there have been many nights Paul and Tracy Naggear They don’t sleep in their beds. from August 4, 2020They were barely able to spend more than a week in their home. The tragic explosion in the port of Beirut took the little girl. Alexandrawhen he was only three years old, he was added to the sad list of more 200 deaths. Two years after the disaster, on the fourth day of each month, they meet up with several families of the deceased at the bottom of the crime scene. JYou can see your old house next to the silos that have turned into destructive weapons. Despite the fact that they have already repaired all the windows facing the sea, the memory still hurts.
“People often tell you that time heals you, but we can’t apply this idea: Nothing happened, neither truth nor justice.”, reports Paul Naggear to El Periódico de Catalunya. Walking in Beirut reminds of this absence. there are still many ruined buildings, others, less, are now starting to rebuild. Admiring the sea, burning silos cut the straight line of the horizon. Two of these collapsed this week, and a cloud of dust trapped the city again.
But on the demolished streets, on the terraces overflowing with rubble, it is no longer spoken from August 4, 2020. non-nuclear explosions in historyand his victims were condemned to rot in the pre-ceremonial silence. You forgot.
permanent scars
About 2.750 tons of ammonium nitrate The bomb, stored in poor conditions, blew up the port of the Lebanese capital on a hot summer afternoon. More than 215 people were killed, 6,000 injured, nearly 2,000 people were left permanently and 300,000 homeless. In a devastated Beirut, the numbers could not contain the tragedy. After the disaster was announced several times -the political leaders were warned about the dangerous presence of this substance in the port, but they looked the other way- it was announced that what happened would be investigated and what happened would be investigated. in “five days” there would be results.
But 725 days after birthThey haven’t arrived yet. The ongoing political obstructions of the investigation and the context of the economic collapse laid the foundations for the gradual spread of a process of mass amnesia among the country’s traumatized population. Now only families of the deceased still standing, fighting against an entire system. “The authorities that are part of the investigation are the same as those who filed the legal complaint to delay the case,” he explains. Sarah Copland From Melbourne, Australia.
grieving parents
About 14,000 kilometers from the house where he saw Sarah son isaac alive for the last time. The explosion was caused by “a series of events. could have been prevented and they weren’t, ”she tells this newspaper angrily. “As a result, my son died while he was in his supposed home. a safe place” regrets this UN employee who lived and worked in Beirut when the tragedy occurred. Distance did not stop time. These 4th of August marks two years after the explosion. Isaac had just completed them when he died in his highchair.
“This is so ugly people got over it very quickly and we didn’t understand the enormity of this event,” says Copland. Naggear of Beirut thinks the same. “you feel a little lonely in this war“, to recognize. But neither the days nor the kilometers between two duels managed to exhaust the parents’ constant tearful momentum. “We will never stop; no matter how many walls they put on us, we will keep fighting alternative means and we will continue to pressure”, argues Alexandra’s father.
investigation blocked
Lebanon investigation blocked since last month December. Therefore, families, activists and human rights organizations seek alternative ways to achieve justice. on the one hand Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International and other organizations, a member of the United Nations Human Rights Council international investigationAbout the explosion. On the other hand, legal proceedings have been initiated against the parties involved in the USA and the UK.
Inside Texasa group of American relatives of the victims sued lawsuit against the rental company The ship carrying the deadly ammonium nitrate, which has been stored in the port of Beirut for six years. Copland is one of the plaintiffs. “It is important to show the number of actors involved in the process that led to the explosion; it’s all part of corruption and put their own interests first Before the welfare of the Lebanese people,” he analyzes for this newspaper. “They should all be held accountable,” he adds.
Swiss-Lebanese lawyer, “How can we get justice in Lebanon when the judiciary has been damaged?” he asks. Zena Wakim. as part of the group Accountability Now, these volunteer lawyers assisted victims in Switzerland to file lawsuits against the US-Norwegian geophysical services group TGS. ” legal procedures completely sabotaged They are in Lebanon and they are suspended, so we have to find smart ways to bypass the judiciary in the country,” he explains.
cases abroad
Beyond the Lebanese borders, they are trying to put pressure not only on the local investigation, but also on Lebanon. international community to judge those responsible. Two years after Beirut was blown up, no charges were brought. The accused ex-ministers and parliamentarians are hiding behind them. impunity. Against this, security agencies they refused to enforce arrest warrants. During the months of the investigation, two judges tried to track down ministers, lawmakers, heads of security services and a prime minister.
current judge bitarhas been involved in a massive war since February 2021. It is a utopian one-man struggle against an entire political regime. “It is not the lack of evidence that delays the judicial process, lack of political will”, emphasizes Wakim. For this reason, studies are now concentrated abroad. “There are no more legal resources left, so these new judicial procedures will help families not feel forgotten,” the lawyer explains to this newspaper.
catharsis for justice
“It is important to seek justice to fight, heal and heal victims; this is a cathartic process”, adds Wakim. And that’s all they want. “Justice, truth and accountabilityThis is how Paul Naggear sums it up. “This is what everyone would demand in a normal country,” he says. Beyond the political relevance that a resolution to this case may have for the Lebanese judiciary, the relatives of those killed by corruption risk far more than that.
Sarah fears that she will spend more time with Isaac than she would without him, but that fear doesn’t stop her. “I feel like if I ever see Isaac again, I can tell him that. I did my best to get justice for him. And if I fail, at least I’ll have done everything I could.” the youngest victim of the tragedy.
The support of others to achieve justice is an incentive in the struggle. “Looking the other way and staying passive is one way to help the regime,” Wakim said. “It is not enough not to commit a crime, not to fight crime and be complicit in the system”.