Lebanon's Parliament Votes to End Death Penalty, Replaces It with Life Imprisonment

Lebanon's parliament, composed of 128 members, passed legislation abolishing the death penalty, marking the first such repeal in the Arab world. The replacement punishment will be life imprisonment accompanied by aggravated hard labor, though lawmakers admitted the exact implementation of hard labor is still uncertain. Justice Minister Adel Nassar, present in the chamber, described the change as a historic milestone, while the Hezbollah bloc voted against the measure.

Rights groups and Human Rights Watch researcher Ramzi Kaiss welcomed the decision, emphasizing the cruelty and arbitrariness of capital punishment. The reform follows an unofficial moratorium on executions that has been in place since January 2004, despite occasional death sentences that were later suspended or commuted. The vote takes place as parliament also debates a sweeping general amnesty law, which could lower or eliminate sentences for convicted militants and drug traffickers, prompting protests from families of victims seeking harsher penalties.