Survivors, rights groups call for UN to investigate Beirut blast
The joint letter with 145 signatories called on the UN Human Rights Council to heed the call of survivors and launch an independent, international probe of the blast.
More than a year after the blast at Beirut’s port, Lebanese and international rights groups, survivors and family members reiterated their call for the United Nations Human Rights Council to establish an independent investigation into the explosion that killed more than 200 people.
“No one has been held accountable,” the 145 signatories said in a joint letter published Wednesday. “It is now time for the Human Rights Council to step in, heeding the calls of the survivors, families of the victims, and the Lebanese people for accountability, the rule of law, and protection of human rights.” A similar letter was sent by 115 rights groups, survivors and families in June.
The August 2020 blast at Lebanon’s most vital port killed at least 215 people, injured over 6,500 and displaced more than 300,000 from their homes. Much of the Lebanese capital was harmed by the accident, which caused billions in damage and added to the small Mediterranean country’s dire economic situation.
“The families of the victims and survivors of the catastrophic Beirut blast are appealing once again to the Human Rights Council to urgently establish an investigative mission looking into the Lebanese state’s failure to protect their rights,” said Aya Majzoub, Lebanon researcher at Human Rights Watch.
