Human rights organizations and victim’s families call on UN Human Rights Council to investigate Beirut port explosion amidst government inaction

BEIRUT — According to Human Rights Watch (HRW), 145 Lebanese and international human rights organizations, survivors, and families of the victims of the Beirut port explosion sent a joint letter to the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) calling on its members to establish an independent and impartial international investigation to uncover facts of the disaster which took place on 4 August last year.

“More than a year after the Beirut explosion, which destroyed more than half of the city and killed at least 218 people of different nationalities, no one was held accountable,” read the letter.

Aya Majzoub, Lebanon and Bahrain researcher in HRW’s Middle East and North Africa Division, stated that more than a year after the explosion, Lebanese officials continue to obstruct, delay, and undermine the local investigation. The families of the victims and survivors are appealing to the Human Rights Council to establish an investigation mission, amid the failure of the Lebanese state to protect their rights, she said.

Lebanese security forces violently confronted the families of the victims of the explosion during peaceful protests condemning the governments inaction.