Protests broke out across Lebanon on Tuesday as the long-awaited General Amnesty Law is set to be approved during a plenary session scheduled for Thursday, according to Lebanese media reports.
The drafted law, which aims to tackle Lebanon’s overwhelmed judicial systems and severely overcrowded prisons, would see sentences reduced and potentially thousands of prisoners who have spent years in pre-trial detention released.
The COVID-19 pandemic, Lebanon’s economic struggles, and war have severely disrupted the judicial process, leaving many in a state of detained limbo where their pre-trial detention has extended beyond what the sentence for their crime would be. Parliament first debated the draft law in April, and the amnesty is understood to be relevant for those imprisoned before March 1, reportedly barring a number of serious offenses, according to L’Orient Today.
As of 2023, 80% of those detained in Lebanese prisons were awaiting trial, according to Lebanon’s Interior Ministry. At that time, detention centers across Lebanon had a capacity of 4,760, but held 8,502 people, with only 1,094 having received an actual sentence, according to Lebanon’s Internal Security Forces. Human Rights Watch warned that the overcrowded conditions created a healthcare risk, and the prisons could only offer subpar treatment options, with food supply heavily endangered by the government’s debt.
Lebanese MP Melhem Khalaf told LBCI on Wednesday that 106 detainees have waited 12 years so far for their day in court, in some cases longer than their potential sentences.
General Amnesty Law exposes divides in Lebanon
While the potential legislative move could alleviate some of the country’s financial burdens, it has exposed a number of contentious issues and sectarian divides in Lebanese society. Of particular issue is the law’s potential inclusion of Islamist detainees, Lebanese citizens who fled to Israel after the South Lebanon Army's collapse in 2000, and individuals convicted of crimes against Lebanese military personnel.
The families of 18 Lebanese soldiers killed in the 2013 Abra clash wrote to Lebanese President Joseph Aoun on Sunday to request that those involved in the slaughter be excluded from the deal. The deadly clash, which left 29 dead, saw members of the Lebanese Armed Forces attacked by heavily armed terrorists loyal to the radical Sunni cleric Sheikh Ahmad al-Assir in a two-day battle in Sidon.
Islamists' families protest for inclusion in deal
While the victim’s families have been vocally opposed to the Islamists’ release, the families of those detained have frequently protested over the past few months to see them included in the deal. In February, they blocked highways and have frequently protested outside Sidon’s Aisha mosque, demanding their relatives’ release “without exception,” according to the National News Agency.
The Islamists’ families protested across the country on Tuesday in Tripoli, Akkar, Arsal, and Khaldeh, claiming that the exclusion of Islamist terrorists from the law constituted "unjust and inequitable" treatment, according to L’Orient Today. Many of the protesters blocked roads and burned tires before being moved on by the Lebanese military.
While the law does not specifically exclude Islamist terrorists with blood on their hands, it requires the relatives of murder victims to waive their personal legal rights.
Additionally, Christian groups have reportedly worked to see members of the Southern Lebanese Army who fled to Israel after the IDF’s withdrawal in 2000 allowed to return to the country. Supporters of the move note that the SLA personnel and their families have spent two decades in exile and claim they should be allowed to return as part of the framework.
While the SLA officials have not taken any action against the Lebanese state, Al-Modon noted that their inclusion in the amnesty would be particularly contentious given the ongoing war against Israel and Hezbollah.
In 2011, Lebanon’s parliament passed a bill enabling the return of Lebanese citizens residing in Israel, but the law was never implemented.
While Christian politicians may now be pushing for those exiled to be allowed to return, Maryam Younnes, the daughter of an SLA commander who was forced to flee when she was only five years old, told The Jerusalem Post that she and many in her community did not want to return to the “country that abandoned us.”
Younnes explained that few had confidence that if they returned, the government and Hezbollah would allow them to live peacefully.
“Our parents are not criminals! Our parents are heroes who fought for Lebanon against terrorist organizations and foreign powers. They fought with Israel to stay in their land; otherwise, we would be slaughtered,” she asserted. “Amnesty is a ‘nice’ symbolic move, but we expect from our country an apology and a statement that SLA members are national heroes who fought for their land - this is the only justice we want! As for us, we would never be safe in today's Lebanon, and we would never go back to the current situation. As long as Hezbollah controls Lebanon, we won’t go back. Ideally, for us, would be the elimination of Hezbollah and a peace agreement with Israel.”