A solemn memorial today paid tribute to the dedication and sacrifice of a UNIFIL peacekeeper who died on Friday having been critically injured in a projectile explosion in his base last month.
 
Head of Mission and Force Commander Major General Diodato Abagnara honoured the life and service of Corporal Rico Pramudia, 31 of Indonesia in the ceremony held in Beirut. He is the fourth Indonesian peacekeeper to make the ultimate sacrifice in the service of peace in south Lebanon in less than a month.
 
“You came here, far from home, to serve under the United Nations flag, to bring peace to this land, and here, in the south of Lebanon, you gave everything,” said Major General Abagnara. “You gave everything you had for peace in this land. And for this, you have all our respect.”
 
“As soldiers, as peacekeepers, we carry your mission forward; we will remain steady; we will remain united; we will remain vigilant,” the UNIFIL head continued. “This is how we honour you. Your place remains with us, in our actions, in our commitment, in our sense of duty.”
 
Corporal Pramudia is survived by his wife and young son. When he arrived in April last year to serve with UNIFIL, it was his first foreign mission.
 
Today’s ceremony at Beirut’s airport was also attended by Ambassador of Indonesia to Lebanon, Dicky Komar; representative of the Lebanese Ministry of National Defence and the Lebanese Army, Brigadier General Maroun Azzi; and Colonel Allan Surya Lesmana from UNIFIL’s Indonesian contingent.
 
Attacks of peacekeepers constitute grave violations of international humanitarian law and of Security Council resolution 1701 and may amount to war crimes. They must be promptly investigated, and those responsible must be prosecuted and held accountable.
 
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