The UN special rapporteur on slavery has urged the Lebanese
government to carry out a full investigation into the death of an Ethiopian
domestic worker.
Alem Dechasa, 33, killed herself on 14 March, a few days
after she was filmed being beaten by men and dragged into a car in the Lebanese
capital, Beirut.
Gulnara Shahinian said the "cruel" images reminded
her of the many migrant workers she met in Lebanon last year.
Last month, eight civil society groups called on the
Lebanese authorities to reform restrictive visa regulations and adopt a labour
law on domestic work to address high levels of abuse and deaths among migrant
workers.
'End impunity'
On 8 March, the Lebanese television network LBCI released a
video filmed on 24 February by an anonymous bystander in which a man physically
abuses Ms Alem outside the Ethiopian consulate in Beirut.
As she tries to resist, he and another man drag her into a
car.
LBCI later identified the man beating her as the brother of
the head of the recruiting agency that brought her to Lebanon.
He alleged that his brother's agency had been trying to return
her to Ethiopia because she had mental health problems.
Police later found Ms Alem and took her to a detention
centre.
Following a request by the Caritas Lebanon Migrant Center,
they transferred her to the Deir al-Saleeb psychiatric hospital two days later,
but did not arrest those alleged to have carried out the beatings.
Ms Dechasa killed herself at the hospital on the morning of
14 March.
After the beating video was circulated, the labour and
justice ministries began investigations, but their outcomes have not been made
public.
On Tuesday, Ms Shahinian issued a statement strongly urging
the Lebanese authorities to investigate the circumstances leading to Ms Alem's
death and make public their findings.
"There are a number of reports circulating about the
human rights violations Alem Dechasa experienced as a migrant domestic worker
in Lebanon and the facts surrounding her death," she said.
"States are under an obligation to ensure the
realisation of the right to truth about violations in order to end impunity and
promote and protect human rights and provide redress to victims and their
families."
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