Lebanon becomes first Middle East country to formally abolish death penalty

Beirut: Lebanon's parliament on Tuesday voted to abolish the death penalty, formally ending capital punishment after more than two decades in which executions had been suspended, making the country the first in the Middle East to officially repeal the punishment.

Lawmakers approved the bill during a two-day legislative session that also included debate on a long-disputed general amnesty law.

The abolition was described by Justice Minister Adel Nassar as a "historic" decision. Lebanon last carried out an execution in 2004, after which an unofficial moratorium remained in place despite the death penalty remaining in the country's legal code.

Nassar said the change would remove a legal obstacle that had prevented some countries that have abolished capital punishment from extraditing fugitives wanted by Lebanon.

He added that, once the law is published, those countries would no longer be able to cite the existence of the death penalty in Lebanese law as grounds for refusing extradition.

Lebanon also voted in favour of a 2024 United Nations General Assembly resolution calling on all countries to establish a moratorium on executions as a step towards the global abolition of the death penalty.