Five members of the Vanuatu Police Force who have served under the United Nations Peace Keeping operations are facing Police Disciplinary Hearing over allegations leveled against them during the course of their duty in East Timor and Ivory Coast.
The disciplinary hearing that is held before necessary disciplinary actions are taken, is mandated by the United Nations Peace Keeping Office.
Those involved are Corporal George Japheth, Corporal Glen Nicholson Mahina, Corporal Kapsam Willie and Commander North Willie Samuel who completed their mission in East Timor in 2004.
Corporal Gerald Malare who was reported to have been involved in an arson attack whilst serving his term in Ivory Coast will also appear before the committee hearing the allegations. He was repatriated immediately after the alleged incident in 2010.
It was alleged that Corporal George was facing allegations of gross-misconduct while three of his fellow colleagues serving with him are alleged to have failed their duty to report the gross-misconduct behavior to responsible authorities, and that includes their field commander, Willie Samuel, who currently heads Vanuatu’s Northern Command Post in Luganville.
Attempts to get comments from the Vanuatu Police Force have been unsuccessful.
However, reliable sources have confirmed that Corporal George Japheth appeared before the police disciplinary hearing on Tuesday.
The Vanuatu Police Act provides for agreements to be in place with international agencies prior to engaging in overseas deployment, and for the agreement to spell out a) the command, control and administrative arrangements necessary for the good order, discipline and maintenance of the overseas contingent; and (b) the level of cooperation, compliance and consultation required by the overseas contingent with the relevant international body, or the military, police and civilian authorities of the country or countries affected.
The disciplinary actions are expected after the hearings which stemmed from a report from the United Nations Peace Keeping Office. The report has long since been ignored until now.
The Vanuatu Police Act lays out the disciplinary processes as well as provisions for disciplinary action that will have to be complied with before a report is submitted to the United Nations Peace Keeping Office through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to confirm that Vanuatu mandatory obligations were met.