Pacific stance at UN ‘shocks’ Indonesia

Diplomatic discord after West Papua speeches

WEST PAPUA – An Indonesian diplomat said that Indonesia is “shocked” at six Pacific islands governments for accusing Indonesia of human rights violations in West Papua.

Nara Masista Rakhmatia – during a speech at the 1st Session of the General Assembly of the UN in New York – accused Pacific leaders of using the General Assembly to advance their domestic agendas and “to divert attention from political and social problems at home.”

Rakhmatia was responding to earlier speeches at the General Assembly made by the leaders of Tonga, Nauru, Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, Marshall Islands and Tuvalu.

In his speech,Tonga’s Prime Minister ‘Akilisi Pohiva stated: “The UN has a duty to follow up this West Papua case and take necessary action to stop these brutal and inhumane activities. We leaders must rise to higher moral order beyond interests and be guided by what is fair and suitable to all.”

Nauruan President Baron Waqa stated: “Nauru is deeply concerned regarding the situation in West Papua including the alleged human rights abuses.”

Tuvaluan Prime Minister Enele Sopoaga stated: “The UN must act on this issue and find a workable solution to give autonomy to the Indigenous Peoples of West Papua.”

Rakhmatia responded in an irritated tone, stating: “Indonesia is shocked to hear that these leaders clearly reflect an unfortunate lack of understanding of the history, current situation and progressive development in Indonesia including in the provinces of Papua and West Papua.”

“These countries are using the General Assembly to advance their domestic agenda and for some countries to divert attention from political and social problems at home. The same countries are also using false and fabricated information as the basis of their statement” she added.

“We have a saying in our Asia-Pacific region when one points the index finger to others the thumb finger automatically points to one’s own face”.

Indonesia’s Foreign Ministry has since brushed off concerns the country insulted Pacific island heads of state by assigning a lower-ranking diplomat to respond to the heads of state.

Evi Fitriani from the University of Indonesia said Indonesia had not violated any convention, “but diplomatically there was a rule of reciprocity, that if a head of state says something, the response shall come from another head of state” or high-ranking official.

Meanwhile, the Jakarta Legal Aid Institute has issued a statement condemning the Indonesian government’s denial of reports of human rights violations in Papua during the United Nations General Assembly.

The legal rights defender, which has previously advocated on behalf of several Papuan groups, says the violations have occurred.

It says between April and September this year, the government arrested 2282 Papuans staging non-violent rallies.

The Institute says Indonesia, through its representative, Nara Masista, said Indonesia’s commitment to human rights was solid. But the Institute says that is not the case.

It says its network has recorded human rights violations from arrests, murders and the dispersal of rallies. - PNC