Human Rights
Seanad Éireann — 2026-07-09
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Alice-Mary Higgins (IND), National University of Ireland

What is missing from the Minister of State's response, with respect, is any reference to West Papua. There was reference to NGOs. I have described the fact that this is a place where there is no journalism and where anybody who takes any political activism is killed or disappeared. They are not coming to meetings in Jakarta on human rights ideals or issues in Indonesia because Indonesia is occupying and repressing them. It is like putting it on Gazan NGOs. The obligation is not on civil societies to put in complaints. The obligation is on due diligence for those who are setting out to make the agreement. It is almost the same flip that they have tried to do on corporate sustainability, to make it the job of NGOs to do due diligence around corporate sustainability. There is a job of due diligence. As the Minister of State mentioned, the Council will be deciding on this during Ireland's Presidency. It is crucial that there is a focus on this. Those mechanisms are not mechanisms that work for persons who are repressed. We do not hear about West Papua, and there is a reason for that.
I have given the Minister of State details of the very few UN reports available. The UN has been trying to get access to West Papua. There is a report from 2021. During the nine years of negotiation, we have UN reports about extrajudicial killings. With respect, saying that we have a mechanism is not the same as saying that we are taking action. That is why if Ireland has a values-led Presidency of the European Union, it needs to do more than point arrows to different mechanisms. Ireland should be demanding proper action in respect of these issues. Ireland should be demanding human rights reviews and should be leading on this. I want to hear what Ireland is going to do.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/seanad/2026-07-09/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:55:11+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-07-09