Solomon Islands Repeats Call for Independent Assessment of West Papua

SolomonTimesOnline – The Solomon Islands representative in Geneva, Switzerland, has repeated calls for Indonesia to allow a UN Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Expression to visit West Papua and Papua Provinces.

Minister Councilor at the Solomon Islands Mission in Geneva, Switzerland, Barrett Salato made the call at the start of the 33rd Human Rights Council Meeting in Geneva on Monday this week.

Mr. Salato highlighted a “worrying trend by the Member States resisting human rights scrutiny by the work of the Council.”

“More unsettling is the fact that some large democracies who profess to uphold universal human rights values are evading scrutiny on their domestic human rights practices by shielding such practices behind the principle of non-interference.”

Mr Salato says that the Solomon Islands share the view that protecting human rights of all people requires collective responsibilities and continues to condemn violations of human rights whenever it occurs.