The UN human rights chief decried Monday the lack of accountability for the 2020 Beirut port blast, urging an international probe into the massive explosion that destroyed swathes of the city.
The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, decried on Monday the lack of accountability for the 2020 Beirut port blast, urging an international probe into the massive explosion that destroyed swathes of the city.
“In Lebanon, three years after the explosion in Beirut that killed more than 200 people and injured 7,000, including more than 1,000 children, no responsibility has been established”, Volker Türk told the Human Rights Council.
“On the contrary, many concerns have emerged about interference in the investigation, in a context of serious economic and social crisis and weak governance. It may therefore be time to consider an international fact-finding mission to examine the human rights violations linked to this tragedy”, he added.
The blast, one of the largest non-nuclear explosions in history, was caused by a fire in a warehouse where tons of ammonium nitrate were being stored without precaution, despite repeated warnings to the highest authorities.
A complaint has been filed on behalf of the American victims of the explosion against the American-Norwegian geophysical services company, TGS ASA. It owned the British company Spectrum Geo, which chartered the M/V Rhosus, the ship carrying ammonium nitrate that was then unloaded in Beirut and eventually exploded.
The plaintiffs are seeking $250 million in damages and a jury trial.
At the end of August, a Texas judge rejected a motion by TGS ASA to have the case dismissed.
On the eve of the third anniversary of the explosion, 4 August 2923, 300 NGOs, including Human Rights Watch (HRW) and Amnesty International, as well as families of the victims, reiterated their call for an international commission of inquiry.
Naggear sees “positive developments”
“For us, this is a significant step, which comes after a long period of lobbying”, said a delighted Paul Naggear, commenting on Mr Türk’s remarks. His three-year-old daughter Alexandra was killed in the explosion.
“This is a very positive development, which ideally should come to fruition next March with a resolution”, he told AFP.
“This commission may help us gain access to information (…) that we are unable to obtain”, said Mariana Fodoulian, who lost her sister in the tragedy.
In Lebanon, the first judge in charge of the investigation in 2020 had to resign after indicting former Prime Minister Hassan Diab and three former ministers.
His successor, Tarek Bitar, took his turn at targeting politicians, but Parliament refused to lift the immunity of indicted MPs, the Interior Ministry opposed the questioning of high-ranking officers and the security forces refused to execute arrest warrants.
He was forced to suspend his investigation for 13 months, due to dozens of lawsuits brought against him by politicians and other intense pressure.
Last January, he returned to work to everyone’s surprise. He was then prosecuted for insubordination by the public prosecutor after indicting several high-ranking figures, a first in Lebanon’s history.
The prosecutor also ordered the release of the 17 people detained without trial since the explosion.
For its part, the US State Department considered that the “lack of progress” in the investigation was “unacceptable”, underlining “the need for judicial reform”.
