28 Apr 2009

Archbishop Tutu arrives in Honiara for Solomons Truth and Reconcialition Commission

7:12 pm on 28 April 2009

The Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu has arrived in Solomon Islands to launch the Truth and Reconciliation Commission tomorrow.

People involved in ethnic unrest that left more than 100 dead and 20-thousand displaced between 1998 and 2003 will have their opportunities to tell their stories to the commission.

But a Solomon Islands academic, Tarcisius Kabutaulaka, an associate professor at the University of Hawaii, says it won't be easy for people to speak openly to the commission about the horrible violence that occurred.

"There is a lot to uncover. The question is how will people respond to it. The idea of a Truth and Reconciliation Commission is relatively new to Solomon Islands, not that the idea of telling the truth is new, but the way in which it is organised."

Tarcisius Kabutaulaka says the idea of telling the truth to the whole country will be difficult for many people.