2004 Documented Cases – Solomon Islands

JANUARY 28, 2004
Posted: March 8, 2004

Charles Kadamana, Solomon Star
THREATENED

Assailants chased, verbally harassed, and tried to attack Kadamana, a senior photographer for the Solomon Star newspaper, after the sentencing of former police officer James Kili at the Central Magistrate Court in the capital Honiara. Kadamana was attacked after he photographed Kili, who had just been sentenced to five years in prison for crimes including assault and intimidation, committed during the ethnic conflict that ravaged the country between 1998 and 2003. According to news reports from the Solomon Islands, relatives of Kili were responsible for the attack on Kadamana.

The Regional Assistance Mission to the Solomon Islands (RAMSI), an Australian-led international peacekeeping force that arrived in the Solomon Islands in July 2003, has arrested several leaders of ethnic militias and helped to quell the violence. According to a report by the Solomon Islands Broadcasting Corporation, RAMSI had recently reduced the presence of security agents at high-profile trials.

Kadamana escaped unharmed to the Solomon Star offices, though his shirt was ripped during the assault. Police are investigating the incident.

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