Indonesia Rejected the Statement by the Prime Minister of Solomon Islands

"We categorically rejected the statement by the Prime Minister of Solomon Islands, Hon. Manasseh Sogavare, as appeared in the Prime Minister’s Press Secretariat Office website on 17 May 2016," stated Ambassador Desra Percaya, the newly appointed Director General for Asia Pacific and Africa of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Indonesia. 




"This statement has clearly violated the basic principles of sovereignty and non-interference as enshrined in the Agreement Establishing the Melanesian Spearhead Group (MSG) in 2007," added Ambassador Desra.

As the third largest democracy, respect for human rights is an essential principle for Indonesia. Precisely for this reason, Indonesia has ratified 8 out of 9 major United Nations human rights instruments and work closely with various human rights mechanisms. In this regard, Indonesia welcomes and stands ready to share its experience on human rights promotion and protection with many countries, including the Solomon Islands. Accordingly, Indonesia has always welcomed Solomon Islands’ participation at the Bali Democracy Forum.

Indonesia has long  committed to address human rights issues by, among others, establishing a representative office of National Commission of Human Rights in Papua. The Commission, both at national and regional levels, is now working to address cases of alleged human rights violations in Papua.

In addition, as part of the Pacific, Indonesia developed partnerships with several key countries in the region to ensure that the bilateral ties are strong and productive.

Moreover, Indonesia has been actively participating in various regional groupings, such as: Pacific Economic Cooperation Council (PECC) since 1980; Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) since 1989, Southwest Pacific Dialogue (SwPD) since 2002, Coral Triangle Initiative on Coral Reefs, Fisheries and Food Security (CTI-CFF) since 2009.  With the same regard, Indonesia has also been active in Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) since 2001, and Pacific Islands Development Forum (PIDF) since 2014.

"It is thus myopic for Prime Minister Sogavare to speculate that Indonesia’s agenda in the Pacific, let alone in the MSG, is solely Papua driven," Ambassador Desra underlined.

Indonesia remains committed in adding value to the MSG, broaden relations between its governments, communities, and people, strengthen cooperation and address common challenges, and deepen economic ties and development cooperation for the future prosperity of peoples in the MSG region.

"These facts should indeed wake Prime Minister Sogavare up to perceive clearly the reality and truth," as concluded by Ambassador Desra. (Kementerian Luar Negeri Indonesia)