Amnesty International urged Lebanon's President, Emile...

Amnesty International urged Lebanon's President, Emile Lahoud, to use his prerogative to immediately commute the death sentences passed on 27 people. Amnesty International said it believed that executing these people would contribute little to alleviating the suffering of the families of murder victims. "That Lebanon may be soon carrying out executions after a five-year moratorium - as well as decades of war and occupation during which and tens of thousands of people lost their lives - would be a serious blow to the spirit of reconciliation and opposition to the death penalty which has recently pervaded the country," Amnesty International said.