Brussels, 06/10/2014 (Agence Europe) - On Friday 3 October, the EU condemned in the strongest terms the murder of two humanitarian workers on Thursday 2 October - one in Ukraine and the other in Syria.
Speaking about the murder of 38-year-old Swiss national Laurent DuPasquier, who was working for the International Committee of the Red Cross in Donetsk (Ukraine), High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Catherine Ashton and European Commissioner for International Cooperation, Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Response Kristalina Georgieva jointly offered their condolences to the victim's family and those close to him, and called on “all parties to the conflict to fully respect international humanitarian law [and] protect civilians and humanitarian workers”.
With regard to the murder of Briton Alan Henning, who was beheaded by Islamic State jihadists after nine months of captivity in Syria, Georgieva did not have words strong enough to describe it. This “is not just an appalling crime against humanity and a devastating blow to his family and loved ones. It is an attack against all those who want to help innocent civilians caught in the madness of a terrible war”, Georgieva stated, describing the murder as an “act of barbaric propaganda” against “a man who is full of compassion (…) who wanted to do good”. (AN)