Parliamentary committee approves abolition of death penalty in Lebanon

BEIRUT — The parliamentary justice committee approved a bill on Tuesday aimed at abolishing the death penalty in Lebanon.

The text was approved after "five sessions" of the committee and following several amendments, said MP Georges Atallah, who chairs the committee. “We have moved the Penal Code from a limited framework to a new one that removes the death penalty from all texts and establishes a new hierarchy of sentences,” he added.

He said the reform would align Lebanon’s penal system with international human rights conventions and help improve the country’s image, particularly amid ongoing concerns over human rights compliance.

The death penalty is still in force in Lebanon, although no executions have been carried out since the early 2000s. The European Union imposed a moratorium which Lebanese authorities have respected, with courts’ death sentences typically commuted to life imprisonment.

In February, the government issued a favorable opinion on abolishing the death penalty. The draft law, which replaces it with life imprisonment under “very strict conditions,” was originally submitted by seven MPs: Halima Kaakour, Faysal Sayegh, Georges Okais, Paula Yacoubian, Elias Hankash, Oussama Saad, and Michel Moussa.