Lebanon becomes first Arab country to abolish the death penalty

In a landmark change to Lebanon's penal system, the country's parliament on Tuesday approved legislation abolishing the death penalty, replacing it with life imprisonment with aggravated hard labour, the state-run National News Agency (NNA) reported.

The vote makes Lebanon the first Arab country to formally abolish the death penalty.

Justice Minister Adel Nassar, who attended the parliamentary session, described the vote as a "historic step" for Lebanon.

The measure was approved by a majority of the 128-member parliament, though Hezbollah's parliamentary bloc opposed it, according to parliamentary sources. The draft legislation, submitted to parliament in October 2025, was backed by seven lawmakers from different parliamentary blocs.

The proposal, put forward by member of parliament (MP) Abdul Rahman al-Bizri, was amended before it was approved. Under the amended law, crimes committed before the legislation takes effect will be punished by life imprisonment, while offences committed after it takes effect will carry aggravated life imprisonment, NNA reported.

The abolition follows years of campaigning by Lebanese and international human rights organizations. Human Rights Watch had urged parliament in July to pass the legislation, saying Lebanon should formally end its long-standing practice of retaining death sentences despite an unofficial moratorium on executions since 2004.

Lebanon's National Human Rights Commission had also repeatedly called for the abolition of capital punishment. In June, the commission welcomed progress on the draft law and urged lawmakers to remove both the death penalty and hard-labour sentences from Lebanese legislation, arguing that punishments should respect human dignity and serve rehabilitation.