Beginning of Public Hearings
The Commission's first public hearings were held in March 2010, with victims called upon to describe their sufferings during the violence. The Commission explained that the aim of the process was to provide victims with an opportunity to be heard, "end th silence and make the whole country to give recognition to their sufferings" : "Above all, it will help to restore the dignity of the victims, to retrieve the memory of those who were killed, and to hear the voice of those who were humiliated and abused in countless ways." Victims were permitted to name groups who had caused their suffering, but not individuals. The Commission would not pass judgement, but treat the hearings as "moments to listen with respect and compassion".
The opening of the hearings was attended by Governor-General Frank Kabui, Prime Minister Derek Sikua, Speaker of Parliament Sir Peter Kenilorea and the Chief Justice.
Read more about this topic: Truth And Reconciliation Commission (Solomon Islands)
Famous quotes containing the words beginning of, beginning, public and/or hearings:
“Time has no divisions to mark its passage, there is never a thunderstorm or blare of trumpets to announce the beginning of a new month or year. Even when a new century begins it is only we mortals who ring bells and fire off pistols.”
—Thomas Mann (1875–1955)
“In the beginning was the word, the word
That from the solid bases of the light
Abstracted all the letters of the void....”
—Dylan Thomas (1914–1953)
“The cowboy ... is well on his way to becoming a figure of magnificent proportions. Bowlegged and gaunt, he stands as the apotheosis of manly perfection. Songs, novels, movies, magazines, and operettas have made the least inquiring of us well acquainted with his extraordinary courage, unfailing gallantry, and uncanny skill with gun or lariat. The farmer, meanwhile, sits stolidly on his tractor, bereft of romance and adventure.”
—For the State of Kansas, U.S. public relief program (1935-1943)
“Congress seems drugged and inert most of the time. ...Its idea of meeting a problem is to hold hearings or, in extreme cases, to appoint a commission.”
—Shirley Chisholm (b. 1924)