Lebanon becomes first Arab country to abolish death penalty

BEIRUT — Lebanon’s parliament approved a law abolishing the death penalty on Tuesday, becoming the first Arab country to do so.

What happened: The parliament voted with a majority in favor of abolishing the death penalty after several amendments were introduced by lawmaker Abdul Rahman Bizri.

Under the amendments, the death penalty will be replaced with life imprisonment with hard labor for crimes committed after the law takes effect. The death sentences for crimes committed before then will be commuted to life imprisonment with hard labor.

The draft law also stipulates that the death penalty is abolished “wherever it appears” in Lebanese laws, including in the Penal Code.

The bill must be sent to the cabinet and then to President Joseph Aoun for approval before it enters into force.

While an official tally of the voting has not yet been made public, several parliamentarians expressed support for the move, while local outlets reported that members of Hezbollah’s parliamentary bloc walked out of Tuesday’s session in opposition to the draft law.

Georges Okais, a parliament member from the Lebanese Forces party, told reporters after the session, “Abolishing the death penalty is a historic achievement, and we have adopted international standards regarding human rights.”

Justice Minister Adel Nassar, who attended the parliamentary session, described the abolition of the death penalty as a “historic step” and said the move reflects “Lebanon's restoration of its leading role in human rights,” while stressing that abolishing the penalty “does not mean leniency toward criminals.”

Amnesty International praised Lebanon’s move as a “major milestone and a victory for human rights in the country.”

Heba Morayef, Amnesty International’s regional director for MENA, said in a press release on Tuesday, “The passing of this law is testament to the decades of tireless advocacy by Lebanese human rights defenders and organizations, as well as the leadership of key officials who recognized the death penalty as a cruel and inhuman punishment, often imposed after unfair proceedings and the burden of which frequently falls on those at most disadvantage.”

What it means: The death penalty in Lebanon has been under a de facto moratorium for over two decades and the last executions took place in 2004. Three men convicted of murder — Ahmed Mansour, Badih Hamadeh and Remy Antoine Zaatar — were executed in the courtyard of the notorious Roumieh Prison despite objections by human rights groups.

Mansour was executed by hanging, while Hamadeh and Zataar faced a firing squad.

Before that, two people convicted of murder, Wissam Issa and Hassan Jabal, were executed in May 1998. Both were hanged in public in the town of Tabarja, north of Beirut.

Despite the unofficial moratorium on executions, courts in Lebanon continued to hand out death sentences. In January 2025, a Lebanese military court sentenced Mohamad Ayyad to death in absentia over the killing of an Irish peacekeeper during a shooting at a UNIFIL patrol in southern Lebanon in 2022.

According to rights groups, at least two other people received death sentences during the year prior.

A total of 84 people are currently on death row in Lebanon, according to the French Together Against the Death Penalty nongovernmental organization.

For decades, rights groups and others have called on Lebanese authorities to formalize the moratorium and abolish the death penalty. The draft law was first introduced by seven parliamentarians, including independent Paula Yaacoubian and Elias Hankach of the Kataeb party, in October 2025.

Know more: Hezbollah’s Loyalty to the Resistance parliamentary bloc walked out of Tuesday’s session in protest of the measure, arguing that abolishing the death penalty while the parliament is discussing a controversial general amnesty draft law could lead to reduced sentences for perpetrators of bombings and crimes against the armed forces.

The general amnesty draft law was introduced in April to ease prison overcrowding and prolonged pretrial detentions. Under it, amnesty would be granted concerning certain offenses committed before March 1. The proposal excludes a number of serious crimes and ties eligibility to victims’ families’ consent in cases involving killings.  

The bill has sparked much controversy, as many people fear it would mean the release of Islamists accused of killing military personnel during conflicts.