Human Rights Watch accused the “corrupt and incompetent” Lebanese authorities of deliberately plunging the country into one of the worst economic crises in modern times, and of blatantly disregarding the rights of the population.
The organization said in the “World Report 2022” issued today that the impact of the economic crisis on the rights of the population (in Lebanon) is catastrophic and unprecedented, as more than 80% of the population now lives below the poverty line, and 36% in extreme poverty, after the percentage was in around 8% in 2019.
However, according to the organization, the Lebanese authorities “obstinately” refused to implement any reforms to mitigate the effects of the crisis, and repeatedly postponed promised social protection plans.
“The apparent indifference of Lebanese decision-makers towards the suffering of their people in one of the worst economic crises in modern times amounts to criminality,” said Aya Majzoub, a researcher specializing in the organization. “The international community should use all available tools to pressure these people to carry out the necessary reforms to get Lebanon out of this crisis, including Impose sanctions on leaders implicated in ongoing serious human rights abuses.
The lira (the local currency) has lost 90% of its value since October 2019, weakening people’s ability to secure basic commodities, including food, water, health care, and education. The fuel shortage has caused widespread power outages, for periods of up to 23 hours a day. Private generators, an expensive alternative, were unable to bridge the gap, leaving large parts of the country in complete darkness for several hours a day.
The human rights organization warned in its report that no one was held accountable for the catastrophic explosion in the port of Beirut on August 4, 2020, which killed at least 219 people and destroyed half of the city.
A Human Rights Watch investigation found evidence “strongly” that some government officials had anticipated the potentially fatal effects of ammonium nitrate at the port, but tacitly accepted the risk. She described this as a violation of the right to life.
She concluded by saying that officials suppressed freedom of opinion and expression, and no significant progress was made in the investigation into the assassination of prominent thinker and critic of “Hezbollah” Salim Luqman. The authorities also used “inherently unfair military courts” to intimidate people and retaliate against critical speech or activism.