The sad demise of Adalbert Denousse on the streets of
Victoria has brought back memories of some of the saddest and darkest hours of
our post-independence history. I am thinking here of the murder of Simon
Desnousse, a young vivacious student with courage and obvious leadership
skills.
However, he was one
of the sacrificial lambs who were used to instill fear and obeisance in the
Seychellois people, as the authoritarian rule of post 1977 became entrenched and
fear spread like a dark cloud over the population. Many of us will remember photographs
of the scene at Anse Forban in the south of Mahé, where he and his friend the
South African national -Mike Archer had been blown apart by a car bomb.
 |
| The unfortunate accident. |
Word spread soon after of how they had been tortured before
being put back into the vehicle and a bomb set off seemingly from under the car.
We should never allow ourselves to forget that such real heroes like Simon
Desnousse, Alton Ah-Time and Gerard Hoarau actually lost their lives as a
sacrifice for us to move on to the road to multi-party democracy. It may not
have been obvious at the time, but their lives were a sacrifice which started
the slow process of creating an awareness in the minds of our oppressors that
the time was to come when we will stand up to them and show clearly that those
lost lives have not been in vain. At the right time when the so called liberatorsturned
oppressors are gone, we, the Seychellois people will find a fitting way to
remember those who were brave enough to stand up to the bullies and in so
doing, lost their lives.
 |
| Was the Policeman riding recklessly? |
It is time for us to revisit the past to bring healing to
the nation. Time waits for no man and there are those in our society who are
waiting to hear the truth, to forgive those who have committed these atrocities
and to get closure. There is no need here to advance any moral, intellectual or
political arguments. There are so many documented examples in countries around
us where healing and reconciliation have taken place, because there was
political will and political courage to bite the bullet. In the case of Simon
Desnousse there is talk that one of the perpetrators of this horrendous crime,
hallucinates often and cries asking for a chance to ask for forgiveness from
the family of the victim. Once again the question that begs an answer is- why
can we not set up a healing and reconciliation commission to enable those who
have lost their loved ones to know exactly what happened and thus find closure?
Equally important is the need for the perpetrators to be
afforded an opportunity to confess their crimes and ask for forgiveness!
Although nobody talks about it the individual cases openly in most of the
cases, the perpetrators are known to the families of those who were tortured,
killed, and disappeared.
 |
| 24 hours after the accident, markings are sprayed down |
I know that what frightens everybody is the possibility of
criminal prosecution. This is where the mandate and terms of reference of the
commission has to be well defined beforehand and the emphasis being placed on
forgiveness and healing. The programme called ‘restorative justice’ which has
been started in the Montagne Posée prison, is a good example of such a
programme where if possible, good faith and trust is the bedrock of such an
initiative.
It will go a long way
towards bringing about real and meaningful healing amongst the nation so that
we can move forward to the next level. We will not be able to keep what
happened in the post 1977 years, under wraps forever!
Meanwhile for those of us who believe in an afterlife and in
God, we live in the comfort that the Desnousse father and son will be reunited
in radiant love.
R.I.P.
