A year later, critics say Lebanon's political leadership has succeeded in stonewalling the judicial investigation that was launched to uncover what happened in the Beirut explosion and who was responsible.
BEIRUT -- After the massive explosion at Beirut's port a year ago, only a small part of Ibrahim Hoteit's younger brother was identified: his scalp. His brother was a large man, a firefighter, a martial arts champion, but Hoteit buried him in a container the size of a shoe box.One thing drives him now: winning justice for the victims of the Aug.
A year later, critics say the political leadership has succeeded in stonewalling the judicial investigation that was launched to uncover what happened in the explosion and who was responsible. Aiming to get around the barriers, another group of families is calling for an international fact-finding mission by the UN Human Rights Council.
The blast was preceded by a fire that broke out at the port, and hundreds of tons of ammonium nitrate stored in a hangar along with other highly combustible materials exploded. Since the end of the civil war in 1990, the former warlords in that conflict have run Lebanon, heading sectarian-rooted factions. They have divvied government offices up among themselves, and their patronage system has fomented widespread corruption. Though rivals, the factions close ranks to prevent accountability.
Along the way, they met other families on the same grisly search. They continued to communicate, first through a WhatsApp group, trading stories of their loved ones.At first, the group held vigils outside the port on the 4th of every month to remind the public of the demands of justice.Their first angry protest, burning tires and blocking roads, came after the political leadership succeeded in removing the first chief of the investigation into the explosion, Fadi Sawwan.
So the families began protests targeting parliament members and officials they accuse of burying the truth. In TV ads and social media posts, they branded those who opposed lifting immunity as "the ammonium nitrate lawmakers."
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