Lebanon parliament votes to abolish death penalty

What the report says

Lebanon’s parliament has approved legislation to abolish the death penalty, a step that would make the country the first in the Middle East to formally end capital punishment if it is completed through the remaining approval process. According to BBC World News, a majority of the 128-member parliament backed the measure on Tuesday, while Hezbollah’s bloc opposed it. The bill now moves to the cabinet and then to President Joseph Aoun for signing, with the government already said to support the change.

The proposed law would replace capital punishment with life imprisonment with hard labour, although the article notes that the text does not yet explain in detail how that sentence would be carried out. Lebanon has not executed anyone since January 2004, but courts have continued to issue death sentences. Rights groups estimate that more than 78 people are still on death row.

The vote follows years of campaigning by civil society groups and lawyers who have pushed to remove capital punishment from Lebanese law. BBC World News reported that previous efforts in 2004 and 2008 did not succeed. Lebanon’s prison system and broader financial crisis have also limited the state’s ability to implement punishments already on the books.

The move comes amid wider debate over the death penalty in the Middle East, where some states have expanded or resumed its use in recent years.