Lebanon Abolishes Death Penalty – First Country in the Middle East to Take This Step

Voices from Civil Society

Human rights organizations welcomed the vote as a long-overdue step. Ramzi Kaiss, a human rights researcher at Human Rights Watch, called it a "milestone for human rights in the country, representing a clear break with a cruel and arbitrary punishment that should never have been imposed."

The Lebanese Association for Civil Rights (LACD) also pointed to the particular symbolic significance of the decision for the region. In no other Arab state does there currently exist a comparably comprehensive ban on the death penalty. The organization called on neighboring states to follow the example.

Significance for the Region

International observers see in this lead a potential lever for the entire region. Even though individual Gulf states had imposed moratoriums in recent years, the respective criminal laws formally remained in place. Lebanon is now going a step further and completely removing the death penalty from the law.

Even beforehand, several parliamentary factions as well as religious authorities had strongly advocated for abolition. Supporters argued that the death penalty has neither a deterrent effect nor brings justice to victims. In addition, the past has shown that the justice system convicted innocent people in several cases.

Impact on Ongoing Proceedings

With the law entering into force, ongoing proceedings in which the death penalty had been threatened as the maximum sentence will also be reassessed. Affected prisoners who had previously been held on death row must expect a change in their prison conditions. Human rights organizations called on the government to make this transition transparent.

Critics, however, warned of possible gaps in the new system. They demanded guarantees that life imprisonment is actually carried out without early release and called for better rehabilitation programs. Justice Minister Nassar announced that the government would present further reforms on this in the coming months.

International Reactions

The AFP news agency reported that several European states explicitly welcomed the decision. The United Nations also responded positively and offered technical support in implementing the new sentencing. Lebanon is thus increasingly positioning itself as a pioneer on human rights issues in a region that has previously made little progress in this area.