SEYCHELLES SCENESETTER - UPCOMING VISIT OF GENERAL WILLIAM

UNCLAS PORT LOUIS 000247 SENSITIVE SIPDIS STATE FOR AF, AF/E AND AF/RSA PARIS, LONDON FOR AFRICA-WATCHER AFRICOM AND CJTF-HOA FOR POLAD E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PREL PGOV SE SUBJECT: SEYCHELLES SCENESETTER - UPCOMING VISIT OF GENERAL WILLIAM ¶E. WARD ¶1. (SBU) SUMMARY. Embassy Mauritius warmly welcomes AFRICOM Commander General Ward and his delegation to the Seychelles. The U.S. government enjoys positive but limited relations with the government of Seychelles (GOS). Over the past few years, Combined Joint Task Force-Horn of Africa (CJTF-HOA) civic assistance programs have provided the bulk of U.S. activity in the country and port calls by U.S. Navy ships bolster these ties. Decade-long Status of Forces Agreement negotiations between the US and Seychelles ended positively just last month, with the Seychelles Assembly unanimously approving the new SOFA. President Michel, who has served since 2004 but won his first elected term in July 2006, dissolved the National Assembly in March 2007, leading to early elections in May 2007. On the economic front, in October 2008, Seychelles was declared bankrupt and has since implemented radical reform programs with the help of a two-year $26 million stand-by IMF loan. Over the past two years, Seychelles has faced increasing pirate attacks within its 1.3 million square kilometer EEZ, putting additional pressure on its limited naval surveillance capacity and added stress to the economic and political situation of this island nation. END SUMMARY. -------------- COUNTRY BACKGROUND INFORMATION -------------- ¶2. (U) The Republic of Seychelles consists of 115 islands with an English, French and Creole speaking population of 82,000. The three main islands are Mahe, where the capital city Victoria is located, Praslin, and La Digue. The head of state is President James Michel, who was appointed in 2004 and elected to his first full term in July ¶2006. On June 2, the SPPF's National Congress changed the party's name to Parti Lepep (The People's Party) in a move to change the party's leadership structure. In past elections, the opposition party complained of freedom of press limitations and unfair campaign practices. -------------- U.S.-SEYCHELLES BILATERAL RELATIONS -------------- ¶3. (SBU) The USG enjoys positive, but somewhat limited relations with the Seychelles government. A U.S. Air Force Tracking Station, the U.S. Embassy, and a Peace Corps program were closed in the mid-1990s. Many Seychellois, both public and private sector, regularly call for a reopening of our Embassy in Mahe. Since Embassy closure, bilateral relations have been handled by the U.S. Embassy in Port Louis, Mauritius, and Embassy officers make regular visits. The Victoria-based Consular Agent, responsible for provision of American Citizens Services only, handles issues such as passports, consular reports of birth abroad, notarial services, and emergency assistance to U.S. citizens. Seychellois must travel to Mauritius to apply for U.S. visas. The bilateral relationship is much bolstered by frequent R&R port calls by the U.S. Navy and civic assistance projects by CJTF-HOA. ¶4. (SBU) The Defense Attache for Seychelles is Commander John E. Ries, based out of the U.S. Embassy in Antananarivo, Madagascar. The U.S. Defense Representative for Seychelles is Colonel David McNevin, chief of the Kenya-U.S. Liaison Office (KUSLO) based in Nairobi. KUSLO is responsible for security assistance programs to Seychelles. FY09 training programs include: basic combined armed tactics; Infantry basic officer training; health care specialists training; and machinery technician rating. ¶5. (SBU) In September 2008, the Embassy's Public Affairs Section (PAS) carried out a Speaker program on drug prevention with participants from NGOs and government officials, and conducted a series of outreach workshops in secondary schools. -------------- U.S. MILITARY ACTIVITIES IN SEYCHELLES -------------- ¶6. (SBU) The Seychelles government highly values the frequent (approx. 20/year) U.S. ship visits for their positive economic impact and for the perceived indication that the U.S. government deems the Seychelles to be a safe and desirable destination. Seychelles had no trouble accommodating an increase in ship visits in the past year; many of these ships were involved in anti-piracy operations off the Somali Coast. The Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) between our two countries was ratified by the National Assembly in July 2009, and thereby came into full effect. ¶7. (U) In the past three years, CJTF-HOA completed several major civic assistance programs, including the refurbishment of St. Elisabeth's Orphanage on Mahe, the Anse La Blague Clinic on Praslin, the Baie St. Anne Hospital Morque on Praslin, Rehabilitation Sewing Center in Mahe, and the construction of a protective seawall at Logan Hospital in La Digue. Major refurbishment of the Grand Anse Clinic on Praslin was completed and dedicated in May 2008. The estimated value of these projects is over USD 800,000. These projects are highly visible to the public and officials, and provided for very successful people-to-people encounters between the U.S. military and members of the public and government officials. Since 2007, the Government of Seychelles sent three Liaison Officers from the Seychelles Coast Guard to the staff of CJTF-HOA at Camp Lemonier, Djibouti. -------------- FOREIGN RELATIONS -------------- ¶8. (SBU) In February 2007, Chinese President Hu Jintao visited Seychelles as the last leg of a multi-nation trip to Africa. Seychelles supports the "One-China" policy and has received assistance from China such as housing and educational projects, cultural exchanges, and medical support. President Hu's trip, which reciprocated President Michel's visit to Beijing in November 2006, was widely publicized as the most important foreign visit in recent history and resulted in the signing of new loans and trade agreements. Seychelles also enjoys active exchanges with the UN, UK, India, France and the EU, particularly and most recently on anti-piracy matters. ¶9. (SBU) Until recently, Seychelles' international presence was limited to two embassies: New York and Paris. In February 2008, the Seychelles Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced the opening of new embassies in Beijing, New Delhi, Rome, Brussels, and Pretoria. The impetus and funding for the sudden increase in diplomatic representation are unknown. Despite the presence of a Seychelles Permanent Representative to the UN, Seychelles rarely votes and is absent frequently. -------------- POLITICAL -------------- ¶10. (SBU) In the July 2006 Presidential Elections, President Michel of the SPPF prevailed in a contentious election against opposition leader Wavel Ramkalawan of the Seychelles National Party (SNP). Although international observers deemed the elections credible, the SNP maintains that campaign practices were unfair. ¶11. (SBU) President Michel dissolved the National Assembly in March 2007 to call for early parliamentary elections, held in May 2007. The National Assembly elections did not change the balance of power between the ruling SPPF party and the opposition SNP. The SPPF has 23 seats, just one seat short of being able to amend the Constitution, and the SNP retained 11 seats. Minor complaints of electoral irregularities were filed at the Electoral Commissioner's Office, although international observers found the elections to be generally credible. In October 2006, police beat SNP leaders during a rally protesting a law prohibiting political parties from owning radio stations. Additionally, a government case against the SNP newspaper forced it to temporarily suspend operations. Aside from such restrictions on the freedoms of press, reports of bias, and inefficiency in the judiciary, the government of Seychelles generally respects human rights. On June 2, the SPPF's National Congress changed the party's name to Parti Lepep (The People's Party) in a move to change the party's leadership structure. Additionally, President Michel officially assumed leadership of Parti Lepep, while former President, France Albert Rene, was demoted to the role of founding father. ¶12. (SBU) Although the USG believes that the 1931 U.S.-UK extradition agreement, extended to Seychelles, is in force, the Government of Seychelles has refused two requests to extradite individuals to the U.S., claiming the treaty may no longer be in force. Embassy officials regularly raise this issue with government officials at all levels and believe it is crucial to the prevention of Seychelles being perceived as a safe haven for criminals. -------------- ECONOMY -------------- ¶13. (SBU) The economy is primarily based on tourism and fishing. Economic growth was strong in 2006 and 2007, with real GDP growing by 5.4 percent and 7.3 percent, respectively. However, growth slowed in 2008 to 3.1 percent, due to external shocks, lower tourism earnings and the persistence of structural constraints-reflected in a rising debt burden and foreign exchange shortages. Years of socialist-oriented economic policy characterized by price, trade and foreign exchange controls, a prominent role for parastatal companies, and robust debt-funded development spending led to rapid economic development, but also created serious economic imbalances. These problems included large fiscal and external deficits and mounting debt arrears, which contributed to the persistent foreign exchange shortages and slow growth of recent years. Persistent and widespread press reports indicate that high-level corruption contributed substantially to these problems. ¶14. (SBU) Seychelles has pursued a controlled exchange rate regime since independence in spite of intermittent adjustments. Moreover, in recent years the rupee was priced differently with respect to the U.S. dollar and the Euro. This multiple currency practice led to exchange rate misalignment and severe foreign exchange shortages, while benefitting political elites. The Government adjusted the exchange rate in October 2006 and then again in October 2007 when the exchange rate was set at SCR 8 to the dollar. In spite of these adjustments, the parallel market persisted, with a premium of about 30-40%. ¶15. (SBU) In October 2008, facing the near depletion of official foreign exchange reserves, Seychelles defaulted on interest payments due on its $230 million Eurobond, issued two years previously, severely damaging its credibility as a borrower. The government subsequently turned to the IMF for support and in an attempt to meet the conditions for a stand-by loan, started to implement a program of radical reforms. These include a fundamental liberalization of the exchange rate regime, involving the devaluation and floatation of the rupee and the elimination of all foreign exchange controls. In light of the economic and financial reforms, the IMF approved a two-year USD 26 million stand-by loan in November 2008, which represents the Fund's first ever formal program in Seychelles. ¶16. (SBU) According to a first review of its stand-by agreement undertaken by the IMF in February 2009, Seychelles remains on track with the sweeping reform program. The 2009 Government budget closely follows the stand-by agreement and reinforces the spending curbs and tax rises implemented at the start of the program. The IMF noted that the reform program is being implemented with "determination and a high degree of ownership." The approval enabled Seychelles to draw USD 1.3 million. Following a second IMF review carried out in May 2009, Seychelles received a disbursement of USD 1.4 million. Apart from the USD 26 million provided by the IMF, most of the remaining funding for Seychelles' reform program is scheduled to come from the African Development Bank (AfDB) and the World Bank. In the latest development, an AfDB team visiting Seychelles in May signed a preliminary agreement for USD 20 million concessional loan which will be directed towards strengthening public finance management under a Financial Governance Reform Program. Seychelles is reforming quickly but the adjustment will be very painful, leading to a 10 percent contraction in real GDP in 2009, according to the latest IMF forecasts. -------------- SECURITY -------------- ¶17. (SBU) The President controls the security apparatus, which includes a National Guard Force, the Army, the Presidential Protection Unit, the 150-person strong Coast Guard, 35 Marines and 575 police officers. The Police force includes an armed paramilitary Police Mobile Unit. Commissioner of Police (CP) Ernest Quatre was appointed on April 24, and reports directly to the President. ¶18. (SBU) Between March 27 and May 12, the GOS reported that ten Seychellois nationals onboard the Seychelles-flagged privately owned vessels "Serenity" and "Indian Ocean Explorer" (IOE) were captured and held hostage by Somali pirates. To date the GOS has captured, with the help of the joint European Union naval forces, 23 suspect Somali pirates in its territorial waters. These 23 are awaiting trial. ¶19. (SBU) On June 22, the GOS claimed that it negotiated the release of the seven Seychellois hostages captured aboard the IOE. According to Reuters, Somali pirate negotiators had hoped to exchange the seven Seychellois hostages for some of their colleagues held in Seychelles. The GOS did not confirm the exchange of prisoners and hostages or the payment of ransom, press reports claimed that pirate leaders claimed that the Seychellois company that owned the IO paid them 450,000 USD in exchange for the IOE crew. After releasing the captives, the pirates intentionally sank the vessel, claiming the owners refused to pay the full, agreed ransom. Mr. Joel Morgan, Minister of Transport and head of the Seychelles negotiation team, said that negotiation was ongoing for the release of the remaining three Seychellois hostages. The GOS consistently seeks USG assistance to counter pirate activities in or around its 1.3 million square kilometer EEZ. The Government is particularly concerned about expected uptick in pirate activity anticipated to begin in October. -------------- ENVIRONMENT ISSUES -------------- ¶20. (SBU) As a Small Island Developing State (SIDS),Seychelles is characterized by the inherent vulnerabilities of SIDS, such as limited natural resources, heavy reliance on tourism and fisheries, risks from tsunamis and climate change. An Environmental Management Plan 2000-2010 was prepared by the GOS with the assistance of the World Bank. The overall aim is to achieve excellence in environmental management. There was a significant level of local participation in the formulation of the plan. In its 2007-2017 Strategic Plan, the GOS reiterated its commitment to adhere to the highest national and international ecological standards in its management of Seychelles natural resources. Seychelles has strong incentives to maintain its environment, which is one of the main draws of the tourism industry. ¶21. (U) Seychelles is a party to many international Conventions, including the Convention on Biological Diversity, the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, the UN Law of the Sea Convention, the Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes, the Rotterdam Convention, the Convention on Desertification, and the Montreal Convention. BLASER