Lebanon's parliament has voted to abolish the death penalty, a move that would formally end capital punishment in the country and make it the first in the Middle East to do so. A majority of the 128-seat parliament backed the measure on Tuesday, with Hezbollah's parliamentary bloc voting against it.
The legislation will now proceed to the cabinet for approval before being sent to President Joseph Aoun for signing. The government has previously expressed its support for the measure.
Lebanon has not carried out an execution since January 2004, though courts have continued to issue death sentences. Rights groups estimate that over 78 individuals are currently on death row. Under the new legislation, capital punishment will be replaced by life imprisonment with hard labor. However, the specifics of how this new sentence will be enforced are not yet detailed in the legislation.
Hard labor is a component of Lebanese law but has been rarely implemented in recent years, with the country's financial crisis and overcrowded prisons limiting the capacity of authorities. The push to abolish the death penalty follows years of advocacy by civil society groups and lawyers.
"We cannot solve a crime with a crime or end violence with violence," Oragit Younan, co-founder of the Lebanese Association for Civil Rights, stated. She led a nearly three-decade campaign for the abolition of capital punishment in Lebanon.
Tuesday's parliamentary vote occurs more than two decades after a de facto moratorium on executions began. Executions previously required a decree signed by the president, prime minister, and justice minister, a step not taken since 2004. Under Lebanese law, the death penalty could previously be imposed for serious offenses including aggravated murder, certain terrorism-related crimes resulting in death, treason, espionage, and offenses against state security. Previous legislative attempts to abolish the death penalty, including in 2004 and a proposal from the justice ministry in 2008, have not succeeded.
Lebanon's decision comes as the use of the death penalty remains a contentious issue in other parts of the Middle East. Jordan resumed executions in June, its first since 2017. In Israel, parliament has approved legislation expanding the circumstances under which capital punishment can be imposed, including for those involved in the October 2023 attacks. Separately, the UN human rights chief has expressed alarm at the rise in executions in Iran, noting its use of capital punishment to suppress dissent.