BEIRUT (AP) — Lebanon will form an independent commission to help determine the fate of thousands of people who went missing during the 1975-1990 civil war.
Parliament on Monday approved a long-awaited law establishing the commission, which would be empowered to collect DNA samples. Families and rights groups have been campaigning for the law since 2012.
Lebanon's National News Agency said lawmakers approved the law after voting on each of its 38 articles.
LBC TV said lawmakers initially protested, saying calls for accountability may affect current officials. The broadcaster said they were reassured the 1991 amnesty for abuses committed by militias during the war remains in place.
Many of Lebanon's political parties are led by former warlords implicated in some of the civil war's worst fighting.
