📷 Photo: State House (Seychelles)
VICTORIA, Seychelles — The Office of the Ombudsman and the Seychelles Human Rights Commission (SHRC) have lodged a petition at the Constitutional Court asking judges to rule on whether the Commission of Inquiry into the Montagne Posée Prison Incident can lawfully sit alongside their own parallel investigation.
The petition, made public this week, asks the court to clarify the relationship between executive authority and the constitutional and statutory independence of the two oversight bodies. It also challenges the appointment of a sitting Supreme Court judge to chair the inquiry, arguing the dual role is incompatible with judicial office.
The underlying incident took place on 5 and 6 December 2024 at Montagne Posée Prison on Mahé, the country’s main correctional facility. Two prisoners, Francis Ernesta and Jerry Mathiot, died during the disturbance and several other inmates and officers were injured. The African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights issued a statement in January 2025 calling for a transparent, independent investigation.
President Patrick Herminie established the three-member Commission of Inquiry on 23 March 2026 through Written Instrument 272 of 2026 under the Commissions of Inquiry Act. The body is chaired by Justice Alfred Mavedzenge, with Judge Melchior Vidot and former prisons chief Vic Tirant as members, according to a State House release issued the same day. Its mandate runs for six months from the date of its first sitting, with a possible extension.
The Commission began public hearings in May 2026 at the prison itself, broadcasting live on national television. The testimony has covered the alleged use of lethal and non-lethal force by prison officers, police and the Seychelles Defence Forces, the chain of command on the night of the incident, and prisoner grievances that preceded the disturbance. The hearings have drawn national attention and run for several weeks.
The Ombudsman and the SHRC launched their own joint investigation into the same incident in December 2024, days after the violence. That probe remains open, and the two institutions say it depends on the continued cooperation of inmates who may now be deterred from speaking freely while the Commission of Inquiry continues to sit.
On 17 April 2026 the two institutions issued joint preliminary observations flagging constitutional concerns about the Commission of Inquiry. After a written response from the President dated 26 May, the Ombudsman and the SHRC escalated the matter to a final joint report on 19 June, which concluded that serious constitutional questions remained unresolved and required a court ruling.
The petition argues that the constitutional and statutory independence of the Ombudsman and the SHRC, both creatures of the Constitution, is undermined when a parallel executive-led inquiry sits over the same factual ground. It also raises the question of whether a sitting Supreme Court judge can be appointed to head a Commission of Inquiry without breaching the separation of powers doctrine that underpins the 1993 Constitution.
In a joint press release, the two institutions said they would refrain from further comment while the matter is before the court. “The Constitutional Court is constitutionally entrusted with determining questions concerning the application, contravention, enforcement or interpretation of the Constitution,” the release stated.
The court has not yet issued directions on the matter. The petition joins a related but distinct procedural dispute in which former president Wavel Ramkalawan and former designated minister Bernard Georges have separately written to Commissioner Justice Mathilda Twomey challenging the fairness of her Assomption Island inquiry, but the two cases proceed on different legal rails.
The case will be the first major test of the Herminie government’s use of the Commissions of Inquiry Act since he took office. It will also be a reference point for the boundaries between presidential fact-finding powers and the constitutional remit of independent oversight bodies.
Sources cited: State House Seychelles, Seychelles Official Gazette, 23 March 2026, African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights, SHRC 2025 Annual Report, joint press release from the Office of the Ombudsman and the SHRC, Seychelles Nation newspaper (26-27 June 2026 editions).
Source: SN
