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HUMAN RIGHTS “They Killed Us from the Inside” An Investigation into the August 4 Beirut Blast WATCH “They Killed Us from the Inside” An Investigation into the August 4 Beirut Blast Copyright © 2021 Human Rights Watch All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America ISBN: 978-1-62313-931-5 Cover design by Rafael Jimenez Human Rights Watch defends the rights of people worldwide. We scrupulously investigate abuses, expose the facts widely, and pressure those with power to respect rights and secure justice. Human Rights Watch is an independent, international organization that works as part of a vibrant movement to uphold human dignity and advance the cause of human rights for all. Human Rights Watch is an international organization with staff in more than 40 countries, and offices in Amsterdam, Beirut, Berlin, Brussels, Chicago, Geneva, Goma, Johannesburg, London, Los Angeles, Moscow, Nairobi, New York, Paris, San Francisco, Sydney, Tokyo, Toronto, Tunis, Washington DC, and Zurich. For more information, please visit our website: http://www.hrw.org AUGUST 2021 ISBN: 978-1-62313-931-5 “They Killed Us from the Inside” An Investigation into the August 4 Beirut Blast Summary ........................................................................................................................... 1 Methodology ...................................................................................................................... 9 Port of Beirut: A Case Study in Lebanese Authorities’ Mismanagement and Corruption ...... 11 The Rhosus: Arrival in Beirut ............................................................................................ 20 Beirut Port: An Ill Fated or Planned Destination? ...................................................................... 21 Excusing the Failure to Correctly Identify the Cargo ................................................................. 26 State Negligence or Malfeasance? February 2014-August 2020......................................... 31 Ministry of Public Works and Transport ................................................................................... 34 Failure to Investigate and Communicate the Danger .......................................................... 35 Failure to Store the Ammonium Nitrate in a Secure Manner ............................................... 41 Profit not Protection: Ministry Interventions Unduly Limited .............................................. 47 Judicial Charges for the August 4, 2020 Explosion ............................................................ 50 Ministry of Finance ................................................................................................................. 52 Repeated Warnings about Danger ..................................................................................... 52 Repeated Requests for Judicial Authorization to Sell or Reexport the Ammonium Nitrate ... 54 Judicial Charges for the August 4, 2020 Explosion ............................................................ 57 Lebanese Army ....................................................................................................................... 58 Knowledge of the Danger .................................................................................................. 59 Responsibility to act ........................................................................................................ 60 Failure to Act .................................................................................................................... 61 Judicial Charges for the August 4, 2020 Explosion ........................................................... 62 State Security ......................................................................................................................... 63 Investigation without Urgency: Delayed and Incomplete Warnings ................................... 64 Judicial Charges for the August 4, 2020 Explosion ............................................................ 70 Ministry of Interior and Municipalities ..................................................................................... 71 Knowledge of the Ammonium Nitrate ................................................................................ 72 Judicial Charges for the August 4, 2020 Explosion ............................................................ 76 Higher Defense Council .......................................................................................................... 78 Knowledge of the Danger .................................................................................................. 79 Failure to Act ................................................................................................................... 84 Judicial Charges for the August 4, 2020 Explosion ........................................................... 89 August 4, 2020 ................................................................................................................. 91 The Domestic Investigation ............................................................................................ 100 International Human Rights Law ...................................................................................... 113 Right to Life and Right to an Effective Remedy ........................................................................113 Independence of Judges ....................................................................................................... 116 Due Process and Fair Trial ..................................................................................................... 118 Recommendations .......................................................................................................... 120 To the Lebanese Government ................................................................................................ 120 To the Lebanese Parliament .................................................................................................. 121 To the Judicial Investigator .................................................................................................... 124 To Lebanon’s International Partners and Donors ................................................................... 124 To the United States Government .......................................................................................... 124 To the French Government .................................................................................................... 125 To the UN Human Rights Council ........................................................................................... 125 To the Special Procedures Mechanisms of the UN Human Rights Council: .............................. 125 Acknowledgments .......................................................................................................... 126 Annex 1: Chronology of Events ........................................ Annex 2: Source Documents .................................................... Annex 3: Translations of Source Documents ........................... Annex 4: Letters to Officials, Companies, and Political Parties .. Annex 5: 3FTQPOTFTUP)VNBO3JHIUT8BUDI........................................ 690 Summary Following decades of government mismanagement and corruption at Beirut’s port, on August 4, 2020, one of the largest non-nuclear explosions in history pulverized the port and damaged over half the city. The explosion resulted from the detonation of tonnes of ammonium nitrate, a combustible chemical compound commonly used in agriculture as a high nitrate fertilizer, but which can also be used to manufacture explosives. The cargo of ammonium nitrate had entered Beirut’s port on a Moldovan-flagged ship, the Rhosus, in November 2013, and had been offloaded into hangar 12 in Beirut’s port on October 23 and 24, 2014. The Beirut port explosion killed 218 people, including nationals of Lebanon, Syria, Egypt, Ethiopia, Bangladesh, Philippines, Pakistan, Palestine, the Netherlands, Canada, Germany, France, Australia, and the United States. It wounded 7,000 people, of whom at least 150 acquired a physical disability; caused untold psychological harm; and damaged 77,000 apartments, displacing over 300,000 people. At least three children between the ages of 2 and 15 lost their lives. Thirty-one children required hospitalization, 1,000 children were injured, and 80,000 children were left without a home. The explosion affected 163 public and private schools and rendered half of Beirut’s healthcare centers nonfunctional, and it impacted 56 percent of the private businesses in Beirut. There was extensive damage to infrastructure, including transport, energy, water supply and sanitation, and municipal services totaling US$390-475 million in losses. According to the World Bank, the explosion caused an estimated $3.8-4.6 billion in material damage. The explosion also resulted in ammonia gas and nitrogen oxides being released into the air, potentially with toxins from other materials that may have also ignited as a result of the explosion. Ammonia gas and nitrogen oxides are harmful to the environment as well as to the respiratory system. The destruction is estimated to have created up to 800,000 tonnes of construction and demolition waste that likely contains hazardous chemicals that can damage health through direct exposure, or soil and water contamination. The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) has estimated that the cost of cleaning up the environmental
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