Problems in the Implementation of the Townsville Peace Agreement and the Peace Process in the Solomon Islands
by
Joses
Tuhanuku (President
of the Solomon Islands Labour Party, Advisor to the National
Union of Workers, Advisor to the Council of Trade Unions)
Notes from an SSGM Seminar: 26 April 2001
1.
Introduction
• Since the end of 1998 and up to the signing of the Townsville Peace Agreement, an ethnic conflict that developed into a violent conflict between the Malaita and Guadalcanal peoples erupted in the country, on the island of Guadalcanal, which led to the loss of so many lives on both sides.
•
The
impact of the ethnic conflict was not restricted only to the two
ethnic groups that were directly involved, namely the Malaita
and Guadalcanal peoples.
•
It
affects the people of all the nine provinces, or the entire
country for that matter. In fact it has transformed the country
in a very negative way.
2.
The Origin of the
Ethnic Conflict
2.1
Guadalcanal
Grievances
•
The Guadalcanal people, over the years, have been
demanding that the government takes steps to deal with their
three major grievances. Firstly, the settling of people from
other provinces, the majority of whom are of Malaitan origin,
throughout Guadalcanal. Secondly,
the return of the land on which Honiara is situated to its
traditional or original owners.
Thirdly, some form of compensation to be paid to the
people of Guadalcanal for their men, women and children who have
been brutally murdered over the years within Guadalcanal, by
people from other Provinces.
•
Since the attainment of political independence in 1978,
successive governments have been unable or unwilling to address
these grievances. By
the end of 1998, a group of armed, young Guadalcanal men - self-styled
as the Isatabu Freedom Movement (IFM) - started to physically
force settlers, who were mostly of Malaitan origin, out from
where they have been settled for several generations.
•
The Malaita settlers who were forced out, appeared to
have accepted to leave on the condition that either the
Guadalcanal people or the central government pay them
compensation for the properties they were forced to leave
behind.
•
When the central government was either unwilling or slow
to do some thing about this demand, the displaced Malaita
settlers formed a militia group, now commonly known as the
Malaita Eagle Force (MEF), with the purpose of bringing pressure
on the government to meet their demand.
•
On 6 June 2000 the MEF carried out a coup which led to
the ousting of the Ulufa'alu Government and the coming to power
of the Sogavare Government.
In
pursuit of the desire for a peaceful resolution to the crisis,
the Solomon Islands Government facilitated and secured the
signing of the following agreements:
The Honiara Peace Accord, 28 June 1999
The
Panatina Agreement, 12 August 1999
The
Marau Communique, 15 July 1999
Memorandum
of Understanding between SIG and
GPG, 13 June
1999
Buala
Peace Communique, 5 May 2000
Auki
Communique, 12 May 2000
4. The Townsville Peace Agreement
On
15 October 2000 the Townsville Peace Agreement (TPA) was signed
between the warring parties, the Isatabu Freedom Movement (IFM)
and the Malaita Eagle Force (MEF), bringing to an end the worst
ethnic, bloody, conflict that has taken place in the Solomon
Islands since the attainment of its political independence in
1978.
The
following principal provisions in the TPA are crucial to either
the success or failure of the Agreement, depending on whether or
not they are properly and effectively implemented as intended by
the spirit of the TPA:
(a)
That a general amnesty to be enacted by an Act of the National
Parliament, be extended to the former members of the Malaita
Eagle Force (MEF) and the Isatabu Freedom Movement (IFM), on the
condition that they hand in their arms within a given time
frame.
(b)
The Townsville Peace Agreement (TPA) charges the Peace
Monitoring Council (PMC) with the responsibility to implement
the TPA.
(c)
The same agreement gives the power to the International Peace
Monitoring Team (IPMT), which is currently headed by an
Australian, to supervise the actual handing in of arms by the
two warring parties. The mandate for the IPMT was negotiated and
signed on 7 December 2000, at the request of Australia and New
Zealand, between themselves and the parties to the TPA.
(d)
The recruitment of former members of the MEF and the IFM to help
with returning law and order to Honiara, and throughout the
country, and with the collecting of arms.
5.
Implementation of the
TPA
The
most problematic areas in the course of implementing the TPA are
as follows:
•
The handing in of arms.
•
The granting of the general amnesty to former militants
of both groups.
•
The call by the MEF to re-negotiate the TPA.
•
The conflicts between the MEF and the IFM, the IPMT and
the PMC over the interpretation of the TPA and its
implementation.
•
The role of the Police Field Force (PFF) and the Special
Constabulary, especially the former militants, in the
implementation of the TPA, the returning of Honiara to law and
order, and the rule of law generally.
6.
The Flaws and Weaknesses of the
TPA
•
The TPA covers a very wide range of issues, some of which
are potential areas of conflict, and thus introduce more
vulnerability to the smooth and effective implementation of the
agreement, eg., economic issues.
•
The reinstatement to the Royal Solomon Islands Police (RSIP)
of the officers, most of whom are members of the PFF, who took
part in the May coup.
•
The recruitment of former militants to the special
constabulary and the general expansion of the Force, which now
includes persons of questionable character.
•
The confusion between the IPMT and the PMC in their
respective roles and the absence of outside Police or military
presence, which forces the IPMT and the PMC to depend almost
entirely on the PFF, which lacks credibility in the eyes of the
Solomon Islands public.
7.
The Role of Australia
•
Australia can make a difference in the South Pacific
Region.
•
Australia should take a more bold and decisive approach
in the current situation in Solomon Islands.
Whether Australia likes it or not, it is impossible for
Australia to shy away from problems or leadership in the South
Pacific.
•
Australia needs to have good people on the ground, to
guarantee sound and accurate understanding of the situation back
in Canberra.
•
Australia, and others who are already participating in
the IPMT, should jointly send a police contingent under the
auspices of the Commonwealth to assist the RSIP in implementing
the TPA.
•
The current crises in Solomon Islands and Bougainville
are feeding off each other, and therefore finding lasting
solutions to both, can only be achieved if they are dealt with
simultaneously.