Former militant commander seeks justice

Ex-commander of the former Malaita Eagles Force Jimmy Rasta Lusibaea says he wants those behind the 1999-2003 ethnic unrest to face the courts instead of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, T-R-C.

The T-R-C was officially launched on the twenty-ninth of April this year.

According to the 2008 Truth and Reconciliation Commission Act - findings and recommendations of the Commission rests with the government of the day.

Mr Lusibaea says evidence relating to the ethnic tension should be treated fairly and testimonies of initiators of the ethnic unrest should be heard before the courts.

Speaking before the Foreign Relations Committee reviewing RAMSI, Mr Lusibaea says the Truth and Reconciliation Commission does not provide adequate protection for witnesses nor justice for victims of the ethnic tension.

He says the TRC may be fulfilling its mandate to not prosecute any testimonial evidence about the events of the ethnic unrest but it is not fair to former militants who have already been arrested and tried in court.

He says initiators of the ethnic unrest have never appeared before any court of law in the country.

He says the 'big fish' need to be arrested and should not even be considered to give testimony to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission.

"If RAMSI or Solomon Islands police do proper investigations to find the root case of the social unrest, then they should go through the same process which they did to others. Then they should put out the names of any persons charged with a crime, so that we give evidence in court. That person should go through the country's court system, and we will be willing to give evidence. But for me to give evidence on a person and police do not arrest the person is a waste of time."

Source: SIBC