{"id":12294,"date":"2021-06-15T08:07:35","date_gmt":"2021-06-15T08:07:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.achrights.org\/?p=12294"},"modified":"2021-06-15T08:16:01","modified_gmt":"2021-06-15T08:16:01","slug":"joint-letter-to-the-human-rights-council-calling-for-an-international-investigative-mission-into-the-beirut-blast","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/achrights.fr\/en\/2021\/06\/15\/12294\/","title":{"rendered":"Joint Letter to the Human Rights Council calling for an International Investigative Mission into the Beirut Blast"},"content":{"rendered":"

June 15, 2021<\/p>\n

To the Permanent Representatives of Member and Observer States of the United Nations Human Rights Council,<\/p>\n

Excellencies,<\/p>\n

We, the undersigned Lebanese and international organizations, individuals, survivors, and families of the victims are writing to request your support in the establishment of an international, independent, and impartial investigative mission, such as a one-year fact-finding mission, into the Beirut port explosion of August 4, 2020. We urge you to support this initiative by adopting a resolution establishing such a mission at the Human Rights Council.<\/p>\n

On August 4, 2020, one of the largest non-nuclear explosions<\/a> in history decimated the port and damaged over half the city. The Beirut port explosion killed 217 people, including nationals of Lebanon, Syria, Egypt, Bangladesh, Philippines, Pakistan, the Netherlands, Canada, Germany, France, Australia, and the United States. It wounded 7,000 people, of whom 150 acquired a physical disability, caused untold psychological harm, and damaged 77,000 apartments, forcibly displacing over 300,000 people<\/a>. At least three children<\/a> between the ages of two and 15 lost their lives. Thirty-one children required hospitalization, 1,000 children were injured, and 80,000 children<\/a> were left without a home.\u00a0The explosion affected 163 public and private schools<\/a> and rendered half of Beirut\u2019s healthcare<\/a> centers nonfunctional, and it impacted 56% of the private businesses<\/a> in Beirut. According to the World Bank, the explosion caused an estimated<\/a> US$3.8-4.6 billion in material damage.<\/p>\n

The right to life is an inalienable and autonomous right, enshrined in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) (article 6), which Lebanon ratified in 1972. The Human Rights Committee, which interprets the ICCPR, has stated that states must respect and ensure the right to life<\/a> against deprivations caused by persons or entities, even if their conduct is not attributable to the state. The Committee further states that the deprivation of life involves an \u201cintentional or otherwise foreseeable and preventable life-terminating harm or injury, caused by an act or omission.\u201d States are required to enact a \u201cprotective legal framework which includes criminal prohibitions on all manifestations of violence\u2026that are likely to result in a deprivation of life, such as intentional and negligent homicide.\u201d<\/p>\n

The facts as currently known suggest that the storage of more than 2,700 tons of ammonium nitrate<\/a> alongside other flammable or explosive materials, such as fireworks, in a poorly secured hangar in the middle of a busy commercial and residential area of a densely populated capital city likely created an unreasonable risk to life.<\/p>\n

Since the explosion, a number of official documents<\/a> were leaked to the press, including official correspondence and court documents that indicate customs, port, judicial, and government officials as well as military and security authorities had been warned about the dangerous stockpile of potentially explosive chemicals at the port on multiple occasions since 2013.<\/p>\n

Further, the Human Rights Committee General Comment No. 36 on article 6 states: \u201cThe duty to protect by law the right to life also requires States parties to organize all State organs and governance structures through which public authority is exercised in a manner consistent with the need to respect and ensure the right to life, including by establishing by law adequate institutions and procedures for preventing deprivation of life, investigating and prosecuting potential cases of unlawful deprivation of life, meting out punishment and providing full reparation.\u201d The investigations into violations of the right to life must be \u201cindependent, impartial, prompt, thorough, effective, credible, and transparent,\u201d and they should explore \u201cthe legal responsibility of superior officials with regard to violations of the right to life committed by their subordinates.\u201d<\/p>\n

The impact and aftermath of the explosion also likely violated Lebanon\u2019s international human rights obligations to guarantee the rights to education and to an adequate standard of living, including the rights to food, housing, health, and property. More notably, Lebanon can only uphold its obligation to provide effective remedy to the victims on the basis of a credible, effective, and impartial investigation whose findings would then be the basis for any effective remedy plan.<\/p>\n

In August, 30 UN experts publicly laid out benchmarks<\/a>, based on international human rights standards, for a credible inquiry into the August 4, 2020, blast at Beirut\u2019s port, noting that it should be \u201cprotected from undue influence,\u201d \u201cintegrate a gender lens,\u201d \u201cgrant victims and their relatives effective access to the investigative process,\u201d and \u201cbe given a strong and broad mandate to effectively probe any systemic failures of the Lebanese authorities.\u201d<\/p>\n

The domestic investigation into the Beirut blast has failed to meet those international standards.\u00a0 The ten months since the blast have been marked by the authorities\u2019 obstruction, evasion, and delay. Human Rights Watch<\/a>, Amnesty International<\/a>, Legal Action Worldwide<\/a>, Legal Agenda<\/a>, and the International Commission of Jurists<\/a> have documented a range of procedural and systemic flaws in the domestic investigation that render it incapable of credibly delivering justice, including flagrant political interference, immunity for high-level political officials, lack of respect for fair trial standards, and due process violations.<\/p>\n

Victims of the blast and their relatives have been vocal in calling for an international investigation, expressing their lack of faith in domestic mechanisms. They claim that the steps taken by the Lebanese authorities so far are wholly inadequate as they rely on flawed processes that are neither independent nor impartial. This raises serious concerns regarding the Lebanese authorities\u2019 ability and willingness to guarantee victims\u2019 rights to truth, justice, and remedy, considering the decades-long culture of impunity in the country and the scale of the tragedy.<\/p>\n

As we approach the one-year anniversary of the explosion, the case for such an international investigation has only strengthened. The Human Rights Council has the opportunity to assist Lebanon to meet its human rights obligations by conducting an investigative or fact-finding mission into the blast to identify whether conduct by the state caused or contributed to the unlawful deaths, and what steps need to be taken to ensure an effective remedy to victims.<\/p>\n

The independent investigative mission should identify human rights violations arising from the Lebanese state\u2019s failure to protect the right to life, in particular whether there were:<\/p>\n