About fifty Lebanese and international NGOs on Tuesday called for a UN investigation into the explosion of August 4, 2020 at the port of Beirut.

They denounced the failings of the Lebanese investigation which did not lead to any conclusion.

Last August, after the disaster, Lebanon refused any international investigation, demanded by families of victims, international organizations and several Western countries.

The explosion, caused by a fire in a warehouse housing tons of ammonium nitrate, left more than 200 dead and 6,500 injured, devastating half of the capital.

Study the responsibility of the Lebanese state

The Lebanese authorities admitted on their own that the substance had been stored there "without precaution".

While the country will commemorate the first anniversary of this tragedy on August 4, the Lebanese investigation has still not made its findings public.

In a letter addressed to the UN Human Rights Council, 53 NGOs are therefore calling for “an investigation or a fact-finding mission”.

The objective is to determine "whether the behavior of the state caused or contributed" to the explosion, "a tragedy of historic proportions".

No willingness to conduct a credible investigation

"The ten months since the explosion have been marked by obstructions, elections, delays by the authorities," denounce the NGOs.

The letter cites "flagrant political interference, the immunity of senior politicians, the lack of respect for fair trial standards and violations of due process."

In February, a first investigating judge in charge of the investigation was challenged after indicting the resigning Prime Minister Hassan Diab and three former ministers.

New examining magistrate Tarek Bitar is due to start questioning soon.

At the end of May, he received a technical report drawn up by French investigators dispatched to Beirut after the tragedy.

The Lebanese investigation aims to determine the causes of the explosion and to understand the reasons for the presence of this stock of ammonium nitrate, abandoned in the port for several years.

"The Lebanese authorities have had more than 10 months to prove that they had the will and that they were able to conduct a credible investigation," said Aya Majzoub, researcher at Human Rights Watch.

“But they failed in every way.

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