On February 25, Lebanon's parliament voted to pass a law abolishing the death penalty, making the country the first in the Middle East to eliminate the punishment. The office of Lebanon's parliamentary speaker said lawmakers signed off on the bill after making some amendments. A majority of the 128-member parliament voted in favor of abolition, except for the bloc of lawmakers from the Hezbollah movement.
Justice Minister Adel Nassar, who attended the session, called it a “historic step” for Lebanon. Under the new law, the death penalty will be replaced by life imprisonment with hard labor.
Although Lebanon has had an unofficial moratorium on executions since January 2004, courts continued to hand down numerous death sentences. According to the Prison Administration Department of Lebanon's Justice Ministry, as of the end of 2025, 85 people were facing the death penalty.
Amnesty International praised Lebanon's move. Heba Morayef, the organization's regional director for the Middle East and North Africa, called it a “major milestone and a victory for human rights in the country.” She said: “After more than two decades without executions, today's step turns the fragile moratorium into lasting legal protection, upholding the right to life and bringing Lebanon in line with the global trend toward abolition.”
It remains unclear how hard labor will be enforced, as some lawmakers noted that the provisions of the new penalty lack clarity. Lebanon has provisions for hard labor in its laws and court rulings, but the punishment has rarely been applied in recent years due to the country's lack of resources and capacity in overcrowded prisons.
Lebanon's abolition of the death penalty comes as its parliament is also debating a controversial blanket amnesty law, described as the largest since the end of the 15-year civil war in 1990. The law could reduce sentences or even free some people convicted of violent acts.
Relatives of Lebanese soldiers killed in attacks have repeatedly protested against the law. Some have expressed hope that those who killed their loved ones would face execution rather than having their sentences reduced.
