Truth and Reconciliation Commission (Solomon Islands)

The Solomon Islands Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) is a commission officially established by the government of Solomon Islands on september, 2008. It has been formed to investigate the causes of the ethnic violence that gripped Solomon Islands between 1997 and 2003. The Truth and Reconciliation Commission is the first of its kind in the Pacific Islands region.

The purpose of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission is to "address people's traumatic experiences during the five-year ethnic conflict on Guadalcanal (1999–2004)". Its goal is to promote national unity and reconciliation. The members of the TRC will hear testimony from witnesses and victims of the violence, which killed over 100 people and displaced more than 20,000 internal refugees nationwide.

It is modelled after the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of South Africa, which was chaired by then Archbishop Desmond Tutu. Tutu, a Nobel Peace Prize recipient, has taken an active role in the establishment of the TRC in Solomon Islands.

The Solomon Islands descended into ethnic violence between 1997 and 2003. Much of the violence was committed by rival ethnic gangs from the islands of Guadalcanal and Malaita. The gangs took advantage of ethnic tensions between Malaitan settlers on Guadalcanal and the island's indigenous residents. The Isatabu Freedom Movement, which was made up by indigenous residents of the island of Guadalcanal, fought for several years with the Malaita Eagle Force, a militia group consisting mainly of residents and settlers from Malaita. The two groups fought for political power, jobs and land rights, especially on the island of Guadalcanal.

The violence was finally quelled by the Australian-led Regional Assistance Mission to Solomon Islands (RAMSI), which was invited into the country by the government of former Prime Minister Allan Kemakeza in 2003. RAMSI finalised operations in the Solomon Islands as of September 2013.

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