This article was first published by RNZ
As Indonesia ascends to the presidency of the UN Human Rights Council, the country has been described by a West Papuan independence campaigner as “unfit” to hold the position.
The criticism came from Benny Wenda, the president of the United Liberation Movement for West Papua, after last week’s election of Indonesian diplomat Sidharto Suryodipuro to the Geneva-based role. Sidharto is taking over the rotational position from Switzerland’s representative, Jürg Lauber.
Wenda claimed that Indonesia’s appointment to the head of the Council “makes a mockery of the UN and their claim to uphold international law and human rights”, given the country’s human rights record in West Papua.
While violations related to Indonesia’s military operations in Papua have been long canvassed by human rights defenders, outside access to Papua remains tightly restricted by Jakarta for foreign NGOs, humanitarian groups, media and even diplomats.
Yet from behind the cordon, ongoing signs continue to emerge of armed conflict between Indonesia’s military forces and Papua’s pro-independence movement, particularly its armed groups.
“Over 105,000 West Papuans are currently displaced due to Indonesian military operations,” Wenda said, adding that “Indonesia holding the Presidency of the HRC in 2026 is akin to Apartheid South Africa leading it in 1980.”
He said West Papuans had suffered breaches of international law on a daily basis for the past 63 years, not just in relation to violent conflict but through violations ranging from land rights being taken away to infringements on the right to freedom of speech.
Indonesia’s government said it could not respond directly to Wenda’s comments. But in a statement to RNZ Pacific, the government said of the council presidency that “we would like to emphasize on the issue of the enhancement of human rights protection that unfortunately nowadays become a worrying issue in most countries, be it developing or even developed countries”.
“One of the instruments that we would like to utilize more is the Universal Periodic Review, especially since we already have a strong and established cooperation between related bodies, such as our National Commission on Human Rights and Te Kāhui Tika Tangata (New Zealand’s Human Rights Commission),” the statement read.
According to the Indonesia-based Human Rights Watch researcher Andreas Harsono, the country is still grappling broadly with issues of human rights, including on religious freedom, and more scrutiny could help bring improvements. He said there was now at least some recognition in Indonesia of rights violations in Papua region.
“Indonesia has a very bad human rights record in West Papua. Even in Indonesia, many high ranking officials and military commanders recognise that. But at the same time, I think there are some efforts within Indonesia - including in the military - to be better,” Harsono said. He added that the conflict in Papua is intensifying and spreading to new parts, with an increasing number of Indonesian troops deloying in the region and a growing amount of weapons held by West Papuan militants.
‘Wishy washy talk’
One of Wenda’s criticisms is that Indonesia has not met a repeated request - coming particularly from Pacific Islands Forum countries - for Jakarta to allow the Office of the UN Human Right Commissioner (OHCHR) to visit West Papua in order to observe the rights situation there.
“For seven years, they have refused to admit the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, ignoring the repeated demand of over 110 countries, including all members of the EU commission, the United States, the Netherlands, and the UK,” Wenda said.
Harsono noted that the much talked about OHCHR visit had not gone ahead, saying “Indonesia is very good at wishy washy talk in delaying things, that’s what the Indonesian diplomats did over this UN visit to West Papua.”
There’s no hiding that diplomacy has been strained over the issue - two years ago Indonesia’s government told the UN resident coordinator in Jakarta, Valerie Julliand, to immediately leave the country due to UN criticism regarding human rights in West Papua.
Whether Sidharto can use his new position to finally pave the way for a visit to Papua by the OHCHR is unclear, but following his election in Geneva the ambassador promised an open approach.
“I will engage closely with all Member States, observers, non-member States, specialized institutions, national human rights institutions, civil society organizations, and regional organizations, recognizing their vital role in the human rights architecture,” Sidharto said.
Meanwhile, Indonesia’s Minister for Human Rights, the West Papuan Natalius Pigai, said Indonesia would use the position to counter breaches of international law in Venezuela and elsewhere. However it was notable, Harsono said, that Pigai had rarely spoken of the issue of West Papua in his capacity as minister.
By Johnny Blades of RNZ
