Lebanon’s joint parliamentary committees on Tuesday approved amendments to a long-debated draft general amnesty law.
Speaker of Parliament Nabih Berri called for a plenary legislative session on Thursday, May 21, to review the amended draft.
Under the amendments, death sentences would be commuted after 28 years in prison, life sentences reduced after 18 years, detainees held without trial would benefit from the law after 14 years in detention, and certain prison terms would be reduced by one-third.
The amnesty would apply to drug users and non-organized drug distributors, while organized trafficking and large-scale drug trade would remain excluded. Beneficiaries would only receive amnesty if victims and their families dropped their claims.
Exiles in Israel, and Islamists Detainees Reignite Political Divide
One of the most contentious aspects of the law involves Lebanese citizens who fled to Israel after the Israeli withdrawal from southern Lebanon in 2000. Many were affiliated with the former South Lebanon Army (SLA), which cooperated with Israel during its occupation of southern Lebanon.
The issue remains highly sensitive in Lebanon, particularly among Hezbollah officials, who continue to describe former SLA members and exiles in Israel as “collaborators.”
Hezbollah MP Hassan Fadlallah sharply rejected any possibility of amnesty for Lebanese exiles.
Another contentious aspect of the draft law involves Islamist detainees, particularly in Sunni-majority areas such as Tripoli, Beirut, Sidon, and parts of the Bekaa. Their families have protested for years over prolonged detentions, delayed trials, and prison conditions.
Supporters of the draft law argue that Lebanon’s overcrowded prisons and delayed judicial processes require urgent intervention.
Deputy Speaker Elias Bou Saab said some detainees had already spent more time in prison than the sentences eventually handed down against them.
“The humanitarian situation in prisons has become unbearable,” he said, adding that the goal was to reach a law that “does justice to everyone.”
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