Lebanon has abolished the death penalty, becoming only the second member of the Arab League, after Djibouti, to eliminate capital punishment. The move puts a spotlight on the countries across the Arab world that still impose death sentences.
The Lebanese parliament voted on Tuesday to remove the death penalty from law, replacing it with life in prison combined with aggravated hard labour. Existing death sentences have also been replaced with life imprisonment with hard labour.
The vote formalises a de facto moratorium that Lebanon has maintained for more than two decades. The country has not carried out an execution since January 2004 but courts continued to issue death sentences. Amnesty International said at least 85 people were still on death row by January.
Lebanon's decision therefore goes beyond simply suspending executions. It removes the death penalty from the country's legal system altogether. That makes Lebanon the second of the Arab League's 22 members to abolish capital punishment. Djibouti did so in 1995.
Volker Turk, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, welcomed the Lebanese parliament's move.
“Lebanon is now the first country in the region to do so and I call on the other countries that still maintain the death penalty to follow its lead in ending this inhumane practice,” he said.
“I call for the law to be presented swiftly to the President of the Republic for approval and signature, in order that it can be promptly brought into full effect.”
Which Arab countries still have the death penalty?
The vast majority of Arab League members continue to retain capital punishment in their laws, although the extent to which they use it varies.
The death penalty remains legal in Algeria, Bahrain, Comoros, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, Tunisia, the UAE, Yemen and Palestine.
But some Arab countries have maintained long-standing moratoriums or have not carried out an execution for many years. They are generally described as abolitionist in practice, even though capital punishment remains available under their laws.
Algeria, Comoros, Mauritania, Morocco and Tunisia have not carried out any executions in more than a decade, say human rights groups.
For more than 20 years, Lebanon was effectively in the same category. Parliament's vote changes that legal status.
“I’m very honoured Lebanon has passed this law and Lebanon has retrieved its pioneering role as the protector of fundamental rights,” Justice Minister Adel Nassar told The National.
“We don’t consider that abolishing this penalty is to be tolerant towards crime. We consider abolishing it is to protect our Republic and [one that] doesn’t decide to kill. We don’t want to have recourse to this.”
Where are executions still carried out?
Capital punishment remains an active part of the criminal justice system in several Arab countries.
Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Yemen, Egypt and Somalia have carried out executions in recent years.
The crimes punishable by death differ from one country to another. They can include murder and terrorism-related offences, while some countries also impose the death penalty for drug-related crimes or other offences.
Article 3 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights states: “Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of person.” Human rights groups and legal experts have long argued that state-sanctioned executions violate the fundamental right to life.
Why did Lebanon abolish it now?
Lebanon's decision is the culmination of a debate that has lasted for decades.
The issue gained new momentum this year. The vote comes at a time when Lebanon is debating broader changes to its criminal justice system, including proposals for a general amnesty law. The highly controversial bill was also supposed to be debated on Tuesday by the 128-seat parliament. Any law needs the support of most MPs present to pass.
The country's prisons are severely overcrowded and the amnesty debate has raised difficult questions about punishment, accountability and how Lebanon deals with people convicted of serious crimes.
The speaker of parliament's office said “the draft law aimed at abolishing the death penalty in Lebanon was approved after amendments were made to it”.
The vote was opposed by Hezbollah’s parliamentary bloc, which argued that abolishing the death penalty alongside an amnesty law could reduce sentences for people convicted of bombings and crimes against the Lebanese Armed Forces. MPs from the Free Patriotic Movement and independent MP Jihad Samad also voted against the law, Lebanese media reported.
