Full Breakdown
Lebanon Abolishes Death Penalty, First Country in the Middle East to Do So
8/11/2026, 8:25:29 PM
Legislative Milestone
On August 11, 2026, Lebanon’s 128-member parliament voted to repeal capital punishment, replacing it with life imprisonment with hard labour. The measure passed with a majority; Hezbollah’s bloc voted against it. The draft now moves to the cabinet and President Joseph Aoun for signature.
Legislative Journey
- 7 Oct 2025 – Draft submitted to the Parliamentary Human Rights Committee.
- 20 Nov 2025 – Cabinet issued a favourable advisory.
- 23 Feb 2026 – Human Rights Committee approved the draft.
- 2 Jun 2026 – Parliamentary Justice Committee adopted it.
- 9 Jul 2026 – Joint Committee gave assent.
- 11 Aug 2026 – Full parliamentary vote passed the law.
Current Death-Row Figures
- Ministry of Justice reported 85 inmates on death row at the end of January 2026.
- Rights-group estimates place the number at more than 78.
- French NGO Together Against the Death Penalty counted 84 prisoners.
The differing counts show the absence of a single verified tally.
Replacement Sentencing
The law abolishes the death penalty “wherever it appears” in Lebanese statutes. Offences committed before enactment are commuted to life imprisonment; offences after enactment carry life imprisonment with aggravated hard labour. Lebanese law already provides for hard labour, but prisons have rarely applied it because of overcrowding and limited resources.
Official Reactions
Justice Minister Adel Nassar called the vote a “historic step” and said the spectre of capital punishment had previously hindered extraditions.
Opposition and Concerns
Hezbollah’s bloc walked out and voted against the repeal. Some legislators questioned how “aggravated hard labour” would be enforced in an overcrowded, cash-strapped prison system. Families of soldiers killed by militant groups protested parallel amnesty legislation, fearing reduced sentences could apply to perpetrators of violent attacks.
Regional Context
Lebanon’s abolition contrasts with recent regional trends: Jordan resumed executions in June 2024, Israel expanded capital-punishment scope in May 2024, and Iran carried out more than 2,100 executions in 2025, according to UN-linked reports. Lebanon thus becomes the first Middle Eastern nation to formally eliminate the death penalty.
Verbatim Quotes
- “After more than two decades without executions, today’s step transforms a precarious hiatus in executions into lasting legal protection upholding the right to life and bringing Lebanon in line with the global trend towards abolition,” — Heba Morayef, Amnesty International MENA director
- “We cannot solve a crime with a crime or end violence with violence,” — Oragit Younan
