Measure seeks to ease prison overcrowding and address injustices caused by delays in trials.
On Wednesday, the Lebanese Parliament approved an amnesty law, the first in 35 years since the end of the civil war (1975-1990), aimed at easing overcrowding in prisons and correcting injustices caused by delays in trials.
RELATED:
Lebanon: 4,335 Killed by Israeli Strikes Since March 2
The law requires the release of people who have spent at least 14 years in prison without a final sentence, in an attempt to address the number of prisoners held in pretrial detention.
Currently, four out of five prisoners in Lebanon are still awaiting a judge’s ruling in their cases, according to international human rights organizations. Lebanon has 25 prisons across the country, as well as 229 detention centers and police cells used mainly for temporary detention.
The number of people held in prisons and temporary detention centers is approximately 8,576. Of that total, 5,756 people are in pretrial detention. Likewise, transfers from prisons in southern Lebanon and Baalbek, due to Israel’s war in the country, have increased overcrowding in prisons.
Israeli defence minister Israel Katz vows to continue the military occupations in Gaza, Lebanon and Syria.
Read more: https://t.co/nIPYKzJTpF
— The New Arab (@The_NewArab) August 12, 2026
An amendment approved on Wednesday changed the requirement for parole, reducing it from 14 to 12 years in prison, while another provision added to the law states that Lebanese citizens who fled to Israel after 2000 have the right to return to Lebanon.
The law has been the subject of much controversy, and its vote has been postponed several times. “I do not oppose opening the prison doors to those who deserve a second chance, nor addressing complaints, especially those of detainees who have remained imprisoned for long periods without trial. But I oppose amnesty becoming a substitute for justice,” parliamentarian Simon Abi Ramia said.
After the civil war, Lebanon approved a similar law in 1991 to pardon all crimes committed between 1975 and 1990, except attacks against religious leaders and continuing threats, a measure that helped ease pressure on the judicial system.
The approval of this amnesty law comes just one day after Parliament approved a bill to abolish the death penalty, making Lebanon the first country in the Arab world to eliminate capital punishment.
teleSUR/ JF
Source: EFE
From teleSUR English via This RSS Feed.