Indonesia honours fallen UN peacekeepers with promotions and compensation
“The three fallen personnel will receive extraordinary posthumous non-combat promotion and the Dag Hammarksjold Medal,” TNI Commander General Agus Subiyanto stated in his press remarks on Wednesday.
The three Indonesian officers were Captain Zulmi Aditya Iskandar, 33; First Sergeant Muhammad Nur Ichwan, 25; and Private First Class Fahrizal Rhomadhon, 27.
Meanwhile, the Dag Hammarksjold Medal is a posthumous medal given by the United Nations for individuals who lost their lives while serving in a UN peacekeeping operation.
Their respective families will receive compensations over Rp1.8 billion from the Indonesian military and the UN, which include scholarships for their children, Subiyanto said.
The military commander disclosed that the family of Captain Iskandar will receive Rp1,894,688,236, while Rp1,846,309,049 is given to First Sergeant Ichwan’s family, and Private Rhomadhon’s family is awarded Rp1,854,075,201.
“The families also receive continued salary for 12 months, which will include basic salary, food allowances, and functional allowance, as well as retirement benefits for the widows afterward,” he stated.
Subiyanto expressed hope that the compensation will help the families after they lost their family member while serving in peacekeeping operations in Lebanon.
Indonesia has lost three personnel serving in UNIFIL missions in Lebanon following two separate attacks in the south that have drawn international condemnation.
Private Rhomadhon was killed by artillery fire near the Indonesian UNIFIL contingent’s position near Adchit Al Qusayr, southern Lebanon, on Sunday (March 29).
Meanwhile, Captain Iskandar and First Sergeant Ichwan were killed in an attack on a UNIFIL logistics convoy near Bani Hayyan, also in southern Lebanon, on Monday (March 30).
Speaking at a UN Security Council meeting on the Middle East on Tuesday (March 31), Indonesia’s UN envoy Umar Hadi strongly condemned the attacks on UNIFIL troops and called for a swift, thorough, and transparent probe over the incidents.
“We therefore demand investigation by the United Nations, not excuses by Israel,” Ambassafor Hadi emphasized during the session.
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Translator: Walda Marison, Nabil Ihsan