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Amnesty – The Townsville Peace Agreement

Implementations

Amnesty – 2000

The Townsville Peace Agreement stipulated amnesty for militants engaged in the conflict on the condition of weapons surrender. On December 18, the Solomon Islands parliament passed a bill formally granting amnesty to former members of the Malaita Eagle Force (MEF) and Isatabu Freedom Movement (IFM)who have surrendered weapons or stolen property.^[1]^[2] However, according to the Constitution of the Solomon Islands, “when a Bill has been passed by Parliament it shall be presented to the Governor-General who shall assent to it forthwith on behalf of the Head of State, and when such assent is given the Bill shall become law.”^[3] According to the bill text, the Governor General did not sign the bill until February 19. 2001. As a result, the Amnesty Act did not appear to be in force in 2000. The High Court of the Solomon Islands writes in Regina vs. Su’u (2007) that “This [Amnesty] Act was assented to by the Governor-General on 19 February 2001 and came into force on 13 June 2001” (italics original).^[4]

[1] “Amnesty passed, Downer visits,” BBC Summary of World Broadcasts, December 20, 2000.

[2] “The Amnesty Act 2000,” National Parliament of Solomon Islands, December 18, 2000.

[3] “The Constitution of Solomon Islands,” June 8, 1978.

[4] “Regina v. Su’u,” High Court of Solomon Islands, March 1, 2007.

Amnesty – 2001

On April 5, 2001, the Solomon Islands parliament voted to change its constitution to incorporate amnesty provisions of the Townsville Peace Agreement. The bill formally recognized the immunity of all participants of the conflict conditional on the surrender of weapons and stolen property.^[1]

^[1] “Solomon Islands parliament amends constitution to accommodate conflict amnesty,” BBC Monitoring, April 5, 2001.

Amnesty – 2002

In March, the government extended the final deadline for weapons handover under the Amnesty Act to May 31, 2002.^[1] The deadline was not renewed in 2002.

^[1] “Deadline for Solomon Islands gun handover again extended,” BBC Summary of World Broadcasts, March 21, 2001.

Amnesty – 2003

The government of the Solomon Islands extended the deadline for weapons in exchange for amnesty again on July 31, 2003 for a 21-day period.^[1]

^[1] “Solomons prime minister signs gun amnesty,” Xinhua General News Service, July 31, 2003.