Skip to content
Menu

UN High Commissioner’s spokeswoman calls on Lebanon to ensure a transparent and effective investigation into the Beirut port explosion

Less than 1 minuteReading Time: Minutes

News briefing  

Translated and edited by: Committee for Justice  

Geneva, 3 August 2021

The spokeswoman for the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Marta Hurtado, called on the Lebanese government to ensure a transparent and effective investigation into the explosion that occurred a year ago in the port of Beirut, which killed more than two hundred people and injured more than 6000 others.  

In a press briefing published by the Media Center of the Human Rights Council in Geneva, Hurtado said: “A year ago, the Lebanese capital, Beirut, was rocked by explosions that left, according to official figures, more than 200 people dead and more than 6,000 injured. The explosions on 4 August 2020 ripped through the city, causing appalling devastation and changing the lives of thousands of people forever.”  

“There was initially a powerful spirit of national solidarity as all elements of society came together in response, and the Government initiated judicial proceedings. But 12 months on, victims and their loved ones are still fighting for justice and truth. Investigations appear to have stalled, amid a worrying lack of transparency and accountability,” she added.   

Hurtado stressed that in light of the growing desperation and rising anger in Lebanon, the government must ensure a transparent, effective, thorough and impartial investigation into what happened last August, and hold those responsible accountable.  

The spokeswoman also conveyed the High Commissioner’s call to the Lebanese authorities to strengthen the victims’ right to a remedy and compensation.  

For more information and media requests or inquiries, please get in touch with us (+41229403538 / media@cfjustice.org)

Subscribe to our Newsletter!

Be the first to get our latest Publication