Thread by @Aya_Majzoub

‼️ A year after the #BeirutBlast, @hrw’s report examines 100s of pages of official documents to show which #Lebanon officials were responsible for one of the largest non-nuclear explosions in the world, that killed 218 people
hrw.org/news/2021/08/0…
Findings in the thread below:

2/9 The Ministry of Public Works & Transport, responsible for the port, was warned about dangers posed by the ammonium nitrate, yet failed to correctly communicate those to the judiciary & then knowingly stored the ammonium nitrate alongside flammable/explosive materials.

3/9 The Finance Ministry, which oversees Customs, was aware of dangers posed by ammonium nitrate. Customs said they sent at least 6 letters to the judiciary, but those were procedurally incorrect & customs did not need judicial authorization to sell/re-export/destroy the material

4/9 The Lebanese Army brushed off knowledge of the ammonium nitrate, saying they had no need for it, even after learning that its nitrogen grade classified it under local law as material used to manufacture explosives and required army approval to be imported and inspection.

5/9 State Security was aware of the ammonium nitrate & its dangers since at least Sept 2019. But there was an unconscionable delay in reporting the threat to senior officials & the info provided was incomplete. The 1st correspondence they sent the Pres & PM was on July 20, 2020.

6/9 President Michel Aoun, the chair of the Higher Defense Council, admitted that he had been aware of the ammonium nitrate since at least July 21, 2020, & asked an advisor to follow up, but claimed he wasn’t responsible. He did not call for a meeting of the HDC to discuss this.

7/9 Caretaker PM Hassan Diab told @hrw that he was not aware of how explosive ammonium nitrate was until after the blast. Asked why he did not know this given that State Security's report said it, Diab said "I didn’t go through the 30 pages." The report was 3 pgs+6 pgs of annexes

8/9 .@hrw found that the actions and omission of #Lebanon officials violated the right to life under international law. Yet, systemic problems in Lebanon’s legal and political system are allowing them to avoid accountability.

9/9 The @UN_HRC should mandate an investigation into the #BeirutBlast, and governments should impose targeted human rights sanctions against those responsible for ongoing human rights violations related to the #BeirutBlast.
hrw.org/node/379416