, his family and sycophants have become extremely wealthy. Their ill-gotten gains have since been siphoned off into “legitimate business” not only in Seychelles but also beyond our shores and today they still control the economic and business activities of our islands.

 Gerard Hoarau murdered on 29 November 1985
In our quest for reconciliation those facts should not be forgotten. Reconciliation cannot simply be the act of sitting around a table so that Rene can proclaim a limp and general “sorry” and then everyone goes home. It must be a process where he, his henchmen and his sycophants who have caused harm come forward, enumerate and confess to all of their crimes in public. They should, like it was done in South Africa, look into the eyes of the families of their victims, and apologize with sincerity and contrite hearts. They should then go further. Those who have acquired wealth through fraud, corruption and abuse of political power etcetera should atone for their economic crimes by redistributing their ill-gotten gains back to the rightful people or the state from which they stole it. Only such an act can reflect a genuine remorse for what they have done. Anything less would be nothing but a cheap and fraudulent gimmick.

Let us not forget that it is Rene and his clique that have been the root cause and beneficiaries of the political and economic crimes that have occurred in Seychelles since they usurped absolute power on the 5th of June 1976. It is they who should be reconciling with the majority. Let them begin by making their “mea culpas” and then perhaps the victims can pronounce their “absolvos”.

Reconciliation is vital for the wellbeing of our country and it can happen and it can lead to healing provided the process is genuine, fair and equitable to all parties especially the victims.

Comments

  1. Well said Mrs Hoarau.

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  2. There will be more questions than answers before real reconciliation.
    At one time he hate Mancham like a raccoon.
    He gave Siva the tittle instead of Mancham.
    And now they both look like kannar mile ki kontan la rivyer.
    Tou lede fodre anmar sifon ble avek zot lapat dwrat.

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  3. Mrs Hoarau is completely right.A reconcciliation cannot and should not be on the terms on one side.All stakeholders would have to come with their piece of the puzzle and together they would work to complete the puzzle together.

    A reconcicliaition is both proccess and a goal/an end-state which is in fact in itself a concept of justice through which society moves from a divided past to share future and pave the way for a transtional proccess to move from Dictatorship to Democracy.Political Reconcilaition is about the proccess of rebuilding politcal relationships,it is aminating virtue in merca and its goal is peace,co-existence.common future etc..-----thus,it cannot be dicted by one side.Howver, there must be a theory(a manual---that set and advice on issues that would be entailed in the reconcilation process as guidelines,to cordinate(not dictation) on how to procceed which would be the job of all party representatives to difine.

    The holistic justice of Reconcilaition invovle not onyl the elgal qaurantee and actual pratice of Human rights but also redress the wounds that politcal injustice inflict.


    Mrs Hoarua is then totally rights to pint out that no reconcilaition can be dictated by one side,for it conflicts and in any negociation,reconcialition there must be at least binary etc......One side cannot reconciclaition with itself,it must have an opposite to reconcialte with in a politcal reconcialition proccess.

    Jeanne D?Arc

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  4. FAR must not think in anywway that Reconcialition is just shaking hands and bye bye each one go back home just after.

    In a Reconcialition process--culprits must be ready to do the difficult steps which confesting their crimes,ask for pardon ,and finally the victims or victims families would decide should they accept the culprit's asking for pardon,and then only they can or not agree to Reconcilate.



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  5. Now that FAR is calling for reconcilaition, ,the qwuestion is would FAURE FAR protege be able to listen to his master and godfather,and wear this new brand pair of shoes FAR just gave him call REconciliaition:could he be his own man, stand for change,democracy,human rights ,justice,etc... and write both his own and a new Pp legacy?I would like to beleive so---FAURE first ever SLOGAN even before taking office as next dictator -in- Chief is "My value ,is your value"----, VALUE starts with DIGNITY----does he mean giving Seychellois their dignity back,their country back ,or is it just a catchword in his vocabulary to fool Seychellois the Butcher?

    Jeanne D'Arc





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  6. JRM has said something on reconciliation. It seems no one is listening. What did he say?
    I bet he does not want FAR to come out and explain how he sold us out to him.

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  7. Agreed last comment.
    Sometimes a rat eats the crumbs between he planks. That is what JRM has been doing all his life.
    He is a dog of a human and he has benefited a lot under the politics of division because he cashed in with SPPF early If FAR reveals the deals JRM will have to find a place in Australia to hide.

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    Replies
    1. Part Lepep Goons like to hide in Australia. I wonder why?

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  8. If Rene and SPPF/PP and JAM are genuine about reconciliation there are many ways of showing this to the general public. Let us take the ongoing case of the Hassanali family trying to obtain their piece of land in town ! The case keeps getting postponed for an injunction to stop the work until the couur can decide who the land belongs to. JAM should intervene as head of PP and ask the builders to stop this building until the court can decide whom the land belongs to. It is a well known fact that this land belonged to the Hassanali family, it was acquired by the one party state soon after the killing of Hassanali. Rene should approach this family and ask for forgiveness. He knows full well the circumstances of Hassanali dissaperance as he is the one who called the shots at that time ! JAM, RENE and this is an opportune moment to show us you are indeed genuine ! Alen

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  9. Completely agree.Allow to add this,In a free society ,with an independent justice,the justice should has the power to stop the contruction and that without necessarily on the demand of one side or the other,by naturally..In a functional justice systwem,it would have been the initiative of the Judge to put a stop with the contruction regardless if Mr Hassanali asks them to to so or not.

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  10. JAM has siad nothing for his the most crooked of all,and he is the hard core side in the party,Thoise who would like to keep forever the status qou.They not happy at all with FAR call,they were shocked,Then you ahve those who inherited FAR legacy to the likes of FAURE who feel relief by FAR call,for it give thrm some hopes that maybe JAM would stop his policy of divsion and finally help PP from its extinction.

    Jeanne D'Arc

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  11. should justice in such a case take the decision and stop the construction as long as the case is still under way.Where are those foreign under qualified Judges,What the hell they doing in our court room?

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  12. Experts who worked on past Reconciliation processes identified six practices that would lead to real reconcialiton:1)involve building socially just institutions,2)Politcal acknowledgement of wrongs,3)pertains to reparation ,4)Adresss judicial punishment,4)Apology and finally 6)Forgiveness.

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  13. Not RECONCILIATION rather REDEMPTION.

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  14. Tit Albert does needs to ask for forgiveness from his victims. There is nothing to reconcile, no one has done anything to SPUP, SPPF, JAM, & FAR. If anything, they have opposed and terrorised people and families who did not support their views. Therefore, it is only right for them to apologise publicly and then reconcile with their conscience.

    ARAZE

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  15. THERE IS a lot of challenges inherent to reconciliation and all depends on the contexts:transition from war to peace,authoritarain to democracy and so forth.

    However,regardless of the contexts,any reconciliation pocess two stage or forms.1)Interpersonal(individual)reconciliation ,which is perhaps the most painful and profund from of reconciliation,Bot when i si successful it can have an emotionaly/spritually healing effect for both victims and the victimizers.

    Where does a reconcilaition starts?In fact there is no single route to reconciliation.For some it starts at a negocaiting tabel ,for others when pereptratorsare tried and conviced,or when compensation is apid,or ewhen an apology is offered and so on.

    In seychelles case the most appropirate and efective startinf point would be "sitting around a round table/negocaiting table)in order to preapre and formulate conditions that would guide a Reconcilaition process.

    Moreover,what seems to me to be the best and logical mechanism under which a balnce reconcciliation could best take place that of TRANSITIONAL JUSTICE though the realtionship between reconciliation and transtional justice is complexe and often tense.

    Consider the relationship between porsecution and reconcilaition.There is some evidnecne to suggest that victims are less prone to reconciliation in the absence of some effort to hold pereptrators accountable for there crimes.Prosecutions mya also help to individualize guit,thereby reducing stereotyping and guilt by association of members of a group.Prosecutions can also help dispel harmful myths and historaical distortions which may generate resentment on the part of the victims for future conflicts.

    TRANSITIONAL JUSICE seems to deal most effectively with the complexity of reconciliation on four main mechanisms:trial(whether civil ro criminal),domestic or foreign,REPARATION__(whether compulsory,symbolic,restitutive,or rehabilitative in nature).It also encompasses other topics including those related to corruption,refroms of laws,instituions and personnel,It confronts the legacies of abuse in a braod and holistic manner.It recognizes that responsible justice policy must include measures that seek to achieve both accountability for past crimes.It also recognizes that criminal justice is not absolute but instead must be balanced with the deomocracy,unity,peace .equitable developemnt and rule of law.

    In conclusion,the rality in any country recovering from periods of mass abuse face the almost certain prospect of flawed justice in a significant numbers of cases.Transitional governemnt are effectively forced to choose between justice or justice and the continuation of peace,or justice and the maintenace of democracy.Even when such threats are less prominet,the massive scale of past abuse,the weakness of local justice system and the adoption of amnesty law,and severe limitation in relation to human and financial resources often make ordinary justice impossible.For the factthat justice systems are designed for crime as an exception.in most,not as a rule.If crime become a rule,no system is robust enough to cope.Consewuenctly,if most.if not all,transitional justice contexts,other accountability toos will be required going well-beyond the courts.

    Transitional justice does not only provides the balance but entails,covers ,provides all the other justice.

    Jeanne D'Arc.

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  16. 17.41

    There could not be redemption without reconcilaition.
    Christ rescued us from the dominion fo darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the sons of God.in whom we have redemption,the forgiveness of sins.Without this surrender,there would be no salvation,no forgiveness of sinsJESUS selfless act of sacrifice on the cross give us the opportunity to be reconciled with our creator--to the palce where we started and can now find our purpose.By ddying on the Cross;JESUS brought us over to God's side and put our lives together,making us whole and holy in his present.What a gift!

    Jeanne D'Arc

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  17. Why is James Michel silent and proceeding with implementation of the Public Orders Act 2014?

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  18. This man is always silent......unless his teleprompter is on]

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  19. So what is David Pierre response on the Albert Rene's reconciliation since he is the opposition leader. I'm waiting for LSHebdo and Weekly comments on this issue.

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  20. Do we have opposition leader in Seychelle?Pierre for us is not exist as politician may be a politi-chien looking for his own bones and his not a opposition leader just a judas filling his pocket like Ram in the past.Pierre is a opposition leader been chosen by PP.

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  21. We shall come to Pierre and others in time, the priority for now is what Michel got to say regarding the Reconciliation issue. Speak up man, are you waiting for instructions from Khalifa first?

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  22. Rene and his puppets do not know the meaning of TRUTH and RECONCILIATION.

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  23. velly happy to sea you blog.
    pp govermant are no god.
    thei mak me and me blangladis friens like slavs.
    thei no money for me a lon time.
    eveli dai nex mont nex mont.
    edith onli vely seky but dot take kare of me and me freins.

    this es Mustafa.

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  24. Besides the murder of his dear friend Gerard Hoarau, my friend's property including shop building and business was confiscated and sold over for a tiny fraction of the price it is worth and until now the compensation is not resolved. How can my friend's case be reconciled when there are still massive differences such as the absence of an apology for taking the life of his friend and the return of his property including his shop building and business!!???

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