Lebanon abolishes death penalty in landmark parliament vote

Lebanon's parliament voted to abolish the death penalty, making it the first Arab nation to replace the sentence with life imprisonment and hard labor. The tiny Mediterranean country has maintained an unofficial moratorium on executions since January 2004, but dozens of death sentences have been issued and later suspended or commuted. Justice Minister Adel Nassar hailed the move as "a historic step" for the country, while rights groups celebrated the vote.

Ramzi Kaiss, a Lebanon researcher for Human Rights Watch, emphasized the cruelty and finality of capital punishment, stating that it is "plagued with arbitrariness, prejudice, and error." However, the specifics of how aggravated hard labor would be enforced remain unclear, as some legislators claim the terms of the new punishment are still uncertain. Lebanon currently has a law allowing for hard labor, but it has seldom been implemented due to Lebanon's cash-strapped economy and overcrowded prisons.

The abolition of the death penalty comes as Lebanon's parliament debates a controversial general amnesty law, the largest since the end of the 15-year civil war in 1990. The proposed law could reduce sentences or release convicted militants and drug dealers, though exceptions apply. Family members of Lebanese soldiers and servicemen killed by Islamist militant groups have protested against the law, arguing that they would have preferred to see the perpetrators executed rather than face reduced prison terms.