Lebanon has become the first Middle East state abolish death penalty after the country’s parliament parliament formally approved a resolution to end capital punishment.
Lawmakers approved the abolition on Tuesday as they considered a series of bills during the current legislative session.
“The draft law aimed at abolishing the death penalty in Lebanon was approved,” the parliament speaker’s office said.
Lebanon had not carried out an execution since 2004, although courts continued to impose death sentences on convicted criminals.
Justice Minister Adel Nassar described the decision as “historic”, saying capital punishment had previously complicated efforts by Beirut to secure the extradition of suspects from countries where the death penalty is prohibited.
Nassar said abolishing the punishment would help address such legal obstacles and strengthen Lebanon’s cooperation with countries that oppose capital punishment.
Ramzi Kaiss, a Lebanon researcher at Human Rights Watch, welcomed the move, describing it as “a monumental step for human rights in the country”.
He said the decision marked a clear break with what he described as a cruel and arbitrary form of punishment.
The abolition of the death penalty places Lebanon among a growing number of countries that have formally ended capital punishment, although the practice remains legal in several countries across the Middle East.
The bill is part of a wider package of legislation being considered by parliament, including a long-debated general amnesty law.
The move comes after years in which Lebanon maintained the death penalty in law but refrained from carrying out executions.
While courts continued to issue death sentences, successive authorities had maintained a de facto moratorium on executions since 2004.
The parliamentary decision therefore brings Lebanon’s law into line with its longstanding practice of not carrying out executions.
