2) Solomon Islands` minister reiterates respect for Indonesian territory
3) Indonesia, PNG to strengthen cooperation for welfare of region
4) Sport: West Papua Warriors to take on PNGs best
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http://www.solomontimes.com/news/solomon-islands-repeats-call-for-independent-assessment-of-west-papua/8570
Thursday, 22 September 2016 11:03 AM
1) Solomon Islands Repeats Call for Independent Assessment of West Papua
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.
Source: Photo supplied
Mr Salato highlighted a “worrying trend by the Member States resisting human rights scrutiny by the work of the Council.”
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2) Solomon Islands` minister reiterates respect for Indonesian territory
Kamis, 22 September 2016 23:06 WIB | 431 Views
Jakarta (ANTARA News) - At a bilateral meeting with his Indonesian counterpart, Solomon Islands Foreign Affairs Minister George Milner Tozaka said the government of Solomon Islands respects Indonesias territory and the United Nations Charter on non-interference.
Both ministers met on the sidelines of the 71st UN General Assembly in New York, the United States on September 20, a press release from the Indonesian Foreign Affairs Ministry received by ANTARA here on Thursday stated.
"The principle of mutual respect for territorial integrity and the principle of non-interference in the internal affairs of each country must always be upheld in maintaining bilateral relations," Indonesian Foreign Affairs Minister Retno Marsudi said in response to Tozakas statement.
Both foreign ministers agreed on the importance of continuing to strengthen cooperation between the two countries, not only bilaterally, but also at regional and multilateral forums.
This is expected to contribute to development in both countries and in the Pacific region as a whole.
"Indonesia is a great country that gives attention to countries in the Pacific region in order to encourage better development," Retno said.
Earlier, at various bilateral meetings, Indonesia and the Solomon Islands have agreed to promote cooperation in economic, social, cultural, and technical fields.
Some of the potential cooperation in trade and investment are the developments of the palm oil industry, fisheries, food products and aluminum.
In addition, Indonesia and the Solomon Islands have also been discussing efforts to establish a Memorandum of Understanding in the fields of development cooperation, visa exemption for diplomatic and official passports, education and culture, as well as transportation.
From October 1999 until the end of 2015, Solomon Islands had sent 95 participants to participate in capacity building programs in agriculture, animal husbandry, renewable energy, navigation, fisheries, diplomacy, journalistic and small and medium enterprises.
Meanwhile, Minister Retno invited Minister Tozaka to attend the Bali Democracy Forum in Bali in early December. Indonesia is the Solomon Islands 16th biggest export partner and sixth largest import partner.(*)
Both ministers met on the sidelines of the 71st UN General Assembly in New York, the United States on September 20, a press release from the Indonesian Foreign Affairs Ministry received by ANTARA here on Thursday stated.
"The principle of mutual respect for territorial integrity and the principle of non-interference in the internal affairs of each country must always be upheld in maintaining bilateral relations," Indonesian Foreign Affairs Minister Retno Marsudi said in response to Tozakas statement.
Both foreign ministers agreed on the importance of continuing to strengthen cooperation between the two countries, not only bilaterally, but also at regional and multilateral forums.
This is expected to contribute to development in both countries and in the Pacific region as a whole.
"Indonesia is a great country that gives attention to countries in the Pacific region in order to encourage better development," Retno said.
Earlier, at various bilateral meetings, Indonesia and the Solomon Islands have agreed to promote cooperation in economic, social, cultural, and technical fields.
Some of the potential cooperation in trade and investment are the developments of the palm oil industry, fisheries, food products and aluminum.
In addition, Indonesia and the Solomon Islands have also been discussing efforts to establish a Memorandum of Understanding in the fields of development cooperation, visa exemption for diplomatic and official passports, education and culture, as well as transportation.
From October 1999 until the end of 2015, Solomon Islands had sent 95 participants to participate in capacity building programs in agriculture, animal husbandry, renewable energy, navigation, fisheries, diplomacy, journalistic and small and medium enterprises.
Meanwhile, Minister Retno invited Minister Tozaka to attend the Bali Democracy Forum in Bali in early December. Indonesia is the Solomon Islands 16th biggest export partner and sixth largest import partner.(*)
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3) Indonesia, PNG to strengthen cooperation for welfare of region
Kamis, 22 September 2016 23:18 WIB | 414 Views
Jakarta (ANTARA News) - Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi has held a meeting with her counterpart from Papua New Guinea, in which they agreed to continue strengthening their cooperation for the welfare of the region.
"As neighboring countries and close friends, it is natural for Indonesia and Papua New Guinea to have close relations," Minister Retno said, in a press statement from her office received here on Thursday.
The meeting took place on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York on September 21.
During their meeting, they had discussed various cooperation opportunities and agreed to increase coordination in working together on issues of common concern, especially in the context of regional organizations such as the Melanesian Spearhead Group (MSG) and the Pacific Island Forum (PIF).
Further, PNG hoped Indonesia would continue supporting various activities for increasing the capacity of the MSG, especially in the capacity of MSG Secretariat.
"Indonesia, as a big country in the region, has always been ready to contribute to advance peace, stability and prosperity in the region," Retno said.
In connection with various tyes of bilateral cooperation, the two ministers agreed to continue developing the management and development of cities in the Indonesia-PNG border region.
The two ministers praised the discussion for cooperation in border management through the Border Liaison Meeting (BLM), Joint Border Committee (JBC) and various meetings in the Joint Sub-Committee to be held in Port Moresby on November 7-19, 2016.
"The establishment of a language school that will provide Indonesian language lesson will help increase mutual understanding and deepen people-to-people contacts," minister Retno said.
Papua New Guinea has been one of the countries that has routinely been part of the technical cooperation and capacity building programs provided by Indonesia.
The technical cooperation that has been carried out includes "batik" painting, food production development, protocol and event management, multimedia, handicrafts, tourism, automotive, peat forest development and coastal restoration.
From 1999 to August 2016, 276 people from PNG have taken part in 105 capacity development programs provided by Indonesia.
"This program is part of Indonesias US$20 million commitment for capacity building for Pacific countries from 2014-2019", minister Retno said.
At the meeting, Retno also conveyed Indonesias plan to bid for non-permanent membership in the UN Security Council for 2018-2919, and she said she hoped PNG would offer its support.(*)
"As neighboring countries and close friends, it is natural for Indonesia and Papua New Guinea to have close relations," Minister Retno said, in a press statement from her office received here on Thursday.
The meeting took place on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York on September 21.
During their meeting, they had discussed various cooperation opportunities and agreed to increase coordination in working together on issues of common concern, especially in the context of regional organizations such as the Melanesian Spearhead Group (MSG) and the Pacific Island Forum (PIF).
Further, PNG hoped Indonesia would continue supporting various activities for increasing the capacity of the MSG, especially in the capacity of MSG Secretariat.
"Indonesia, as a big country in the region, has always been ready to contribute to advance peace, stability and prosperity in the region," Retno said.
In connection with various tyes of bilateral cooperation, the two ministers agreed to continue developing the management and development of cities in the Indonesia-PNG border region.
The two ministers praised the discussion for cooperation in border management through the Border Liaison Meeting (BLM), Joint Border Committee (JBC) and various meetings in the Joint Sub-Committee to be held in Port Moresby on November 7-19, 2016.
"The establishment of a language school that will provide Indonesian language lesson will help increase mutual understanding and deepen people-to-people contacts," minister Retno said.
Papua New Guinea has been one of the countries that has routinely been part of the technical cooperation and capacity building programs provided by Indonesia.
The technical cooperation that has been carried out includes "batik" painting, food production development, protocol and event management, multimedia, handicrafts, tourism, automotive, peat forest development and coastal restoration.
From 1999 to August 2016, 276 people from PNG have taken part in 105 capacity development programs provided by Indonesia.
"This program is part of Indonesias US$20 million commitment for capacity building for Pacific countries from 2014-2019", minister Retno said.
At the meeting, Retno also conveyed Indonesias plan to bid for non-permanent membership in the UN Security Council for 2018-2919, and she said she hoped PNG would offer its support.(*)
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4) Sport: West Papua Warriors to take on PNGs best
11:21 am on 22 September 2016
The West Papua Warriors are back in action this weekend at the Kokomos Nines in Brisbane, which brings together Papua New Guinea's top rugby league talent from throughout Australia.
The Warriors team is made up of players from PNG and West Papua and was formed to raise awareness about the on-going human rights abuses in the Indonesian province.
Their last hitout was a dominant 54-8 victory against a Philippines development side in January.
Team captain Tala Kami said the players have finished respective club seasons back home and are looking forward to teaming up once more.
"We're not taking as big a squad as we did last time - there's only roughly around six of us travelling from Papua New Guinea and the rest of the boys are meeting us in Brisbane. Some of our players got selected to stay in Australia after the Sydney tour so we're meeting the rest of the fellas down there," he said.
"Four of the boys got picked up by Sydney clubs while we were down in Sydney in January and hopefully more guys will get more opportunities when we down this time."
The Warriors team is made up of players from PNG and West Papua and was formed to raise awareness about the on-going human rights abuses in the Indonesian province.
Tala Kami said the cause remains at the forefront of what they do.
"The crazy thing is the West Papua cause is building a lot of momentum here in Port Moresby. We recently had our independence day celebrations which were led by the Black Brothers band, which is one of the most famous West Papuan bands who actually were based in PNG for a long time.
"It was a mixed celebration of both independence for PNG as well as raising awareness for the West Papuan issue on the actual independence day."
Tala Kami said rugby league is popular in Papua New Guinea and is the ideal vehicle with which to spread their message.
The Kokomos Nines is in its third year and features a number of former PNG Kumuls internationals.
CDMC are the defending champions while the O'Wan Titans and Hiritano Jets are also travelling over from Papua New Guinea.
The top players will earn selection for the Queensland PNG rep side.
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