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Sarah Copland, whose two-year-old son, Isaac, was killed in one of the largest non-nuclear explosions in history, says the fight for justice has been gruelling.
This week marked a small breakthrough for the families of more than 200 people who died in the August 2020 Beirut port explosion, amid accusations the authorities in Lebanon have repeatedly obstructed an investigation.
Australia took the lead at the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva, on behalf of 38 countries, in demanding a “swift, impartial, credible, and transparent investigation” into the port explosion, which also injured more than 7,000 people and damaged 77,000 apartments.
A key issue is how more than 2,700 tons of ammonium nitrate had been allowed to be stored unsafely alongside other dangerous materials such as fireworks – and whether authorities had ignored warnings about this hazard for years before the explosion.
Copland’s son, Isaac, was eating dinner in his high chair in the family’s home, which was about 700 metres from the port, when the blast shattered the windows.
“It means a lot to my family that Australia is not just a signatory, but the leading country on this statement,” said Copland, a UN official based in Melbourne, who is part of a network of families campaigning for an international fact-finding mission.
But she said it had taken two and a half years of “persistent and relentless lobbying” by families, in coordination with international organisations, just to secure this week’s Human Rights Council statement.
Families had also spent countless hours writing letters, holding meetings, speaking on panels, writing articles, protesting, travelling and more. Copland said all of this work took “a huge toll on us”, but she’s vowed to keep fighting.
“I guess for me, my main driver is for Isaac, and for all of the other victims,” she said.
“As a mother, when he was born, I prepared myself for a lifetime of looking out for him, supporting him, doing everything I could for him. That was cut short and this is my way of being able to continue to do what I can for him.
“I think we’re facing an uphill battle, and there’s no guarantee of success. But I think the message needs to be sent that what happened was a human rights violation, it is something that deserves justice and accountability. It’s not OK what happened.”
The judge tasked with investigating the blast, Tarek Bitar, suddenly resumed his inquiry in January after it had been stalled for more than a year.
But Bitar triggered an immediate row with his decision to bring charges against Lebanon’s most senior prosecutor, two top intelligence officers and a number of other officials for what amounts to obstructing justice. It prompted the prosecutor general, Ghassan Oueidat, to order the release of all suspects.
On Wednesday, Australia’s ambassador to the UN in Geneva, Amanda Gorely, read out a statement to the Human Rights Council saying 38 countries were concerned that Lebanon’s investigation had not yet been concluded and had been “hampered by systemic obstruction, interference, intimidation, and a political impasse”.
“We urge Lebanon to abide by its international human rights obligations to take all necessary measures to safeguard, in law and practice, the full independence and impartiality of the Lebanese judiciary,” Gorely said.
The Australian foreign affairs minister, Penny Wong, said the victims and their families deserved justice. She promised to “keep pushing internationally for those responsible to be held to account”.
Human Rights Watch welcomed the move as “a significant step in the right direction” by governments ranging “from Australia to Costa Rica to Japan”.
Amnesty International said the statement “sends a clear message to the Lebanese authorities that their shameful efforts to impede and subvert the domestic investigation have not gone unnoticed”.
Lebanon’s embassy in Canberra said it was not in a position to comment on the matter, but added: “Lebanon appreciates its longstanding and continuing strong relations with Australia.”
The head of the International Committee of the Red Cross, Robert Mardini, said the humanitarian consequences of the explosion were immense. Speaking to Guardian Australia during a visit to Canberra on Thursday, Mardini said hospitals had immediately received a “massive influx of wounded people”.
“Beyond the physical scars, which are huge, of this bomb explosion, we should not underestimate the psychological impact it had on the entire country and on its people who have been affected by decades of conflict, instability, economic hardship,” he said.
“It came as an additional terrible layer of devastation on a country that has been absorbing a lot of shocks in the past.”
Australia’s statement to the Human Rights Council acknowledged Lebanon was experiencing “severe financial and economic crises”. The statement said the 38 signatories wanted a proper examination of the root causes of the “disastrous event” at the Beirut port so as to “prevent the occurrence of a similar tragedy in the future”.
Copland said she hoped the statement sent a message to Lebanon “that they can’t continue to obstruct the investigation”. But she remained pessimistic about the prospects of comprehensive action at a domestic level.
The next step should be an international fact-finding mission, Copland said. Evidence gathered from such an exercise could be used in domestic criminal proceedings. It could also support lawsuits launched by families and as the basis for other countries to impose sanctions on any individuals implicated.
“I’m continuing to urge the Australian government to not make this statement the last thing that they do, to keep pushing to try and get broad international support for an international investigation,” Copland said.
“If I didn’t fight, it would be kind of a form of acquiescing and saying, ‘OK, it was just one of these things,’ but that’s not the case. There are people who had the power to stop this from occurring, and they didn’t, and they need to be held to account.
“And so I just keep fighting for Isaac, because he deserved so much better.”
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