The below letter was sent by IPWP members to UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres upon Indonesia assuming the Presidency of the UN Human Rights Council:
Dear Secretary General Guterres,
Subject: Indonesian Presidency of the UN Human Rights Council
We write to issue the strongest possible objection to the recent appointment of Indonesian Ambassador Sidharto Reza Suryodiporo as President of the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC). 113 UN Member States – a clear majority of the UN General Assembly – have now demanded that Indonesia facilitate a visit to West Papua by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR). Despite inviting then-High Commissioner Zeid Ra’ad al Hussein to investigate in West Papua in 2018, Indonesia has refused the OHCHR access for over six years. Given Indonesia’s ongoing violation of their obligations as a UN member state, we consider their Presidency of the UNHRC an insult to the fundamental principles of the UN itself. We are concerned that the appointment effectively green-lights the continued state of military impunity in West Papua, and express our disappointment that Mr Suryodiporo assuming the Presidency was not conditioned on Indonesia permitting the OHCHR to report from the territory.
West Papua is a site of ongoing occupation in the midst of a serious humanitarian crisis. According to local human rights defenders, more than 105,878 West Papuans were internally displaced as of January 7th 2026. This is a significant increase on the 85,103 West Papuan IDPs recorded in January 2025, and is indicative of an equivalent military escalation during the same period. Since the election of Prabowo Subianto as Indonesian President in 2024, an alarming number of additional troops have been deployed to West Papua, many to support ambitious and environmentally devastating industrial projects. For instance, the government-designated National Strategic Project (PSN) in the southeastern Regency of Merauke is being supported by a Regional Military Command housing an estimated 5000 combat personnel. Comprising approximately 2 million hectares of sugarcane and 1 million hectares of rice production, the Merauke PSN has been described by conservation news service Mongabay as the largest deforestation project in human history.
A process of deforestation and subsequent violence and displacement is also observable in Intan Jaya Regency, where 31 additional military checkpoints were established between August and October 2025. Intan Jaya contains the Wabu Block gold mine, which Amnesty International described in 2022 as having produced a ‘clear escalation’ in militarisation in the surrounding area. Intan Jaya was one of the epicentres of the West Papua conflict throughout 2025. On October 15th, fifteen civilians were massacred during an Indonesian military raid on Soanggama Village. This incident followed a similar atrocity committed in May, when soldiers killed or disappeared up to fifteen West Papuans in the Hidatipa and Sugapa districts. A number of villages in the Regency also suffered aerial bombardment by the Indonesian military throughout the year. We express our profound concern that Indonesian deforestation in West Papua, as well as being the main driver of conflict and displacement in the territory, is also incompatible with the UN’s sustainable development goals.
In light of the steadily worsening humanitarian crisis in West Papua, we note that the demand for an OHCHR visit has been renewed through various international fora each year since 2019. Since the initial call by the Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) in 2019, the demand has been repeated by the Melanesian Spearhead Group (MSG), twice by the Organisation of African, Caribbean, and Pacific States (OACPS), and by individual nations including the UK, Spain, and the Netherlands. The European Commission has also called for a visit, with then-Vice President Josep Borrell stating, ‘The EU encourages Indonesia to allow the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights to visit West Papua and has urged Indonesia to extend standing invitations to all Special Rapporteurs and Mandate holders.’ At Indonesia’s 2022 Universal Periodic Review (UPR), eight countries including the USA, Australia, New Zealand and Canada joined the call for international investigation of human rights abuses in West Papua.
Indonesia’s refusal to allow the OHCHR into West Papua is consistent with their policy of blocking access to all foreign journalists, aid groups, and international human rights monitors. No international organisation has been permitted to freely access West Papua since the World Council of Churches in 2019. We observe that at their 2022 UPR, Indonesia omitted any mention of ongoing violence against West Papuan civilians, instead focusing solely on issues of infrastructure and welfare. There can be no legitimate reason for denying access to independent media, or for continuing to isolate West Papua from the wider world. It is clear that Indonesia is deliberately preventing the UN from investigating human rights abuses in West Papua.
As Parliamentarians representing eight countries, we call on the UN to publicly express their grave concern about Indonesia’s fitness to hold the UNHRC Presidency, and reiterate the demand to finally allow the OHCHR to report from West Papua.
Signed,
Alex Sobel, MP, UK, Labour Party, IPWP Chair
Carles Puigdemont, MEP, Catalonia (Spanish State), Junts, IPWP Vice-Chair
Gorka Elejabarrieta, Senator, Basque Country (Spanish State), EH Bildu, IPWP Vice-Chair
Matthew Wale MP, Leader of the Opposition, Solomon Islands, IPWP Vice-Chair
Baroness Nathalie Bennett of Manor Castle, UK, Green Party
Rt. Reverend Lord Harries of Pentregarth, UK, Crossbench
Luke Akehurst, MP, UK, Labour Party
Paul Sweeney, MSP, Scotland, Labour Party
Manasseh Sogavare, MP, Solomon Islands, Former Prime Minister
Ralph Regenvanu, MP, Vanuatu, Minister for Climate Change Adaptation
Sian Berry, MP, UK, Green Party
Ellie Chowns, MP, UK, Green Party
Carla Denyer, MP, UK, Green Party
Adrian Ramsay, MP, UK, Green Party
Nadia Whittome, MP, UK, Labour Party
David Shoebridge, Senator & Foreign Affairs Spokesperson, Australia, Australian Greens
Ross Greer, MSP, Scotland, Scottish Greens
Jeremy Corbyn, MP, UK, Your Party
Lidia Thorpe, Australia, Senator
Larissa Waters, Australia, Senator for Queensland & Leader of the Australian Greens
