MANY people telephoned the office of Le Nouveau Seychelles Weekly last week to enquire about the disturbing picture of the young man on its front page with a swollen eye and several teeth missing from his mouth. This young man was the unfortunate victim of some rogue police officers who hide behind the safety of their uniforms to regularly terrorize, torture, imprison, provoke, swear and insult members of the public. The young man apparently suffered a violent attack and beatings at the hands of these rogue police officers who derive some kind of sick pleasure torturing and beating people. Surprisingly the culprits are still active members of the police force and they carry on their dirty deeds with impunity. The Commissioner of Police has tacitly condoned these misdeeds and he seems powerless to do anything about it.
The public in general has accused the Commissioner of Police with siding more and more with his officers and it seems that in his eyes they can do no wrong. This, despite the fact that Judge Riley was highly critical of the Commissioner in his report and advocated urgent police reform. There is a ring within the police force comprising of Lucas, the ring leader, and others who drives around the Island in a posh jeep and terrorize the community. Some have even killed in cold blood (Robin Henriette) and no disciplinary measure has been taken against them, let alone, criminal prosecution. These officers have immunity from prosecution and behave as if they are above the law.
They are reminiscent of the infamous “tonton macoute” who routinely raped, tortured and imprisoned innocent Haitian in the name of their President, the ruthless “Papa Doc” and subsequently “Baby Doc.” Many people have complained of being detained in police custody needlessly only to be released the next day without charge. Police detention is done routinely and at a whim at the pleasure of whoever is on duty that night. Nobody has been spared the wrath of these rogue officers and recently a well known lawyer and SNP Executive Committee Member was himself arrested and detained in police custody. The “People” newspaper was then fed the story and they reported it with glee causing further humiliation to the victim.
In a cruel twist of fate, an SPPF MNA, who allegedly refused to pay a taxi fare, was soon after also arrested and unfortunately found himself being locked up in custody overnight. This time it was Regar's turn to report the story with great gusto and fanfare and in the process embarrassed the MNA further still. It is a known fact that the police force like many other government ministries, departments and public bodies are divided along party lines and SNP and SPPF sympathizers make up the composition of these bodies. These people have managed to hold the country to ransom as one and then the other, has attempted to slow down the machinery of government. Politics, it seems, have infiltrated the fabric of society and for each step that we take forward, we seem to be making two backwards.
A recent police workshop on human rights is not expected to do much to alleviate the current situation as both the police officers and prison wardens have refused to comply with court orders in the past. The attitude has been that “we only take orders from State House and nowhere else.” Complaints to the Commissioner of Police and Superintendant of prison fall on deaf ears. The Court seems powerless to do anything either and people are increasingly taking the law into their own hands to resolve their problems as the situation slowly and gradually degenerates into chaos and anarchy.