After years of calls by human rights organizations to abolish the death penalty in Lebanon, despite a de facto moratorium on executions for more than 20 years, Parliament has just passed a bill removing the death penalty from Lebanese law, following around five sessions of debate and review.
Although executions have been suspended since 2004, death sentences have continued to be issued and are later commuted to prison terms. This applies to more than 80 people currently held in Lebanese prisons. The existence of the death penalty has also complicated efforts to extradite fugitives from countries that have abolished capital punishment.
Abolishing the death penalty is expected to strengthen Lebanon’s standing internationally and facilitate judicial cooperation with countries that no longer apply it, particularly in extradition cases, as many of these states refuse to hand over suspects who could face a death sentence
