Lebanon for the first time Monday (November 12th) passed a law to investigate the fate of thousands of people missing since its civil war and to hold those responsible to account, AFP reported.
Rights groups say thousands of people disappeared during the 1975-1990 conflict, and have repeatedly called for a law to help bring answers to their families.
"The evening parliamentary session passed Law 19 linked to the forcibly disappeared," Lebanon's state news agency NNA said.
The law will see an official commission of inquiry set up to look into the fate of the missing or forcibly disappeared in the country.
It gives the families of the disappeared the right to know their fate including their whereabouts or place of burial, as well as the right to exhume and identify them.
Under the legislation, those who are responsible for forced disappearances are to be punished through jail time of up to 15 years and fines of up to 20 million Lebanese pounds (around $13,000).
"This is a positive step for thousands of families to find closure," the International Committee of the Red Cross said in a statement on Twitter.
"We stand ready to support the government in the implementation of the law so that families can finally have the answers they have long waited for."
