BEIRUT — Lebanon moved to abolish the death penalty on Tuesday, making it the first Arab state to end the practice.
The country’s parliament overwhelmingly passed the measure in a landmark vote, making life sentence with hard labor the highest penalty that can be imposed.
Lebanon has not carried out executions since 2004 and Tuesday’s vote formalized the practice. The bill will now make its way to the cabinet for approval before being signed by President Joseph Aoun. The cabinet’s head, Nawaf Salam, a former International Court of Justice judge, supports the move.
The vote was also hailed by rights groups. “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,” said United Nations Human Rights chief Volker Turk, who called on other countries in the region to do the same.
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