July 13, 2021: As the first anniversary of the Beirut port explosions approaches, the European Union said Monday it hopes to develop a legal framework for sanctions targeting Lebanese leaders.
More than 11 months after the Lebanese government resigned in response to the August 4, 2020 bombings, the country still has a caretaker government. Led by France, the European Union is now trying to put pressure on Lebanese politicians after months of crisis that has left small countries facing economic catastrophe, hyperinflation, power outages and fuel and food shortages. The European Union hopes to develop a framework for sanctions by the end of July.
EU sanctions will likely include travel bans for certain politicians and the freezing of assets, corruption, obstruction of government formation, financial corruption and human rights abuses. Likely to happen.
The move is part of a broader international effort to force a stable government to consolidate a key government that has emerged from nearly a year of political turmoil and economic collapse following the devastating bombing of the port of Beirut. The European Union (EU) has warned that the measure will not be implemented immediately. EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell told reporters in Brussels: “I can say that the goal is to get this done by the end of the month. I’m not talking about government implementation, just To build the government according to the legal basis.”
The blast was caused by hundreds of tons of improperly stored ammonium nitrate fertilizer that exploded on the dockside at the port of Beirut, killing more than 200 people, injuring thousands and destroying parts of the capital. After that, it turned out that the authorities had been aware of the explosives that had exploded there for years.
In Lebanon, the judge investigating the blast on Monday rejected a request by MPs for more evidence before immunity for three ex-ministers can be waived. Earlier in July, lead judge Tareq Bitar said he had demanded that parliament remove the immunity of ex-finance minister Ali Hasan Khalil, former public works minister Ghazi Zaiter and ex-interior minister Nohad Machnouk. Bitar said he was looking at possible charges of “probable intent to murder” and “negligence”.
Monday’s move may mean a new standoff, with fears that the inquiry could be derailed by political interference. In February, Bitar’s predecessor as lead judge in the investigation was removed by a court, which questioned his impartiality because his home was damaged in the explosion. The judge had in December issued charges against caretaker prime minister Hassan Diab and three former ministers for “negligence and causing death to hundreds”, triggering outrage from politicians.
Relatives of victims of the blast protested outside the homes of two of the ministers on Monday, demanding that they lose their immunity, the official ANI news agency reported. Last month, rights groups including Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch called for a UN investigation into the explosion in light of the stalled investigation.
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