Lebanon's parliament voted on Tuesday, August 11th, 2026, to abolish the death penalty, potentially making it the first country in the Middle East to formally end capital punishment. A majority of MPs in the 128-seat parliament supported the measure, although Hezbollah's parliamentary bloc opposed it. The legislation will now proceed to the cabinet for approval before being passed to President Joseph Aoun for signing. The government has already expressed support for the move.

Lebanon has not carried out an execution since January 2004, despite courts continuing to issue death sentences. Rights groups estimate that over 78 people remain on death row. Under the new law, capital punishment will be replaced with life imprisonment with hard labour. Previously, the death penalty in Lebanon could be imposed for serious crimes including aggravated murder, certain terrorism-related offenses resulting in death, treason, espionage, and offenses against state security.

Meanwhile, the UN human rights chief has expressed alarm at the increase in executions in Iran. Since March 19th, at least 56 people have been executed on national security-related charges, including 27 linked to January's nationwide anti-government protests, according to UN human rights chief Volker Türk. He stated that capital punishment in Iran continues to be used "to instil fear among the population and suppress dissent."

Quotes from the situation include, "We cannot solve a crime with a crime or end violence with violence," and "We are in a war, and people [have been] killed every day, so even in this situation, we can fight, we can struggle for human rights, and we can win. We can be a model for others."

Sources