Lebanon’s parliament has voted to abolish the death penalty, marking a major shift in the country’s justice system and making it the first country in the Middle East and Arab world to formally end capital punishment.
Lawmakers in the 128-member parliament overwhelmingly backed the measure on Tuesday, with the Hezbollah parliamentary bloc voting against it. The legislation replaces the death penalty with life imprisonment accompanied by aggravated hard labour.
Lebanon’s Justice Minister, Adel Nassar, described the vote as a “historic step” as lawmakers moved to formally remove capital punishment from the country’s legal system.
The decision has also received strong support from international human rights officials. UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk welcomed the move, describing it as a “powerful and principled” commitment to the right to life.
Turk urged other countries in the region to follow Lebanon’s lead and end what he described as the “inhumane practice” of capital punishment. He also called for the legislation to be submitted for presidential approval so that it can take effect without delay.
The European Union also welcomed the parliamentary vote, describing the legislation as a landmark development for human rights in Lebanon. The bloc said the decision could serve as an example for other countries in the Middle East and beyond.
Lebanon has not carried out an execution since January 2004, when an unofficial moratorium came into effect. Although courts have continued to issue death sentences, dozens of those sentences have subsequently been suspended or commuted.
The parliamentary vote therefore moves Lebanon closer to formally aligning its law with the practice it has largely followed for more than two decades. If the legislation receives presidential approval, capital punishment will be replaced by life imprisonment under the new framework.
