Lebanese journalist Zeinab Imad Yassine has taken legal action over the death of her father, Imad Yassine, through United Nations human rights mechanisms. Yassine said her 68-year-old father was killed on June 8 while repairing a generator at the chicken farm he operated in southern Lebanon, in what she described as an Israeli attack.
Yassine said her father had refused to leave the family’s ancestral farm and move to Beirut despite Israel’s attacks on southern Lebanon. She said she learned of his death while checking the messages on her phone.
He continued living at the farm
The journalist also spoke about a conversation she had with her father before his death. She said Imad Yassine always kept his mobile phone with him, while drones flew across the sky throughout the day, leading him to believe that his movements were being monitored.
Yassine said her father told her that he was neither a soldier nor a fighter and was only concerned with his farm. She said she could not understand why her father had been targeted.
She appealed to the UN Human Rights Council
Zeinab Yassine said she had pursued legal avenues to identify those she believes were responsible for her father’s death. She said she particularly wanted the person responsible for firing the rocket or missile used in the attack to be identified, adding that she was pursuing the case through a process before the UN Human Rights Council.
Yassine said she had contacted an official working within the UN human rights system and handed over details of her father’s death and supporting evidence. She said the next steps would be determined after the review.
Yassine stressed that her father was not merely a number on a list of the dead. Saying that he had the right to life like every other person, she said she wanted to recount what her father had experienced and the impact of the attack before an international court.
She cannot safely return to southern Lebanon
The Lebanese journalist said she could no longer safely return to her home in southern Lebanon. Yassine said that if she went to her house, she could climb onto its roof and see Israelis, adding that she was currently unable to return home.
Yassine also addressed reports that hundreds of olive trees had been looted in Zawtar al-Sharqiyah, near the Shukin area where she was from. She described the situation as an example of efforts to destroy civilian life in the area.
Civilian losses must be documented
Yassine said what she had experienced had strengthened her determination to document events in the region and called on others affected by Israel’s attacks to pursue legal avenues.
Yassine said civilians’ losses must be documented and brought to public attention. She added that even when nothing else could be done, it was important to recount and record what had happened.
Yassine argued that those responsible for her father’s death must not go unpunished. She said she wanted the impact of the attacks on civilians in southern Lebanon to be made known to the world.
Ridvan Sezer | Editor-in-Chief
