Expert Speak Raisina Debates
Published on Aug 10, 2021
One year since the Beirut blast: Lamenting Lebanese continue the call for justice

Thousands gathered to commemorate the one-year anniversary of the Beirut port blast in which more than 200 people were killed, thousands injured, and hundreds of thousands rendered homeless in August 2020. They demanded justice and chanted slogans against the political elite, all of whom the protestors described as “thugs.”

In November 2013, a Moldovan-flagged cargo ship called the MV Rhosus reported technical difficulties and was forced to dock at the port in Beirut. It was packed with thousands of tons of ammonium nitrate and was purportedly on its way to Mozambique. But the explosives never left Beirut and were stored unsafely.

Seven years later the ammonium nitrate exploded and ruined large parts of the historical city.

The Lebanese are now asking why in the first place was a lethal explosive stored at the port near residential areas, and why despite the knowledge of dangers it presented did the authorities not remove it?

Human Rights Watch (HRW), an international watchdog, released a report titled, “They Killed Us from the Inside’: An Investigation into the August 4 Beirut Blast”. “Evidence implicates senior Lebanese officials in the August 4, 2020, explosion in Beirut that killed 218 people, but systemic problems in Lebanon’s legal and political system are allowing them to avoid accountability,” HRW said.

In November 2013, a Moldovan-flagged cargo ship called the MV Rhosus reported technical difficulties and was forced to dock at the port in Beirut.

“The evidence overwhelmingly shows that the August 2020 explosion in Beirut’s port was caused by the actions and omissions of senior Lebanese officials who failed to accurately communicate the dangers posed by the ammonium nitrate, knowingly stored the material in unsafe conditions, and failed to protect the public,” said HRW’s Lama Fakih. “A year later, the scars of that devastating day remain etched in the city while survivors and families of the victims await answers,” Fakih added.

Questions are being asked whether the explosive was in fact intended for Beirut to be used in neighbouring Syria where the civil war was at its peak in 2013.

Lebanese Filmmaker and Investigative Journalist Feras Hatoum revealed that three Syrian businessmen who ran shelf companies were linked to Savaro limited, the company that bought the explosive. These businessmen were dual Syrian-Russian nationals and believed to be close to the Syrian government.

The investigation has not moved forward since the Lebanese politicians summoned by the judge have claimed political immunity. Last week, some of the top leaders said they were ready to give up immunity but did not specify when.

"The priority of Parliament was and will continue to be complete cooperation with the judiciary," said Nabih Berri, the Speaker of the Parliament and leader of the Amal Movement which is a Shi‘ite party and an ally of Iran-backed Hezbollah. Saad Hariri, a former Prime Minister and veteran leader of the Sunni community, too, called for immunity to be lifted.

Lebanese Filmmaker and Investigative Journalist Feras Hatoum revealed that three Syrian businessmen who ran shelf companies were linked to Savaro limited, the company that bought the explosive.

But Lebanese activists are skeptical. They don’t believe a word by their politicians and say that revoking immunity will also open them to corruption cases and that is the reason the political class is clinging to it.

Lebanon, meanwhile, is steadily decaying. The currency has plummeted more than 150 percent and people are unable to pay for basic necessities.

The international community, led by France, has demanded that, first, the political elite usher in political and economic reforms and then the global bodies would loosen its purse strings and allow the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to bail out the country. It wants to ensure that the money does not end up in the pockets of the politicians. But the political class is not giving in. They are quarrelling over ministries and have not even formed a government necessary to talk to the IMF and usher in reforms. Instead, France was forced to raise humanitarian funding for the impoverished Lebanese.

"Lebanese leaders seem to bet on a stalling strategy, which I regret and I think is a historic and moral failure," Macron said at the international donors' conference on Wednesday. "There will be no blank cheque for the Lebanese political system. Because it is they who, since the start of the crisis but also before that, are failing.”

There will be no blank cheque for the Lebanese political system. Because it is they who, since the start of the crisis but also before that, are failing.”

However, France raised US $370 million to avoid a total collapse of the country and to help the poorest segments of the society.

The next election in Lebanon is scheduled to take place next spring, in May 2022, but until then, the Lebanese have neither hope of getting justice in the blast case nor witnessing an improvement in their economy.

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Contributor

Anchal Vohra

Anchal Vohra

Anchal Vohra was a Fellow at ORF. She writes on contemporary developments in West Asia and on foreign policy.

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