Pacific leaders used their address at the 81st session of United Nations general assembly to urge Indonesia to permit the UN Human Rights High Commissioner unrestricted access to visit West Papua.
The demand has been a long time coming from the Pacific Island Forum member states, dating back to an initial request over alleged widespread rights abuses against Indigenous Papuans in the occupied territory.
The outrage even led an emotional Solomon Islands Prime Minister Matthew Wale to go a step further under the worldwide spotlight of its New York headquarters.
Mr Wale called for the abolishment of veto powers which the five permanent members of the UN — the United States, Russia, China, United Kingdom and France — hold with their responsibility for international peace and security whereby should one member state object to any UN resolution.
He described this provision as a “relic of 1945” going back to the conclusion of World War II to attract the major powers, whose cooperation was essential to maintain peace and persuade them to participate in the world’s newest security system.
“Too often it has been used to shield violations of international law and entrench the double standards that fuel conflict,” Mr Wale told the UN general assembly.
“The veto must never again be used in situations of genocide, crimes against humanity, or war crimes.“
The remarks concerned how Indonesia was able to obtain West Papua through the UN following the decolonisation of two neighbouring former colonies of the Netherlands from vastly different cultural ethnicities.
Solomon Islands joined its Melanesian Spearhead Group member states — Fiji, Papua New Guinea, Vanuatu and Kanak Socialist National Liberation Front in New Caledonia — to ask UN Human Rights High Commissioner Volker Türk, an Austrian lawyer, to supply a human rights report on West Papua before the group’s summit in mid-2027.
The Melanesian Spearhead Group is considering expelling Indonesia’s associate membership should Jakarta block a sanctioned visit.
“Solomon Islands respects the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Republic of Indonesia, and we value our friendship with its government and people,” Mr Wale said.
“It is precisely because of that friendship that we speak with candour.
“Reports of human rights violations in West Papua have persisted for far too long.
“They must be independently verified, not left in dispute.”
Marshall Islands President Hilda Heine was another Pacific voice to push for a resolution on the matter.
“The Marshall Islands affirms the region’s Pacific Islands Forum communiqué position regarding West Papua, including a 2018 invitation by Indonesia to the UN Human Rights Commissioner,” she added.
Indonesia has previously reassured the international community it supports “a cooperative and non-confrontational approach to human rights issues, based on mutual respect (but) national ownership”.
The Melanesian Spearhead Group anticipates meeting Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto at the conclusion of the general assembly.
Indonesia’s Minister for Foreign Affairs Sugiono gave something of a diplomatic response to the united Pacific bloc.
“As a nation of more than 280 million people, Indonesia’s learned that diversity is not something to overcome; it is something to manage, respect and turn into strength to democratic participation, dialogue, and respect for differences,” he said.
“We preserve our unity from Aceh to Papua, from Miangus to Roti.
“Indonesia is one people; Indonesia is one nation.”
