Expert: Indonesia Must Be Involved in Investigating Attacks on TNI Personnel in UNIFIL

Jakarta (ANTARA) - Professor of International Law at Universitas Indonesia (UI), Hikmahanto Juwana, has emphasised the importance of Indonesian involvement in the investigation of a series of attacks on TNI personnel under the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL). “Involve our authorities in the investigation,” said Hikmahanto in response to an ANTARA question in Jakarta on Tuesday, regarding the follow-up actions that Indonesia should take after its personnel in UNIFIL became victims of attacks. He stressed that Indonesia’s involvement in investigating these attacks is crucial to protect national interests and perspectives, regardless of whether the Indonesian representatives are TNI officers directly in Lebanon or Indonesian delegates coordinating at the UN level. According to the UI academic, the repeated attacks on UNIFIL this time, especially directly targeting Indonesian personnel, serve as a warning sign regarding the relevance of UNIFIL’s operations in maintaining peace in southern Lebanon. This is because the ceasefire between Lebanon’s Shia group Hezbollah and Zionist Israel is continuously violated by both sides. This could form the basis for requesting the UN Security Council, which mandated the force, to halt UNIFIL operations, he said. Nevertheless, regarding proposals from various parties to withdraw Indonesian personnel from UNIFIL for security reasons, Hikmahanto stated that Indonesia cannot make a unilateral withdrawal. “Because our troops are already under UN operational control, they cannot be interfered with,” said the UI international law expert. Indonesia lost three TNI soldiers in Lebanon, namely Private First Class Farizal Rhomadhon who died from artillery fire on Sunday (29/3), followed by Captain Inf Zulmi Aditya Iskandar and Sergeant Major Muhammad Nur Ikhwan who fell when the convoy they were escorting was attacked on Monday (30/3). Meanwhile, five other personnel were injured in those two incidents, namely First Lieutenant Infantry Sulthan Wirdean Maulana, Corporal Deni Rianto, Corporal Rico Pramudia, Corporal Bayu Prakoso, and Corporal Arif Kurniawan. Then on Friday (3/4), three Indonesian peacekeepers were again victims due to an explosion in El Addaiseh. This incident is the third serious event affecting Indonesian personnel in UNIFIL recently. With the addition of three personnel injured from the Friday incident, to date, a total of eight TNI soldiers have been injured while carrying out duties as UN peacekeepers in Lebanon.