(VOVworld)- Syrian President Bashar al-Assad on Monday announced a “general amnesty” for all crimes committed to date. According to Justice Minister Najem al,  the decree was issued in the context of “social forgiveness, and national cohesion calls for coexistence, as the army secures several military victories.” The amnesty replaces sentences with more lenient ones, including commuting death sentences to life penal labor, life penal labor to 20 years of penal labor, and life in prison to 20 years in prison. The decree also grants amnesty to foreigners who entered Syria with the purpose of joining a terrorist group or committing a terrorist act if they turn themselves in to the authorities within a month of issuing this decree. The decree was issued a few days after President Al-Assad’s landslide re-election victory. 4 amnesty decrees were issued in 2011 and 2013.