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| Down Under |
| Lethal Force in Solomon Islands Authorized |
| 2003-07-14 |
| Police and troops serving in the regional intervention force in the Solomon Islands will be empowered to use lethal force if necessary, backed by helicopter, patrol boats and armoured vehicles. Details of the far-reaching intervention plan are contained in confidential briefing papers obtained by the Herald. Ooh, secret plans! Prepared for the Solomon Islands cabinet by Australia and New Zealand officials, they set out ambitious plans for the deployment of more than 2000 defence personnel, 400 police and the insertion of at least 100 foreign civilians into all key areas of the Solomons Administration in the next 12 months. Entitled COMPSASI (Comprehensive Package of Strengthened Assistance to Solomon Islands), the proposal sets out three main areas for the intervention: police, military and economic development. The comprehensive package of strengthened assistance is intended to help the Solomon Islands break the cycle of lawlessness and economic decline, it says. The provision of armed peacekeepers is an integral part of the intervention and designed to protect all those participating in it from intimidation and threats. These peacekeepers will be mostly tasked with supporting the work of 400 police officers drawn from round the region who will be at the cutting edge of the early days of the intervention, which is expected to focus on disarming hundreds of ex-combatants still in possession of stolen weapons. The rule of law has never been re-established in the nation of 500,000, which has been suffering a prolonged form of Melanesian mutiny since a coup ousted the democratically elected Government three years ago. A Solomon Islands proposal that there be a short amnesty to encourage the voluntary return of firearms has been agreed to by the Australian and New Zealand Governments. The combat element will be deployed in the Solomon Islands for as long as it is needed, the papers say. The package will be civilian and police-led assistance backed up by a military component (armed peacekeepers) that will be deployed to protect the operation from intimidation and threats. However, no definitive plan has been made for dealing with the rebel leader Harold Keke, accused of scores of deaths on Guadalcanals Weathercoast. This should be job #1. Make an example of him and the rest will fall in line. Displaced people from the Weathercoast have in recent weeks urged the rapid deployment of the intervention force to the remote southern coastline of Guadalcanal, where there have been a series of attacks on villages in recent months. It would not suprise me if the SAS was already there. Australia will also build the Solomon Islands a temporary remand facility and a new prison, and provide up to 50 personnel to run them as well as providing a senior magistrate to deal with high-profile cases that remain unresolved. |
| Posted by:Steve |
| #1 Lethal Force Authorized in the Solomon Islands? This is a job for Lou Diamond! |
| Posted by: Shipman 2003-7-14 8:01:26 PM |