On August 4th, 2020, a massive explosion in Beirut, Lebanon killed over 200 innocent people, 7000 injured, displaced over 300,000, including children, and destroyed a wide swath of the Lebanese capital city.  

As of today, no one has been held accountable, and the investigation has been stalled since late 2021 due to political and legal wrangling. This was not only devastating for the victims’ families, who deserve answers but also for the families of the 17 detainees who have been unlawfully detained for over two years without due process and have turned into victims of an investigation that egregiously violates International and human rights laws and truly shocks the conscience.

Starting with the politicized selection of suspects without reasonable suspicion, to indefinite detentions without due process, and orchestrated media leaks in violation of the secrecy of the investigation. For instance, an official who started working at the port in 2018 was charged with introducing thousands of tonnes of Ammonium Nitrate in 2013! Yet, high-ranked officials with a legal duty to handle explosives were never named by investigative judges. In another instance, an official was assigned to guard the ammonium nitrate warehouse, but he refused to take the position, and someone else was assigned. Yet, he was accused in the Beirut blast investigation and is still detained as of today's date without due process.

It becomes evident that the detainees are being used as scapegoats to protect the main liable parties, which does not serve justice! Victims of the Beirut Blast and their families deserve justice, just like the detainees and their families.

There is no excuse for the Lebanese judiciary to continue detaining 17 people, including a critically ill American citizen and others with deteriorating health conditions. The judiciary tries to wash its hands of the detainees’ unlawful detentions and blames it on the stalled investigation due to lawsuits brought against the investigative judge by politicians he sought to question. Indeed, the lawsuits filed by the politicians against the investigative Judge stalled the investigation; however, the judiciary is to be blamed for the indefinite detention of 17 people without due process and for violating their fundamental human rights.

Under Lebanese laws, the Higher Judicial Council may appoint a substitute judge for a limited and specific mission to rule on issues related to the release of detainees who have been held, without trial, for over two years now. The Higher Judicial Council decided to keep the detainees unlawfully detained without due process and refused to exercise its authority to appoint a substitute judge for a limited purpose even though it would not jeopardize the investigation in any way, shape, or form-needless to say, the investigation itself violates international laws and human rights.

Lebanon ratified the International Covenant for Civil and Political Rights, under which accused persons must be brought promptly before a judge to review the necessity and legality of a decision to detain or release them. Yet, Lebanon’s Code of Criminal Procedure gives the investigative judge, whose decisions are not subject to appeal, the authority to hold suspects in pre-trial detention indefinitely, which does violate not only the International covenant that the country ratified but also international and human rights laws. 

The Higher Judicial Council must be held accountable for gross violations of international laws and human rights laws when it fails to exercise its duty and authority to appoint a substitute judge; thus, it continues to support and engage in egregious violations of human rights by continuing to deny detainees due process, including their rights to a speedy trial or release. 

All these flagrant human rights and international law violations in the Beirut explosion investigation were foreseeable. Since day one, the Lebanese people have called for international intervention and monitoring or an international investigation as they have no trust in their judicial system. On August 3, 2022,  UN experts called for an international investigation into this massive explosion; however, as of today, countries who promised to help people in Lebanon did not do enough to achieve justice and start an international investigation. The victims’ families are devastated and seeking answers, and 17 detainees have been unlawfully detained for over two years now, stripped of their fundamental human rights, and denied due Process, including ones in critical health conditions. The investigation into the Beirut Blast violates human rights and international laws. All this is happening, and the international community turns a blind eye.

The Lebanese judiciary, including the Higher Judicial Council, must be held accountable if they fail to immediately release the detainees and comply with their obligations under international and human rights laws. These detainees have families too, who are suffering. It won’t serve justice for the victims’ families if the detainees are denied due process. 

It is imperative that the International Community and the United Nations launch an international investigation into the Beirut Blast, as the local investigation will serve justice neither to the Victims’ families nor to the 17 persons unlawfully detained. 

The United States must immediately address the unlawful detentions of the 17 detainees, especially when a critically ill American citizen is also being stripped of his human rights and denied due process. 

United Nations, White House, and Biden Administration, we ask that you take action today and hold the Lebanese Judiciary accountable for unlawfully detaining 17 people without due process for over two years, including some with deteriorating health conditions. 

Justice delayed is justice denied. 

Sign the petition below and call or email the White House and the United Nations today!

White House Email: https://www.whitehouse.gov/contact/

White House Phone: (202) 456-1111 

United Nations Human Rights Council Email: ohchr-cp@un.org