Lebanon abolishes death penalty in parliament vote, becoming first Arab country to do so

Parliament vote

Lebanon's parliament voted on Tuesday, 11 August 2026, to abolish the death penalty, making the country the first in the Arab world to formally eliminate capital punishment from its legal system. The sentence is replaced by life imprisonment with aggravated hard labor. A majority of the 128-member parliament supported the measure, with the parliamentary bloc of Hezbollah as the sole bloc voting against.

The vote formalizes an unofficial moratorium on executions that Lebanon has observed since January 2004. During the moratorium years, courts continued to issue dozens of death sentences, which were subsequently suspended or commuted. The new law applies retroactively to all crimes, according to the EU statement.

Justice Minister Adel Nassar, present during the session, called the decision a "historic step" for the country. Speaking to the Nna news agency, Nassar said Lebanon regains its pioneering role in the region as a protector of human rights and that Lebanese judges will no longer face the dilemma of deciding whether or not to end a life. He stressed that abolition should not be read as leniency toward crime.

The deprivation of liberty is not clemency.

International reaction

EU High Representative Kaja Kallas congratulated Lebanon on behalf of the 27 member states, calling the law a significant step forward for human rights in the country. The EU statement noted that the abolition was announced at the IX World Congress Against the Death Penalty, held in Paris on 30 June. Kallas said Lebanon, as the first country in the region to abolish the death penalty, sets a powerful example for other countries in the Middle East and beyond.

Human Rights Watch Lebanon Researcher Ramzi Kaiss said the country is marking a final break from a cruel sentence that should never be imposed.

Capital punishment is unique in its cruelty and finality and is plagued with arbitrariness, prejudice, and error.

Enforcement questions

How aggravated hard labor will be enforced remains unclear. Several lawmakers acknowledged that the parameters of the new penalty have yet to be defined. Hard labor is formally written into Lebanese legislation and judicial rulings, but it has rarely been applied in recent years due to a lack of state resources and severe overcrowding across the prison network.

Lebanon's religious institutions, which retain capital punishment within their respective court systems, have not commented on the vote. Hezbollah also offered no immediate statement.

Broader reforms and tensions

The same parliamentary session was suspended after the death-penalty vote due to a dispute between Prime Minister Nawaf Salam and Defense Minister Michel Menassa over a general amnesty law. The proposed amnesty would be the largest since the end of Lebanon's 15-year civil war in 1990 and could reduce sentences or release convicted militants and drug dealers, with some exceptions.

Relatives of Lebanese soldiers and servicemen killed or attacked by Islamist militant groups have repeatedly protested against the amnesty bill, with some arguing that perpetrators should face execution rather than lighter prison sentences.

During the session, MP Ali Hassan Khalil questioned the government about a map recently published by Israel, while MP Samy Gemayel demanded the resignation of Hezbollah ministers, drawing a reply from Hezbollah MP Hussein Hajj Hassan. Outside parliament, public-sector unions demonstrated against the installment plan for salary arrears, and a separate sit-in protested rental laws.

Per Amnesty International, at least 2,707 people were executed worldwide in 2025, with the most executions carried out in China, Iran, and Saudi Arabia. Among the 22 Arab League states, the death penalty had been practically abolished in Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia, and Mauritania, and legally in Djibouti, before Lebanon's vote.