THE PUBLIC HUMILIATION OF POLICE COMMISSIONER WAYE-HIVE

THE PUBLIC HUMILIATION OF POLICE COMMISSIONER WAYE-HIVE

Police Commissioner Waye Hiveappeared uncomfortable as he was being grilled by Judge Riley during the Commision of Inquiry public hearing.

Last Friday, the last day of public hearing of the Commission of Inquiry into the events of 3, October 2006 at the precinct of the National Assembly, saw the Commissioner of Police, Mr. Marc Waye Hive, subjected to what many in the audience felt was a most humiliating episode for the Seychelles police, one of the principal agency of coercion used by Albert Rene to maintain a one-party dictatorship. Waye Hive cut such a pathetic figure after only the first few questions from Irish Judge Michael Riley, that almost everyone in the audience felt equally humiliated, although there was little sympathy for Waye Hive.

But the humiliation of the Commissioner of police was to last a further five hours, making the very uncomfortable chairs even more uncomfortable to sit on for him and everyone else in the room .

WAYE HIVE CLEARLY UNEASY

Meanwhile, a clearly dejected Waye Hive, dressed in very casual attire in defiance of the judge’s recommendations that witnesses should appear either wearing a tie or in uniform, was fidgety, unable to look at the judge in the eye, developed a constant cough and kept drinking copious glasses of water each time he replied ineffectually to a hard but pointed question. At one point judge Riley angrily remonstrated the Commissioner of Police, similar to what a kindergarten class teacher would do to a absent minded pupil, requesting him to virtually sit up straight, look at him and answer the questions truthfully. As the end of what was arguably the longest day for the Police Commissioner neared, a visibly dejected Judge Riley threatened to resume the torment of Waye Hive the following Saturday morning even though the judge had planned to leave the country on that day. In the end Judge Riley simply gave up on the witness and closed the public part of his inquiry for now.

Riley annoyed by Waye Hive’s Refusal to speak English

The decision by Waye Hive not to answer questions in English elicited a wry comment from Judge Riley who pointed out, rather sarcastically that, while the Police Commissioner had willingly given a written testimony in English to the chief investigation officer of the inquiry, he was now, it appears, so stricken by an apparent deficiency in the English language that he needed an interpreter. And that, even though Waye Hive, who was not a product of the creolisation of the education system during the one-party state, admitted that all reports sent to him by the various sections of the police force under his command, especially the intelligence report from the head of the Special Branch (SB), are written in English.

It became crystal clear very quickly to the Police Commissioner that, if he thought by having an interpreter he would have an advantage of being forewarned, he was gravely mistaken. Waye Hive was no doubt shocked to discover that the thought process he developed and the experiences he gained as a sycophant underling of a one-party police state dictatorship, did not serve him well in an open society where public responsibility works hand in hand with public accountability.

Waye Hive made accountable

Indeed, the word accountability became a very sticking point for Waye Hive, as the term got entangled in the translation. It took awhile for it to dawn on the police commissioner that the judge meant “taking responsibility for one’s action, as well as the actions of those who you have given orders to, to carry out a task”, rather than just being simply responsible for the day to day affairs of the police force, which Waye Him thought accountability meant.

The morning started rather innocently enough for Police Commissioner Waye Hive when the leading counsel for the inquiry took him through the minutiae of his written testimony, seeking his confirmation of the issues he raised in it. It was evident then that Waye Hive was going to face difficulty later on since he was giving new interpretations to part of the evidence he had given the inquiry’s chief investigation officer, Mr Liam Quinn. After the examination, it was the turn of Judge Riley to put the hard but searching questions to the Police Commissioner. Armed with information independently gathered by the inquiry investigators and ably assisted by his long years of experience not only as a judge but also as a seasoned cross examiner in a proper court of law, judge Riley grilled the police commissioner on his responsibilities as the head of the police force as well as the management structure of the police force.

Waye Hive recalcitrant and uncooperative

The judge started by asking Way Hive how the Seychelles Police force functions. Waye Hive said that there were various units that reported directly to him on a day to day basis. These were the Special Branch, the Criminal Investigation Department (CID), the Special Support Unit (SSU), the drug squad known as ADAMS, as well as the general duties section or the uniformed officers. He said that the head of all these departments meet with him daily.

Asked who he reports to, Waye Hive said that he reports to the President of the Republic who is the Minister responsible for the police or to the Vice-president when he acts for the President. He said he reports once a week to the President but also as and when the situation warrants. Asked if he reported to any other politician Waye Hive said no. Yet, in his written testimony Waye Hive had said he spoke to the Speaker of the National Assembly, Francis Macgregor on the day of the incident. Wasn’t he a politician the judge asked? Yes, he said, he wanted me to make certain security arrangements at the National Assembly building that morning. What business it was for the Speaker of the National Assembly Judge Riley asked? It was evident that Judge Riley knew that Waye Hive had spoken to another more powerful politician who gave the order for the deployment of the SSU to attack the SNP leaders.

Judge Riley then took the Commissioner of Police to task on his and the police’s seemingly lacklustre treatment of intelligence. Waye Hive said that he gets an intelligence report from the head of the Special Branch every morning. This is in written form and in English, to which Judge Riley sarcastically wanted to know whether the Commissioner understood what he read. But Waye Hive said that he also has his own private or personal source of information, a remnant of the one-party state informant network. On the 3rd of October, however, he relied entirely on the intelligence provided by Special Branch. That intelligence, he said, indicated there would be 20,000 people demonstrating at the National Assembly building, that is why he had the SSU on standby at the Central police Station. Yet, by the time the SSU attacked the SNP leaders there were only about 40 people who had gathered at the National Assembly.

Waye Hive shocks by admitting he shreds intelligence report

Asked what he did with the intelligence reports he receives from the Special Branch each morning after reading it, Way Hive said, to the consternation of Judge Riley and everyone, that he shreds them after a few weeks. At this point the questions started to get more embarrassing for Police Commissioner Waye Hive, and his answers appeared evasive and laborious to the point that Judge Riley became visibly irritated and remonstrated the Police Commissioner. Stopping the Police Commissioner in mid sentence, Judge Riley urged him to answer truthfully and simply give a yes or no answer and to refrain from “making gratuitous comments”.

“Are you telling me that you destroy valuable information, information that have important national security implications?”

“Yes”

“Why?”

“ The Special Branch keeps a copy of every report handed to me”

“How do you know they did so, did you make an investigation to satisfy yourself that there was a copy before you destroyed yours?”

“No, but I was sure Special Branch kept a copy”

“Where is the intelligence file on the event of October 3?”

“I don’t know, it has disappeared.”

“Have you asked the head of the Special Branch? Have you conducted a police inquiry to find out where it was and who could have taken it?”

“No. The head of Special Branch resigned in November while we were investigating him for something else”

“Are you aware of what goes on in this inquiry? If I told you that this inquiry has been given part of the Special Branch intelligence file of October 3, would you be interested in the person who gave it to us?”

“Yes”

“Would you then conduct a police inquiry?”

“It depends”

“On what?”

“On the recommendations of the commission of inquiry”

“Aren’t you the Commissioner of Police? What is the role of a Commissioner of Police?”

The foregoing is our own reconstruction of the some of the questions and answers and not a transcript of the actual proceeding. We have presented it in this way to give a flavour of the kind of questions and answers that were exchanged. Waye Hive told the commission that the CID had started an investigation of the disappearance of the intelligence file but that he ordered it stopped when he heard that a Commission of Inquiry had been set up. But the Police Commissioner also said he would not order a police criminal investigation into the incident which caused the hospitalisation of the Jean-Francois Ferari and Wavel Ramkalawan with serious head wounds as a result of police action, until after he had seen the recommendation of the Inquiry. Asked why that had anything to do with his responsibility as head of the police force, Waye Hive responded that perhaps the Inquiry would recommend that no action be taken against those involved. At this point Judge Riley became visibly angry and in not so many words made it known that he thought Waye Hive was not fit to occupy the position of Police Commissioner.

In his testimony earlier in the week, the head of the SSU, Superintendent Roucou, admitted that his officers were responsible for causing the grievous bodily harm to Jean-Francois Ferari and Wavel Ramkalawan. But he was not able to identify who the culprits among his officers were. Roucou was promoted to Superintendent by Waye Hive soon after the incident. Waye Hive too claimed that the police do not know who the offending officers are and to the consternation and irritation of Judge Riley, said that he had no intention of finding out.

Waye Hive unfit to be commissioner of Police

Waye Hive, an army officer who started his career and obtained all his experience as a soldier in the one-party state Seychelles Peoples Liberation Army (SPLA), was appointed Commissioner of Police by President James Michel in August 2006. The appointment by-passed many qualified and experienced police officers in order that the ruling party would have physical as well as party control of the institution. He agreed with Judge Riley that he had no experience as a police officer when he took over the post in August 2006 and that he had gained little experience at the time of the incident. Nevertheless, he said he did not seek any advice from his foreign advisors on his course of action. Pressed by Judge Riley to explain why, Waye Hive replied that he was the Commissioner of Police and he is not obliged to consult anyone before making a decision, to which Judge Riley resposted that this was an arrogant answer.

During the colonial times and until the coup d’etat on June 5, 1977 and even after independence, the police was the only security force in the Seychelles. However, shortly after grabbing power and appointing himself President of Seychelles, Albert Rene created the Seychelles Peoples Liberation Army (SPLA) populated only with loyal and dedicated members of SPUP (the predecessor to the SPPF) with minimal education, which operated as a law unto itself. The original high echelon of the army comprised entirely of those who were close to Rene during the violent takeover, among them James Michel. With the advent of the multiparty system, the SPLA was renamed the Seychelles People’s Defence Forces (SPDF).

Waye Hive utterly humiliated

The public humiliation of Police Commissioner Mark Waye Hive, his behaviour and inconsistencies did not, unsurprisingly, attract the attention of the State-funded broadcasting media. Instead, earlier in the week SBC attempted to mislead the public by claiming that all the security officers would be giving evidence in secret, which prompted the front page story in our issue of last week. In his closing remarks Judge Riley, however, revealed that out of the 71 witnesses who gave evidence only the British deputy High Commissioner was granted audience in camera. She was present when the police started firing tear gas and rubber bullets at the peaceful gathering which was, in any event, dispersing.

Judge Riley said he was hoping to finish his report while in Ireland, by the first anniversary of the incident but if new evidence were to surface he may have to delay the submission of the report to the President. Meanwhile the chief investigation officer of the inquiry – former Irish police officer Liam Quinn will remain in Seychelles to gather any new evidence. The address of the Commission of Inquiry is 2nd Floor, Pensions Building, Caravelle House, Victoria telephone: 580347.

Once he has submitted his report, Judge Riley said, it will be up to President Michel to decide what to do with it.