Lebanon’s parliament voted Tuesday to abolish the death penalty, a landmark move that would commute existing death sentences to life imprisonment, according to a statement from the speaker’s office.
The decision marks a first for the Middle East, a region where countries including Saudi Arabia, Iran and Egypt continue to carry out executions at some of the world’s highest per-capita rates, the World Coalition Against the Death Penalty says.
Amnesty International welcomed the vote, with Heba Morayef, the group’s regional director for the Middle East and North Africa, calling Lebanon’s abolition of capital punishment “a major milestone and a victory for human rights in the country.”
“After more than two decades without executions, today’s step transforms a precarious hiatus in executions into lasting legal protection upholding the right to life and bringing Lebanon in line with the global trend towards abolition,” Morayef said.
Lebanon has observed a de facto moratorium on executions since 2004. Even so, dozens of prisoners remained on death row, and courts continued to hand down capital sentences — including one issued as recently as Monday, according to France24.
Tuesday’s parliamentary statement did not provide an official breakdown of the vote.
The legislation now heads to Lebanese President Joseph Aoun, who must sign it for the measure to become law.
Aoun’s government has already signaled its support for the bill, the BBC reported.
Hezbollah’s parliamentary bloc dissented.
Murder and treason were previously crimes that carried a death sentence.
Now, those sentenced to the death penalty will face life imprisonment with hard labor.
In addition to abolishing the death penalty, the Lebanese parliament is also considering general amnesty for some sentences due to the overcrowded prison population.
Nearly 80% of Lebanon’s prison population was pending trial as of 2023, according to Human Rights Watch.
With Post wires
