Lebanon's parliament debates the bill to abolish the death penalty [Yonhap]
Lebanon's parliament debates the bill to abolish the death penalty [Yonhap]

Lebanon formally passed legislation abolishing the death penalty in parliament Tuesday, becoming the 114th country in the world to do so.

According to Amnesty International, the Lebanese parliament approved a bill replacing capital punishment with life imprisonment with hard labor. A majority of the 128-member parliament voted in favor.

The office of the parliament speaker announced that the bill, centered on abolishing the death penalty in Lebanon, had been finally passed after incorporating some amendments.

Justice Minister Adel Nassar, who attended the vote in person, called the abolition a "historic step forward." Human rights groups that had long campaigned for the complete elimination of capital punishment also welcomed the result.

Lebanon, a small Mediterranean country, informally halted executions in January 2004. Even so, dozens of death sentences were handed down in the years that followed, with those rulings later suspended or commuted. According to the corrections bureau of the Ministry of Justice, 85 people remained on death row in Lebanon as of late January 2026.

Seven lawmakers introduced the legislation to the parliament's human rights committee on Oct. 7 last year. After a government consultation process, the cabinet endorsed it on Nov. 20, 2025. The bill cleared the human rights committee on Feb. 23, then passed through the Legislation and Judiciary Committee and a joint committee before receiving final approval in Tuesday's plenary session. It will take effect after the president signs it and it is published in the official gazette.

Once the law takes effect, Lebanon will become the 114th country to abolish the death penalty for all crimes. According to Amnesty International, 145 countries have abolished capital punishment in law or in practice, while 54 retain it.


park.jiyeong@heraldcorp.com