Prime Minister Nawaf Salam welcomed the approval of the law abolishing the death penalty, expressing at the same time his hope that the House of Representatives would complete the process by approving the general amnesty law.
Salam wrote on the “X” platform: “Towards restorative justice, not retaliation. Congratulations on the approval of the abolition of the death penalty yesterday… and hopefully the adoption of the general amnesty law today.”
Salam’s position comes the day after the House of Representatives approved the abolition of the death penalty in Lebanon, in a step that ended a long legislative and human rights process, and moved the discussion directly to the general amnesty file presented before the Parliament.
The general amnesty law constitutes one of the most sensitive files, in light of the debate over the categories it will include and the conditions for benefiting from it, especially for detainees who spent long periods in prison without their files being resolved, in exchange for demands to exclude perpetrators of serious crimes and attacks on military personnel and civilians.
Salam puts his position on the two files under the title “restorative justice,” at a time when the House of Representatives is witnessing a debate about the amnesty formula and its limits, amid differences regarding how to achieve a balance between addressing the conditions of detainees, preserving the rights of victims, and not opening the door to impunity.
