Amnesty International denounced on Friday the decision taken by Lebanon’s Cassation Court to suspend the arrest warrant against former Minister of Public Works, Youssef Fenianos, who was charged in September 2021 with homicide and criminal negligence by the lead investigator of the Beirut Blast.
“The suspension of the arrest warrant against Fenianos by Lebanon’s highest court is yet another nail in the coffin of justice and is a grim testament to the pervasive obstruction of the investigation into the devastating 2020 blast, which killed 235 and left more than 7,000 injured,” stated Aya Majzoub, Amnesty International’s Deputy Regional Director for the Middle East and North Africa.
“Nearly three and a half years on from the tragedy, the Lebanese authorities brazenly demonstrate a relentless commitment to evading responsibility, employing all tools at their disposal to cripple the investigation and shield themselves from accountability,” Majzoub said.
She noted that in January 2023, Lebanon’s top prosecutor “illegally” ordered the release of all suspects detained in the case; and “now at least one of these arrest warrants — which the security forces never implemented — has been revoked.”
“These successive blows underscore a disturbing truth: Lebanon’s judicial apparatus is ensnared in the service of the powerful, forsaking the rights of the public and the grieving families who lost their loved ones in one of the most powerful non-nuclear explosions ever witnessed,” she said.
She suggested that “only an international, independent, and impartial investigative mission can uphold justice, truth, and reparation for families of victims and survivors,” urgently calling “the United Nations Human Rights Council to take decisive action and establish a fact-finding mission into the Beirut Blast.”
The domestic investigation into the Beirut Blast has been suspended since December 2021 due to a series of arbitrary legal challenges filed against Judge Tarek Bitar and other judges involved in the case. When Judge Bitar attempted to resume the investigation in January 2023, Lebanon’s top prosecutor, Ghassan Oueidat, whom Bitar had charged in the case, filed a lawsuit against him, imposed a travel ban on him, and ordered the release of all those suspected of involvement in the explosion who remained in detention.
The sudden decision to revoke the arrest warrant against Fenianos might seem trivial at first glance, but according to some judicial sources, this move is intricately tied to Oueidat’s imminent retirement on February 22.
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