The murder of exiled Seychellois opposition leader Gerard Hoarau
outside his home in London, England on 29 November 1985 was the latest in a
series of incidents in which at least nine opponents of the government of
President Albert Rene are reported to have been murdered or have
"disappeared".
The current Government of the Seychelles came to power
following a coup d'etat in June 1977. The following August, Hassan Umarji
Ebrahim, a 45-year-old businessman and known government critic,
"disappeared". He left his house after receiving a phone call from an
unknown person. His empty car was discovered an hour later with the engine
still running. His shoes were found nearby. Amnesty International (AI) later
received detailed allegations suggesting that Hassan Umarji Ebrahim had been
abducted and killed by members of the security forces because of his political views.
A former police officer told AI that police files on the case had vanished from
the archives as a result of an intervention by senior officials.
STRANGE
In October 1982 and July 1983 a further four people died in
strange circumstances. The two victims in 1982 were Simon Desnousse, a
Seychellois student leader, and Mike Asher, a South African, said by the
authorities to have blown themselves up with a homemade bomb. In July 1983
Michael Hoffman, a former policeman, and Tony Elizabeth, were killed after
their car was attacked at night by unknown assailants. A third man, Brian Victor,
was left for dead hut subsequently recovered and claimed that he and his companions
had been attacked by members of the security forces. Al has received reports
that all of these killings were carried out for political reasons by members of
the security forces who had tried to disguise them either as accidents or as
the work of common criminals.
VICTIMS
The latest "disappearances" reported in the
islands occurred in August and September 1984. The victims were Jean Guillaume,
a 22-year-old labourer, and Alton Ah-Time, a known government opponent. Al
again received reports that both had been abducted and killed by members of the
security forces because of their actual or suspected political activity. Their
bodies are said to have been dumped at sea.
On 3 October 1984 Alton Ah-Time's mother, Simone Ah-Time,
wrote an open letter to a local newspaper in which she claimed that her son had
been followed and intimidated by security officers on several occasions in the previous
eighteen months. Since then, at least two members of the Ah-Time family have
been detained and allegedly beaten by security officers.
AI has appealed a number of times to the Seychellois
authorities to establish an impartial inquiry into this series of deaths and
"disappearances" but without response.
LEADER
Shortly before he was killed, Gerard Hoarau, leader of the
exiled Seychelles National Movement, claimed that the Seychellois Government
had planned to kill him in France. He alleged that the French police had been
informed of the plan: that it was to have been carried out by a professional
gunman hired by an associate of President Rene, and that the weapons for the
assassination were to have been smuggled into France in the diplomatic bag.
Gerard Hoarau was a former immigration officer in the
Seychelles. In November 1979, he was one of about 811 people detained on
suspicion of organizing an underground opposition movement which had circulated
literature criticizing the government. The authorities also claimed that Hoarau
was involved in a plan to overthrow the government by force, although he was
never charged with any offence. He was released untried after eight months'
detention. In March 1980 Hoarau was one of several detainees visited by an AI delegate, Kenyan lawyer Amos Wako, who recorded a conversation with Hoarau in
prison.
This echo from the past is brought by the Voice, a
Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) focused on Human Rights in Seychelles and
defending victims of fundamental rights abuses. The launch of the NGO is
imminent.
