Survivors, NGOs call for international probe into Beirut blast
Al Jazeera
Calls for a UN-led international investigation are multiplying as a Lebanese inquiry fails to deliver accountability.
Human rights groups, survivors and relatives of victims of the Lebanon port blast are urging the United Nations to back an international, independent and impartial probe, bypassing a local probe that has yet to yield significant arrests or even identify a culprit.
A total of 145 signatories – including Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International – called on the UN Human Rights Council on Wednesday to establish “an international, independent and impartial investigative mission, such as a one-year fact-finding mission”.
In a joint letter, the signatories argued that the domestic investigation has been repeatedly obstructed and “failed in meeting the benchmarks, based on international standards, that were laid out by the UN Special Procedures”.
