INVESTIGATION into the recent ethnic conflict to establish truth, which will pave way for reconciliation, is set to kick off.
Truth and Reconciliation Commission TRC, which was mandated to carry out the task will commence early next year after the arrival of its two international commissioners.The international Commissioners, Sofia Matcher of Peru and Fiji’s Ratu Joni Madraiwiwi, arrived early last month - months after their appointments to the SBD23 million Truth and Reconciliation Commission [TRC].
Government sources confirmed the arrival of Ms Matcher, who will serve as Deputy Chair of the TRC and Ratu Joni yesterday.
“Their arrival has been delayed by donor funding which has been slow in coming,” one official said.
Sources close to the TRC said that donor funding continued to be an issue because of different criteria used by the three main donors who are supporting the TRC.
“Right now, there are serious discussions going on between the United Nations Development Programme [UNDP] and the European Union because of differences,” one source said.
The bulk of the funding for the TRC comes from the European Union which has earmarked 1.5 million Euro for the TRC.
Australia has contributed AUD500, 000 while the UNDP’s contribution is USD500, 000.
“In terms of our local currency, we are looking at an annual budget of SBD23 million,” the source said.
Anglican priest, the Reverend Father Samuel Ata of Malaita, a former international soccer star, is the head of the TRC, which Parliament established through an Act of Parliament earlier this year.
George Kejoa of Guadalcanal, a former finance minister, and Caroline Laore of Western Province are the local members of the Commission.
With hearings set to begin as early as next January, there’s a flurry of activities as the Commission sorts out its administration, including arrangements for the year-long hearings.
According to the Truth and Reconciliation Act 2008, the “objectives and functions [of the Commission] are to promote national unity and reconciliation.
To get there, the TRC is empowered by the Act to examine:
• The nature, antecedents, root causes, accountability or responsibility for and the extent of the impact on human rights violations or abuses which occurred between 1st January 1998 and 23rd July 2003, including the destruction of property, deprivation of rights to own property and the right to settle and make a living.
As well, the Commission will:
• investigate and report on the causes, nature and extent of the violations and abuses …. to the fullest degree possible, including their antecedents, the context in which the violations and abuses occurred, the question of whether those violations and abuses were the result of deliberate planning, policy or authorization by any government, group or individual, and the role of both internal and external factors in the conflict.
The impact the social unrest had on health, education, the courts and other sectors will also come under scrutiny. Emphasis however will be on traumatized individual victims.
Some of the sticky issues the Commission will tackle is to investigate the faces behind the break-in at the nation’s armory at Rove on 5 June 2000, the day the government led by the late Bartholomew Ulufa’alu fell.
Just as sticky is its mandate to examine the root causes of the social unrest, dubbed “Ethnic Tension” which resulted in loss of tens of thousands of jobs, forced closures of many companies, including Gold Ridge, the country’s first gold mine on Guadalcanal.
The Commission’s work will be restricted to activities which occurred between 1998 and July 2003 – the year the Australian-led Regional Assistance Mission to Solomon Islands [RAMSI], a combined team of military and police personnel, set foot on Guadalcanal.
By ALFRED SASAKO
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