ABSTRACT
Fifty exhumations and autopsies were conducted in the Solomon Islands between 2003 and 2006 as part of the medico-legal investigation into the "Ethnic Tensions" murders. This investigation was unusual for two main reasons. First, all autopsies were carried out by one Australian forensic pathologist (Dodd) over the course of several visits to the country. Second, most gravesites were accessible to exhumation teams only by air or sea, and this situation created significant logistical challenges. Difficulties Were exacerbated by a need for rapid results to use to charge alleged perpetrators—partly because some former militants were a flight risk while at liberty but also because swift criminal indictment demonstrated to the traumatised community that positive results could be achieved. The operations were ultimately successful, with over 50 former militants having been arrested by April 2004 (Wainright 2004).
