Lebanon abolishes death penalty in sweeping prison reform vote

Lebanon’s parliament voted on Tuesday to abolish the death penalty, a legislative milestone that positions the country as the first in the Middle East to formally end capital punishment. The decision follows a period of de facto restraint, with the nation not carrying out an execution since 2004, although death sentences continued to be issued by the judiciary, including one handed down on Monday.

The abolition is embedded within a broader amnesty law designed to mitigate severe prison overcrowding, which authorities report at 300 per cent. According to the National Human Rights Commission, the facility held at least 6,268 inmates as of March 2025. The new legislation addresses this strain by converting death and life sentences into 17 “prison years”.

Lawmaker Imad al-Hout explained that under Lebanon’s specific calculation method, where a prison year is defined as nine months, the 17-year term equates to approximately 12 years and nine months of actual imprisonment. This structural adjustment aims to reduce the burden on the penal system while maintaining a significant period of incarceration for serious offences.

The law also mandates the release of inmates currently in ongoing trials who have been detained for more than 12 prison years without formal charges. While the exact number of individuals immediately eligible for release under these provisions was not specified, the measure represents a significant shift in how the state manages pre-trial detention and sentencing.

As of January this year, Amnesty International reported that at least 85 people remained on death row, with capital punishment typically reserved for serious crimes including murder, terrorism, and espionage. The move aligns Lebanon with a global trend, as data from December 2025 indicates that close to three-quarters of countries have abolished the death penalty in law or practice.