Why delay the TRC report?

“Bishop Terry Brown wants TRC report tabled in parliament”

By EDDIE OSIFELO

ANGLICAN Bishop, Terry Brown has questioned the government as to when the Truth and Reconciliation Report will be tabled in Parliament.

During his presentation on the TRC report last week, he highlighted that, it is time for the Truth and Reconciliation (TRC) report to be tabled in Parliament.

Brown said ten years have passed since the report was compiled and failing to present the report in parliament is questionable.

He acknowledged the report can’t be tabled in the past due to threats from former militants and potential liabilities that the government will face.

“I strongly believe that it is safe to table the TRC report so that the healing process can be done ones and for all,” Brown said.

Since part of the report was tabled in parliament by Gordon Darcy Lilo government in 2013, he suggested SINU should compile the first Volume of the report and put together a research books for its history students as the report covers the history of the conflict.

“This would allow students to learn about the historical context of the conflict by incorporating it into the curriculum or classrooms,” he said.

Brown suggests SINU Management to seek the government’s approval and possibilities for the university to contextualise the report into research material when the time is right.

Recalling the report, he said, Volume 2 of the report holds the most important part of the entire report as it reveals the painful stories of human rights abuses.

“Volume 4 and Volume 5 of the TRC report are not as significant, but Volume 2 holds its own importance,” Brown said.

Brown was one among others who edited the TRC report and according to his testimony, the report accommodates emotional testimonies of people who were caught during the dark years of Solomon Islands history.

Island Sun understand that, Bishop Brown was accused by the former Lilo government of releasing the TRC report ‘illegally’ on April 28th, 2013 to around 60 individuals and selected media outlets.

Lilo government managed to table the TRC report in the last sitting of Parliament in the final four years but no debate has occurred.

The current Sogavare-led government is currently planning to table a summarized version of the TRC report in Parliament this year, titled ‘Rising from the Ashes.’

However, Member of Parliament for East Are Are, Peter Kenilorea, argued that the government should not present a sensitized or sanitized report, but instead focus on the original five-volume TRC report that has already been tabled in Parliament.

The summarized version distributed by the government omitted the names of alleged perpetrators and other sensitive issues raised in the original report.

Kenilorea emphasized that a summarized or sensitized report would hinder the deeper understanding and exploration of the Truth and Reconciliation Reports.

He urged the government to treat the report with dignity and respect it deserves, considering that it arose from one of the darkest periods in the nation’s history.

Kenilorea’s concerns were also echoed by Opposition MP Claudio Teiifi, who emphasized the need to address the original TRC Report to hold the government accountable for its actions in implementing the recommendations.

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