ByDANIELLE GREYMAN-KENNARD
Updated:

Lebanon’s parliament voted Tuesday to abolish the death penalty, a major move welcomed by international bodies and human rights organizations.

Although a majority of the 128 members of parliament voted in favor of the bill, Hezbollah’s parliamentary bloc notably voted against ending capital punishment.

The legislation will now go before Lebanon’s cabinet before being submitted to President Joseph Aoun for approval.

It has been more than 20 years since Lebanon last carried out an execution. In January 2004, Ahmad Ali Mansour, Badi Hamadeh, and Remi Antoan Zaatar were executed in connection with separate murder cases involving multiple victims.

Hamadeh, who was executed by firing squad, was convicted of killing three security officers during a 2002 raid on his fiancée’s home. Mansour, who was hanged, was convicted of murdering eight of his colleagues when he opened fire at a teachers’ pension fund in 2002. Zaatar was also hanged after being convicted of killing three people during an armed robbery.

EU European Commission Vice-President Kaja Kallas delivers a joint statement with Philippines Foreign Secretary Theresa Lazaro (not pictured) on the Enhanced Partnership between the Philippines and the European Union, on the sidelines of the ASEAN Foreign Ministers' Meeting
EU European Commission Vice-President Kaja Kallas delivers a joint statement with Philippines Foreign Secretary Theresa Lazaro (not pictured) on the Enhanced Partnership between the Philippines and the European Union, on the sidelines of the ASEAN Foreign Ministers' Meeting (credit: Ezra Acayan/Getty Images)

UN, European Commission officials welcome decision

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk congratulated Lebanon on becoming the first country in the Middle East to ban the death penalty.

“In a country subject to devastating attacks and experiencing profound loss and suffering, this decision represents a powerful and principled commitment to the right to life,” he said.

Kaja Kallas, vice president of the European Commission, also welcomed parliament’s decision in a statement Tuesday.

“The abolition of the death penalty for all crimes, including through its retroactive application, is an important achievement,” Kallas said. She added that the move builds on Lebanon’s de facto moratorium on executions, maintained since 2004, and demonstrates the country’s commitment to respecting, protecting, and fulfilling the right to life.

“As the first country in the region to abolish the death penalty, Lebanon is setting a powerful example for other countries in the Middle East and beyond, reinforcing the strong global trend towards abolition and the growing international support for ending the death penalty worldwide,” Kallas said.

The movement to ban the death penalty comes only days after Judge Rabih Houssami sentenced Syrian national Bassel Attieh al-Hamdeh for the sexual assault and murder of 26-year-old Rayyah Chidac in 2017.

As of the end of January 2026, 85 people remained on death row, according to the Directorate of Prisons at Lebanon’s Justice Ministry.