Human rights abuses did not end when the UN Charter and Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1945 and 1948 was adopted respectively. Human rights violations can be described as any act that infringes upon the fundamental rights of individuals by which they are entitled to enjoy regardless of their sex, race, color, language, nationality, ethnicity and religion. These rights are inalienable and indivisible and must be enjoyed by all manner of persons without any constraints and fear. Human rights violations continue to dominate the political, social and economic as well as cultural activities of almost every country across the globe.
This paper seeks to provide evidence human rights violations in Seychelles, the actors and the role they played and why the act can be considered to be a human right violation.
The image above shows a young man called Jean Paul David who has been brutalized by the police, more precisely the Public Security Support Wing (PSSW) of Seychelles. According to eyewitness account, Jean Paul David happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. The PSSW raided the area where Paul happened to be. Shots were fired and people were running in all directions. The eyewitness recounts that Paul was caught and beaten up without any questions asked and left on the ground where he was picked up and transported to Seychelles hospital. Additionally, Paul could not speak as he had lost several teeth and his gum had to be stitched. One knee had also been severally lacerated.
Furthermore, eyewitness laments that the PSSW mandated to protect the rights of the citizens, maintain law and order, among several others, behaves like a terrorist organization inflicting fear into the citizens rather than providing public security and support. Nonetheless, citizens maintain that, police brutality has remained a national catastrophe in Seychelles as the paramilitary force of the police, those undisciplined, trigger happy and ill clad hooligans fire more shots in public against their fellow citizens.
The aforementioned and image to buttress the claim, is a clear indication of human right violation in Seychelles.
To begin with, the state apparatus that is mandated to provide security, maintain law and order that will provide conducive environment to enable individuals move about with their normal duties without any intimidations or victimizations, on the contrary, is brutalizing innocent civilians without fair hearing and trial. Police brutality continues to rampant in Seychelles.
Every human being by shear virtue of his or her humanity is entitled to certain inalienable and indivisible rights including right to life, security and liberty. It is the responsibility of every state to protects these entitled regardless of the sex, race, color, nationality, ethnicity and language of a person. However, the case in Seychelles is different. Citizens contend that, the PSSW inflict fear in them rather than providing public security and support. This sometimes prevents them from engaging in their daily activities because of fear of being shot, lynched or attacked. These acts can be described as affronts to the entitlements due citizens of Seychelles by shear virtue of their humanity as they impede freedom of movements, association, speech, among several others. In light of these propositions, some citizens have described the police brutality as a national catastrophe and a violation of human right.
In conclusion, it is evident that the police commit most atrocious crime against the citizens of Seychelles rather than providing security and protection. Therefore, their actions can be described as violation of human rights of the citizens of Seychelles. The government must put in place effective and efficient techniques aimed at reorienting and restricting the police service especially in their recruitment and selection processes. Also, there must be laws that prohibits indiscrimate attacks by the police against the citizens. Citizens must be provided the opportunity to explain themselves, have fair hearing and trial whenever they are engaged in civil or criminal act. Once these measures are put in place, it will help regulate the activities of everyone and also safeguard their rights.
References
- Assembly, U.G. (1948). Universal Declaration of Human Rights. UN General Assembly.
- https://www.Seychellesvoice.blogspot.com
