Lebanon parliament votes to abolish death penalty

Lebanon's parliament has voted to abolish the death penalty, a decision that would make it the first state in the Middle East to formally end capital punishment. A majority of members in the 128‑seat legislature backed the measure on Tuesday, while Hezbollah’s parliamentary bloc opposed it. The bill will now proceed to the cabinet before being sent to President Joseph Aoun for his signature; the government has already declared its support for the legislation. Although Lebanon has not carried out an execution since January 2004, courts have continued to impose death sentences. Rights groups estimate that more than 78 individuals remain on death row. Under the new law, capital punishment would be replaced by life imprisonment with hard labour, although authorities have yet to specify how the sentence will be enforced. Hard labour is already stipulated in Lebanese statutes but has rarely been applied in recent years, a situation exacerbated by the country’s fiscal constraints and overcrowded prisons. The vote follows years of advocacy by civil society organisations and lawyers seeking to remove the death penalty from Lebanese law. Oragit Younan, co‑founder of the Lebanese Association for Civil Rights, told the BBC, “We cannot lick a transgression with a transgression or extremity unit with violence.” She added that she had led an almost thirty‑year campaign to abolish the practice in Lebanon. “We are in a war, and people [have been] killed each day, therefore even in this situation, we can fight, we can struggle for human rights, and we can win. We can be an example for others,” she said. Tuesday’s parliamentary vote comes after more than two decades of a de facto moratorium on executions. An execution requires a decree signed by the president, the prime minister and the justice minister; no such decree has been issued since 2004. Previously, Lebanese law permitted the death penalty for offences such as aggravated murder, certain terrorism‑related killings, treason, espionage and crimes against state security. Earlier attempts to abolish the penalty failed, including a bill introduced in parliament in 2004 and a proposal from the justice ministry in 2008. Lebanon’s move occurs as the use of the death penalty remains contentious across the Middle East. Jordan resumed executions in June, carrying out its first since 2017. In Israel, the parliament has approved legislation that expands the circumstances in which capital punishment may be applied. The BBC reports that Israeli MPs passed a new law in May to enforce the death penalty and conduct nationalist trials for those involved in the Hamas‑led attacks and widespread hostage‑taking in Israel in October 2023. The United Nations human rights chief has expressed alarm over rising executions in Iran, noting that the death penalty continues to be used “to instil fear among the population and suppress dissent.” According to the UN, at least 56 people had been executed on national‑security‑related charges since 19 March, including 27 in cases linked to January’s nationwide anti‑government protests, as stated by Volker Türk earlier this month.