By Brian Hartigan in Honiara

By Brian Hartigan in Honiara The Regional Assistance Mission to the Solomon Islands (RAMSI) hit the ground running and, if the success of the first weeks in the troubled country are any gauge, the future looks bright for the people of the Solomon Islands. It is the people of the Solomon Islands that the mission has come to serve and it is these people who have overwhelmingly welcomed the members of RAMSI into their lives and their country. Never before has such a mission been conceived and rarely has a foreign intervention in any nation met with 97 per cent popular support across the country (poll conducted by a non-government organisation). RAMSI is essentially a police-led mission – which included large elements of Australian Defence Force logistics and infantry support – of cooperative intervention in the governance and law enforcement of a foreign state teetering on the brink of collapse. Under the heading government type, the CIA’s web site describes the Solomon Islands as a “parliamentary democracy bordering on anarchy”. It was that anarchy combined with a culture of widespread criminal and institutional corruption on our doorstep that pressed Australia, unanimously supported by its South Pacific neighbours, into action. This is not the first mission to the Solomon Islands but it is the first to have such far- reaching powers and such far-reaching popular and international support. This time, foreign intervention came with sufficient size, scope, mandate, powers and above all, political will to see it through. Speaking during a visit to the country at the end of RAMSI’s first week on the ground, Australian Foreign Affairs Minister Alexander Downer said the intervention mission was an expensive and risky exercise which Australia had the capacity to mount and that the consequences of not acting could see the nations of the South Pacific with a failed state on their doorsteps. Led by the Australian Federal Police’s Ben McDevitt, the Participating Police Force (PPF) component of RAMSI sees itself working in close cooperation with Royal Solomon Islands Police at all levels – with McDevitt even sworn in as Deputy Commissioner of the RSIP. While not becoming members, or even special members, of the local force, RAMSI police officers have, by dint of legislation unanimously passed in Solomon Islands Parliament, all the same powers of their host-country law-enforcement colleagues. Starting their new jobs almost immediately after landing at Henderson International Airport, key Solomon Islands personnel and assets felt the benefit of close protection by AFP and APS personnel. Less than two hours later the first joint AFP RSIP foot patrols through the streets of Honiara were launched. But even before the force touched down in Honiara, the mood was changing across the country – RAMSI’s reputation of professionalism and potency was already making its mark. Less than 24 hours after his arrival, Commander of the PPF Ben McDevitt was handed 25 illegal weapons collected by the National Peace Council over the previous two days while local newspaper reports told of vehicles and other property suddenly appearing in driveways from whence they had been stolen as long as three years previous. This trend appeared to continue during the week as the new RSIP Deputy Commissioner McDevitt and RAMSI Special Coordinator Nick Warner met with one of the islands’ most notorious troublemakers of recent years, Jimmy Rasta. After a two-hour meeting in which the RAMSI delegates laid out the purpose and intent of the their mission to the Solomon Islands and in which no demands or preconditions were laid down by Rasta or his cohorts, agreement was reached that all weapons in Malita Province would be surrendered and publicly destroyed on August 15 – six days before the end of the gun amnesty. Concentrating on the removal of all guns from Solomon society was the first priority of the of the intervention force. Ben McDevitt said the message on this point was clear – the people of the Solomon Islands do not need firearms. “Now is the time to totally rid this community of firearms,” he said. “There’s no doubt at all that the overwhelming majority of the people of the Solomon Islands want this to occur. “There may be variation in the motivation of certain individuals, but I’d say that there will be real pressure from the people, collectively, on those individuals holding firearms to hand them in. “The time for negotiations and deals has come and gone. Every single gun in this country must be surrendered. To anyone thinking of retaining or hiding firearms I would say, we have the resources, we have the capability and we certainly have the commitment to track those weapons down and we will do so very effectively.” McDevitt’s hard words were not reserved for former militants, however. In a speech following his swearing in as Deputy Commissioner RSIP, he branded a minority of the officers now under his command as “drunkards, thieves and extortionists” and assured all that, having just been given responsibility for the professional standards of the force, it was his intent to weed them out. In the same speech he announced that any police officer found in possession of firearms for which they did not have the written permission of the Commissioner to hold, would be sacked from the force and criminally charged. Taking a hard line on guns as the number one priority not only encourages cooperation on this issue, but instils a measurable degree of confidence in the intervention force, among the wider community. Community leaders and the public in general have been emboldened to raise their voices to demand the cooperation of the militants and to inform their government and public institutions that they have had enough of the old ways. The Solomon Star, the national daily paper, is filled with articles, editorials and letters to the editor that give encouragement to thoughts of a turning tide in public empowerment. The majority of the RSIP, described by Ben McDevitt as dedicated and committed officers, have also felt the tide turn. Regular foot patrols and standing patrols can be seen on the streets or at key intersections around Honiara – drunks are routinely arrested, driving drunken mobs off the streets – activities that have until recently held the city and its police force in the grip of fear. Speaking to a large crowd at a military and police open day at Town Ground sports fields, Deputy Commissioner McDevitt said he was encouraged by quite a few indicators that community pride was slowly coming back. “Footpaths and centre strips on the road are being cleaned and mown and I noticed rubbish trucks are active, clearing rubbish from the streets. The betel nut sellers have moved out of the city and into their allocated areas. “These are all excellent signs that, while there is a long way to go, the community is prepared to get in and lend their support.” The open day at Town Ground, on a sweltering Sunday afternoon, came as a surprise to one small group of people, despite it being widely advertised. A local scout group, intent on a sports afternoon and fundraising barbecue, were suddenly surrounded by military trucks, trailers, tents, cam nets and assorted military hardware, and their sports field descended upon by two military helicopters. Undaunted, and sniffing an opportunity, scouts were dispatched for a lot more snags to throw on the barbie. The crowd, estimated at more than 15,000, turned out not only to catch a glimpse of something new and exciting in their town, but above all they wanted to show their support for the force from overseas who had come to help. Soldiers, sailors and policemen alike had hands shaken and ears bent all day by heartfelt words of encouragement and thanks. Walking through the streets of Honiara or riding in a taxi, one is constantly reminded of the warmth of this widespread welcome. “Please tell your family and your friends in Australia that we are very, very happy that you have come to our country,” taxi driver Joseph told me. “It has been very hard for us for many years. We have been afraid. Our economy has been hurt. But now that you are here we feel safe and we know that our country will get better.” Contributions to the assistance package by Australia, New Zealand and other members of the Pacific Forum is not restricted to the military-backed police mission, however. Massive injections of financial assistance, expertise and other aid will be invested in the Solomon Islands over coming years. Other assistance will come in the form of magistrates and prosecutors, as well as up to 18 personnel working with and within key institutions such as treasury, the finance department and customs – all part of an overall aid package that is estimated will cost Australia between A$200 and A$300 million in the first year. During his visit, Alexander Downer also pledged A$25 million to complete building and refurbishment works on the main prison at Rove, a move seen as a strong message to those in the community who think they can hold on to their weapons. In this regard, the people of the Solomon Islands have also spoken. They have had enough. They want their lives, their livelihoods and their security back and they are prepared to say so. And they are also prepared to do a little finger pointing. In the first 10 days of RAMSI – and only three days into the weapons amnesty – almost 400 weapons, including more than 160 high-powered military-style weapons had been surrendered. According to Alexander Downer, however, this is not a time for excessive exuberance. “We have certainly made a good start – maybe a better start than anticipated – but this is, to use a phrase, not the end of the beginning or even the beginning of the end. “This is just a very early stage in trying to restore law and order, get the guns off the streets and out of the villages, and get the economy going again.” And give the Solomon Islands back to the people of the Solomon Islands.

FOOTNOTE: (which you may want to check with Mick – he definitely said it, but maybe not for a wide audience) During the planning stages for the international intervention in the Solomon Islands, Commissioner Mick Keelty was asked by Parliamentary Committee what he considered would be a reasonable gauge of success in terms of weapons surrendered under any planned amnesty. Gauging his answer from the experience of past missions and previous amnesties in the troubled islands’ state, Commissioner Keelty assessed that if RAMSI collected between 700 and 1000 weapons it could reasonably hail that aspect of its mandate a success. When the 21-day amnesty finally ended in the Solomon Islands on August 21, more than 3300 weapons – many of them high-powered military-style weapons – had been surrendered to RAMSI either directly or through the National Peace Council offices or through RSIP stations and posts.