Hanna Azarya Samosir, Jakarta – The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Zeid Raad Al Hussein, has questioned the invitation from the Indonesian government to visit West Papua which has still not been realised.
“In Indonesia, I worry that although there is a positive relationship with the authorities, the government’s invitation for my office to visit Papua, which was given when I visited in February, has not yet been fulfilled”, said Hussein in his opening address to a UN Human Rights Council meeting, as quoted by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) official website on Monday June 18.
The invitation was indeed made by Indonesian President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo when Hussein visited the Presidential Palace in February.
“During the last two days of discussions with the president, the Indonesian government invited us to visit Papua. So we will send a mission there”, said Hussein during a press conference at the UN representative office in Jakarta at the time.
“I would like this plan to happen as soon as possible, but we clearly cannot say when because this is not a decision we can make on our own, it must be made jointly with other UN bodies as well as the Indonesian government”, he said at the time.
So far, the Indonesian Ambassador to the UN, Hasan Kleib, has yet to respond to a request for clarification from CNN Indonesia.
Aside from Indonesia, Hussein also highlighted human rights cases in other countries during the UN Human Rights Council meeting. He listed 15 countries that have not yet given permission for a UN human rights mission to visit even though a request has already been made.
“Almost 40 countries have not received a Special Representative visit over the last five years even though requests have been made. Among them, there are 15 countries that have already received more than five requests: Bahrain, Belorussia, Bolivia, Colombia, Congo, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Jamaica, Nicaragua, Pakistan, Turkmenistan, Uganda, Yemen and Zimbabwe”, he said. (has)
[Translated by James Balowski. The original title of the article was Komisioner HAM PBB Pertanyakan Undangan Jokowi ke Papua.]
