{
  "id": 652401,
  "title": "Lebanon abolishes death penalty, but justice system remains flawed",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/12/lebanon-abolishes-death-penalty-but-justice-system-remains-flawed",
  "topic": "world",
  "section": "World",
  "published": "2026-08-12T10:08:47.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Le Monde English",
    "slug": "le-monde-english",
    "url": "https://www.lemonde.fr/en/international/article/2026/08/12/lebanon-abolishes-death-penalty-but-justice-system-remains-flawed_6756415_4.html"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": null,
  "summary": "Lebanon's parliament has voted to abolish the death penalty, with a majority of the 128 members supporting the bill. The move was welcomed by international bodies and human rights organizations, and marks a significant step for the country, which has not carried out any executions since 2004. According to Le Monde English, 85 people were on death row at the time of the vote.\n\nThe decision was not unanimous, with Hezbollah's parliamentary bloc voting against the bill. The legislation will now go before Lebanon's cabinet and then be submitted to President Joseph Aoun for approval. The country has had an unofficial moratorium on executions since January 2004, although dozens of death sentences have been issued since then, only to be suspended or commuted.\n\nThe abolition of the death penalty makes Lebanon the first country in the Middle East to ban it, according to the Jerusalem Post, which also reported that UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk congratulated Lebanon on the decision, saying it represents a \"powerful and principled commitment to the right to life.\" The new law will replace the death penalty with life imprisonment with aggravated hard labor, although it is unclear how this will be enforced.",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 3,
    "also_reported_by": [
      {
        "outlet": "Ghanaian Times",
        "title": "Lebanon abolishes death penalty in landmark parliament vote",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/12/lebanon-abolishes-death-penalty-in-landmark-parliament-vote",
        "published": "2026-08-12T07:30:23.000Z"
      },
      {
        "outlet": "Jerusalem Post",
        "title": "Lebanon's parliament votes to abolish death penalty, Hezbollah votes against bill",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/12/lebanons-parliament-votes-to-abolish-death-penalty-hezbollah-votes",
        "published": "2026-08-12T08:46:52.000Z"
      }
    ]
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}