The President of the Beirut Bar Association declared that he would initiate a claim on behalf of victims, against the Republic of Lebanon before an international court deemed competent.
President of the Federation of Tourist Institutions Syndicates in Lebanon and President of the Syndicate of Hotel Owners in Lebanon Pierre Ashkar, the Syndicate of Restaurant, Café and Cabaret Owners’ Syndicates Tony Al-Rami, the Syndicate of Marine Tourism Establishments in Lebanon Jean Beiruti, the Syndicate of Furnished Apartment Owners Ziad Al-Laban and the Syndicate of Car Rental Companies Haji Muhammad Daqduq and Fouad Franjieh;
The President of the Bar Association, Dr. Melhem Khalaf, in his office, and they held a meeting with him, beginning with offering condolences to the martyrs and victims of the Beirut Port bombing on August 4, which killed hundreds, injured thousands, and caused massive material damage estimated at billions of dollars.
The heads of the tourism establishments demanded that those responsible and the perpetrators be punished against every perpetrator, partner or instigator, and the question remains: Who will compensate the owners of the establishments and institutions themselves for these losses?
So they decided to join the lawsuits filed by the Bar Association against the Lebanese state, especially since the preliminary investigations indicate that the explosion was in one way or another the result of negligence, indifference and a major negligence on the part of the state as a whole, so it must bear compensation for damages.
They discussed legal procedures to demand compensation for those affected and mechanisms for collecting their rights, including the tourism sector.
The directives of the President of the Bar Association were for each institution to conduct a survey of damages in cooperation with a sworn expert and monitor estimates in American dollars, and then submit the file of the damage survey to the concerned syndicates to be included in the lawsuits that will be instituted, so that the source of compensation can be determined if the Lebanese government, funds, governments, and donations from Outside and put in place transparent, clear and explicit mechanisms to take this step forward.
