Lebanon abolishes the death penalty

On August 11, 2026, the 128-member Lebanese parliament voted to abolish the death penalty, making the country the first in the Arab world to take this legislative step. The measure, which replaces capital punishment with life imprisonment with hard labor, passed with the notable exception of the Hezbollah parliamentary bloc. Minister of Justice Adel Nassar hailed the move as a historic development for the nation.

Prior to this decision, Lebanon had observed an unofficial moratorium on executions since January 2004. While dozens of death sentences had been issued over the last two decades, they were consistently suspended or commuted. The new law specifies that crimes committed prior to its enactment will now be subject to life imprisonment rather than death.

Human rights organizations, including Human Rights Watch, have praised the decision as a monumental step for human rights. According to Justice Minister Nassar, the abolition is also expected to facilitate international legal cooperation, as other countries that have abolished the death penalty will no longer deny extradition requests from Beirut based on the previous existence of capital punishment in the Lebanese penal code.