BEIRUT, Lebanon – In its first session since a devastating Beirut shake-up last week, the Lebanese parliament approved a state of emergency that extends expanding powers to the city’s army, a situation that lawmakers have said threatens freedoms can form.
A two-week emergency was first declared by the cabinet in an emergency meeting with President Michel Aoun on the day of the explosion, but parliamentary approval makes the measure official and has raised concerns about the involvement of protesters and those critical. are about the government.
The state of emergency allows the army to impose bailiffs, ban meetings and censor media organizations and publications if it considers it a threat to national security, and also expands the ability of officials to visit civilians in military courts. It will last until August 21, but may be renewed.
The decision to confirm the state of emergency came as widespread protests continued over the mistreatment of the country’s affairs which led many to believe in the explosion, which was triggered by a fire that nearly 2,750 tons of ammonium nitrate have been stored in the port of Beirut since 2014. Officials have known for years that highly explosive materials were kept at the site, which is the main port of the country.
Unrest has gripped the government as well. Lebanon’s cabinet fired on Monday as anger grew over the explosion. But ministers will remain in power until the country’s president appoints a new government.
Many believed that the dismissal of the cabinet was leaving the country behind in an accident that occurred last autumn when earlier protests forced the dismissal of Prime Minister Saad Hariri. Little has changed since then for the country’s most powerful politicians, a situation that Protestants say has led to widespread corruption and mismanagement.
Karim Makdisi, an associate professor of international politics at the American University of Beirut, called the approval of the emergency measures a “very dangerous development that could lead to abuse of army without appeal to civilians,” in a post on Twitter.
The decision was announced during a parliamentary session convened in the theater of the UNESCO Palace in Beirut, as the parliament’s own rooms were severely damaged in the explosion.
The government had already carried out a ‘state of general mobilization’ in March to allow restrictions to be imposed on the coronavirus pandemic, including curfews, and some legal groups have questioned why an additional state of emergency was imposed.
Karim Nammour, a lawyer and board member of The Legal Agenda, a group that monitors public policy in Lebanon, said the declaration of a state of emergency followed a “repressive approach” similar to that used to respond to previous emergencies .
“The law does not really define what a security threat is, so this can be interpreted wildly to include other activities that do not necessarily threaten security, but rather are incompatible with the regime’s view or powers over how ‘things have to go,’ he said.
He said allowing military authorities to ban any publication of content that it considered a security threat was the most alarming aspect of the emergency measure because of the role the press plays in holding the authorities to account. .
Reception efforts are still in their early stages in the city, where the explosion caused an estimated $ 10 billion to $ 15 billion in damage, according to the mayor of Beirut. International groups and non-governmental organizations have taken the lead in providing assistance.
On Thursday, David Hale, a senior U.S. diplomat, visited Beirut. While being blown up by a tower in the blast, Mr Hale said the FBI would participate in the investigation into the cause of the explosion at the invitation of local officials, according to the Lebanese National News Agency.
Kareem Chehayeb reported from Beirut, Lebanon, and Megan Specia reported from London.
