The UN Human Rights Council has once again been urged to establish a fact-finding mission into the Beirut port blast, on the eve of the third anniversary of the deadly explosion.
In light of the stalled domestic investigation, hundreds of human rights groups, survivors and families of the victims said a mission should be established “in order to show that such deliberate inaction has consequences”.
The August 4 2020 blast killed more than 200 people, injured thousands and destroyed many parts of the Lebanese capital.
While such calls are not new, they highlight what many see as an absence of justice over the explosion and anger over the stalled domestic investigation.
The blast came after a stock of ammonium nitrate – stored at the port for years – caught fire. No reason has been provided for it being stored there and no senior officials have been held accountable.
The stalled investigation has been repeatedly blocked and undermined by legal challenges.
“The Lebanese authorities have been given every opportunity to demonstrate that they are willing and capable of holding those responsible for the explosion to account,” read a joint statement to the Human Rights Council, signed by the rights groups, survivors, families of the victims and others.
“But three years later, they have proven that they will use every tool at their disposal – legal and extralegal – to evade accountability and perpetuate a culture of impunity in the country,” the letter added.
Earlier this year, 38 countries issued a joint statement, delivered by Australia at the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, which voiced concern that the investigation had not been concluded and had been “hampered by systemic obstruction, interference and intimidation”.
The joint letter noted that “the Lebanese authorities have failed to take any steps to ensure that the domestic investigation can move forward or to adopt a law guaranteeing the independence of the judiciary in line with international standards”.
The domestic probe of Judge Tarek Bitar had been on hold since December 2021 after a series of legal challenges.
He sought to reopen the case in January of this year when he charged senior politicians, judicial figures and security officials in connection with the explosion.
But soon after, Lebanon’s top prosecutor told Judge Bitar that the investigation was still on hold and charged him with rebelling against the judiciary.
The explosion is regarded as a symptom of decades of mismanagement and corruption in Lebanon, which also led to a devastating economic collapse that began in 2019.
