Monday, August 4, 2014

Minister of Foreign Affairs Jean-Paul Adam peeved with the US

Blue eyed boy Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr. Jean Paul Adam is peeved at the US Department of State for its Human Rights Report 2013 on Seychelles. Minister Adam has been peeved several times over the last few months; in fact he has been angry at all reports that do not shed praises on government and his mentor, President James Michel. He has an air of infallibility about him and we suppose it is because he may well be of the opinion that the job he is doing was by birth his inheritance; a common ailment of the incumbent government. Young Adam has been fast in learning the ropes; he is now a master manipulator.


On behalf of government, he has invited rapporteurs to the Seychelles as a sign of government’s commitment to transparency; two of them have already visited Seychelles and given press conferences heaping diplomatic praise on government. Their itineraries are well taken care of by Adam’s ministry ending in a press conference and the usual cocktails before they board their flights out never to come back again. Seychelles remains business as usual; more repression and more cronyism as ministerial portfolios are handed over from father to son and business opportunities shared among friends.

Minister Adam has rejected outright the human right report of the US Department of State and has gone as far as requesting the population to read the report and assess for themselves knowing full well that a minority have access to or have the wherewithal to gain possession of the report. In the name of transparency, we challenge Jean Paul Adam to publish the report in the government’s newspaper so that the people of Seychelles will have the privilege of making their own assessments. We dare him!

We welcome the US State Department on Seychellois soil to confirm their report. However, Jean Paul Adam must allow the delegation to have unlimited access to the source of their enquiry. Will Jean Paul allow them to interview those who have been illegally detained, visit the living quarters of the Asian and Chinese workers, interview those who have not been paid for several months and be given an explanation on why the National Human Rights Commission has been disbanded?

The manipulative and deceptive tactics being used by a government more concerned with its image than fostering a democratic culture will lead nowhere; if the international community falls for the deception, the Seychellois people know the reality and retain the right to put a stop to it once and for all!!


Source: Seyweekly.com