A Papua New Guinea MP Gary Juffa has questioned the commitment of regional countries to protecting human rights when ongoing abuses in Indonesia's Papua region go largely ignored.
Speaking at the Pacific Parliamentarians Forum in Wellington, Mr Juffa said the media in Western countries, in particular, seems as selective as their parliamentarians on which issues they choose to be vocal about.
He says last week's huge outpouring of grief and rolling media coverage over the bomb blasts at the Boston marathon, when three people died, is a case in point.
"But what about West Papua, where hundreds of people are being tortured, maimed, killed, every month. Right here in the Pacific, in our Pacific. What about that situation? How come there's no attention to that? Where's the media? Where are the governments? Where's the United Nations?"
