Lebanon Becomes First in Middle East to Officially Abolish Death Penalty: "A Major Milestone"

Lebanon has completely abolished the death penalty, becoming the first country in the Middle East to do so.

During a plenary session on the 11th (local time), the Lebanese Parliament passed a bill abolishing capital punishment with a majority vote, excluding lawmakers from the armed political faction Hezbollah out of the 128 total members, replacing the sentence with life imprisonment accompanied by aggravated forced labor.

The Office of the Speaker of the Lebanese Parliament announced, "The bill aimed at abolishing the death penalty within Lebanon has been finally passed after undergoing some amendments."

Adel Nassar, Lebanon's Minister of Justice who attended the parliamentary vote, evaluated the abolition of the death penalty as a "historic step forward," and human rights organizations that have urged its complete abolition also expressed welcome over the voting results.

Lebanon, located on the Mediterranean coast, had unofficially suspended executions since January 2004.

However, dozens of death sentences had been handed down since then, and these rulings were later commuted or had their execution suspended.

According to the Correctional Services Directorate of the Lebanese Ministry of Justice, there were 85 death row inmates in Lebanon as of the end of January 2026.

The Lebanese Association for Civil Rights (LACR), the National Campaign for the Abolition of the Death Penalty in Lebanon, and the Association for Justice and Mercy (AJEM) have led the movement to abolish the death penalty.

On October 7 of last year, seven lawmakers proposed the relevant bill to the Parliamentary Committee on Human Rights, and after a government consultation process, the cabinet expressed its approval on November 20, 2025.

Subsequently, the bill passed through the Parliamentary Committee on Human Rights on February 23, followed by the Judiciary and Committee on Administration and Justice, and was finally approved in the plenary session today.

To establish the abolition of the death penalty as an irreversible measure under international human rights law, Lebanon must ratify the Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, aiming at the abolition of the death penalty.

Heba Morayef, Amnesty International's Regional Director for the Middle East and North Africa, commented, "The decision to abolish the death penalty is a major milestone and a victory in Lebanon's human rights history," adding, "Justice must be rooted in human rights, not in irreversible and cruel punishments."

In a statement, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk welcomed the decision of the Lebanese Parliament to officially abolish the death penalty, pointing out that "Lebanon is now the first country in the region to do so," and urged other nations to follow Lebanon in ending this inhumane practice.

Türk urged that the bill passed by the parliament demonstrates a "strong and principled commitment to the right to life" and should be promptly promulgated following presidential approval and signature.

He also particularly emphasized that Lebanon's decision to abolish the death penalty was made while the country is suffering severe hardships, including loss of life intertwined with regional wars.

UN Secretary-General António Guterres also expressed his active support for Lebanon's abolition of the death penalty through his spokesperson on the same day.

(Photo: AP, Yonhap News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.