Sam Iduri

Sam Iduri is a former school principal turned Solomon Islander politician. He was elected to Parliament in 2006 and was later named to the Prime Minister’s Cabinet as the Minister for National Unity, Reconciliation, and Peace. In 2009, Iduri introduced a bill that led to the establishment of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, which attempted to investigate and rectify abuses suffered during the violent ethnic conflicts that plagued the islands between 1997 and 2003. Iduri’s Commission was modeled after the Truth and Reconciliation Commission that had been established in South Africa with South African Nobel Peace Prize winner Archbishop Desmond Tutu lending vital support.

Of the reconciliation process, Iduri stated, “Throughout human history, we witness that our human will to survive rises above all our struggles, challenges, and brokenness. The choice and determination to reconcile and forgive one another is critically important to our continued co-existence as one united Solomon Islands.”