The country that abolished the death penalty for the first time in the Middle East

Photo: Collected

News Desk: Lebanon has officially abolished the death penalty, becoming the first country in the Middle East to do so. On Tuesday (August 11), the historic bill was passed after the necessary amendments were made in the country's parliament. This marks the beginning of a new chapter in Middle Eastern politics and legal systems.

​According to Al Jazeera, the law abolishing capital punishment was passed by a majority vote of lawmakers in the 128-member parliament. However, Hezbollah's parliamentary bloc opposed the measure. Following the bill's passage, Lebanese Justice Minister Adel Nassar described it as a historic step for the country. Under the new law, convicts will now serve life imprisonment with hard labor instead of receiving the death penalty.

​Although Lebanon has maintained an informal moratorium on executions since 2004, the country's courts continued to issue death sentences regularly. Sources from the Ministry of Justice revealed that by the end of 2025, 85 people were still on death row.

​International human rights organization Amnesty International welcomed Lebanon's move, calling it a major victory for human rights. However, with prisons in economic-crisis-stricken Lebanon suffering from severe overcrowding, there remains some uncertainty over how the hard labor provisions in the new law will be implemented.

​Meanwhile, alongside the abolition of the death penalty, debates are ongoing in the Lebanese parliament regarding the largest general amnesty bill since the end of the civil war in 1990. Under this proposed law, sentences for some prisoners convicted of violent crimes could be reduced or they could be released. However, families of fallen soldiers and security personnel have strongly protested against this amnesty, expressing outrage over the prospect of criminals having their sentences reduced rather than facing execution.