UN Human rights experts call for international investigation into 2020 Beirut explosion

The tragedy occurred on 4 august 2020 in Beirut, where a powerful blast, caused by a stockpile of ammonium nitrate in a port warehouse, resulted in the destruction of 77,000 apartments, the wounding of 7,000 people, the displacing of more than 300,000 persons, of which 80,000 children.

Shortly after the 2020 explosion, 37 UN human rights experts issued a joint statement calling on the Lebanese Government and the international community to respond effectively to the calls for justice and restitution. However, the national investigation process has been hampered several times, the experts said. Families of the victims have therefore appealed to the international community to establish an independent investigation under the Human Rights Council, hoping that it will produce answers that Lebanese authorities have failed to provide.

The Human rights experts who recently visited Lebanon found that responsibility for the explosion has yet to be established, affected areas remain in ruins, and reconstruction funds from the international community have barely begun to reach the rightful beneficiaries.
In this situation, access to food and other resources in crisis-wracked Lebanon continues to be under serious threat. Lebanon imports up to 80 percent of its food, and the explosion damaged the nation's main entry point and the grain silos. Unfortunately, people in Lebanon are also facing problems with the access to fuel, electricity, medicine and clean water. Some countries have promised to assist people in Lebanon after the blast but so far have not done enough to deliver justice and initiate an international investigation.