Lebanon Breaks With the Region on the Death Penalty

The historic vote follows decades of advocacy and removes an irreversible punishment from a flawed justice system plagued by political interference and lengthy trials.

Lebanon has quite the reputation for making the news for all the wrong reasons. But not this week. On August 11, the Lebanese parliament voted to abolish the death penalty, replacing it with a life sentence and “aggravated hard labor.” Once the law is signed by the president and published in The Official Gazette, it goes into effect; however, acquiring such a signature is just a formality in the Lebanese parliamentary system.

This is a historic decision for the Arab world and the Middle East. But despite The Washington Post hailing it as a “first” for the region, it is not. Djibouti, a member of the Arab League, abolished the death penalty in 1995. Turkey did the same in 2004.

This makes Lebanon the second Middle Eastern country and the second Arab League member to take the step.

According to Amnesty International, 17 countries carried out at least 2,707 executions in 2025, a 78% increase from 2024. Of those, 2,611 took place in countries in the Middle East and North Africa, with Iran, Saudi Arabia, and Yemen among the region’s most prolific executioners. In March of this year, Israel passed a mandatory death sentence for Palestinians convicted of terrorism.

Lebanon has chosen to move decisively against the regional current, with a majority of the 128-member parliamentary bloc voting in favor of its abolition. Hezbollah’s bloc, unsurprisingly, opposed it.

The decision did not appear out of nowhere. Lebanese abolitionists have campaigned against capital punishment for decades, with organized efforts dating back to 1997. In fact, the last execution carried out in Lebanon was 22 years ago, in 2004.

Lebanese Foreign Minister Youssef Raggi described the vote as a decision that “honors Lebanon’s history,” arguing that life, dignity, freedom, pluralism, and human rights belong at the heart of Lebanese identity.

Member of Parliament Adib Abdelmassih, speaking to Middle East Uncovered, was even more direct.

“This is a victory for justice and human rights in Lebanon. Lebanon wins,” he said.

He pointed to the global trend: 113 countries have abolished the death penalty for all crimes. Once the new law takes effect, Lebanon will become number 114.

Abdelmassih also raised the less philosophical and more practical benefit of extradition. Countries that prohibit capital punishment can refuse to send wanted suspects to jurisdictions where they might face the death penalty. Abolishing it, he argued, will make it easier for Lebanon to recover fugitives from countries that previously required assurances that a suspect would not be executed.

For Abdelmassih, the strongest case against executions comes down to the fallibility of the courts—particularly in Lebanon. Throughout history, he argued, people have been sentenced to death only for evidence to emerge later that they were innocent, and in some cases, that evidence arrived too late.

“I oppose using violent crimes to justify killing someone, even if such killing is legalized,” Abdelmassih said.

It is easy to argue against the death penalty with the risk of innocence surfacing too late. However, it gets harder to argue against if it involves a crime where sympathy feels almost offensive.

One Lebanese prisoner who spoke to Middle East Uncovered through intermediaries doesn’t take the decision lightly. Eighteen years ago, he was sentenced to death for killing four people.

“I committed this horrible murder 18 years ago, and nothing can justify the ugly crime I did,” he said. “But after 18 years, I am not the same person. I turned a corner, found God, found peace, and if time goes back, I would never ever even consider doing it.”

But he does not describe abolition as much of a relief.

“Although this abolition gave me a chance to live, it will not give me freedom. I will continue to live with my horrific mistakes, and this is a big price I deserve to pay.”

For decades, Lebanon has struggled with political corruption, lengthy pre-trial detention, overcrowded prisons, and cases that can drag on through courts for years. Giving such a system the power to impose an irreversible punishment demands a degree of confidence it does not deserve.

The vote quickly drew international praise. UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk lauded Lebanon and called on other states in the region to follow. The European Union welcomed the decision as a major human-rights advance and an affirmation of the right to life. Amnesty International described it as a “landmark victory,” and urged Lebanon to formally commute existing sentences and ratify the international protocol aimed at making abolition irreversible.

Lebanon still has an enormous amount of work to do before anyone can describe our justice system as just.

But it has finally decided that no government, judge, or political system should possess a power for which there can be no remedy. And that is a step in the right direction.

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