Historic in the Arab world: Lebanon abolishes the death penalty, Hezbollah opposed

The Lebanese parliament approved the abolition of the death penalty today, making Lebanon the first Arab country to do so. The law stipulates that instead of execution, life imprisonment with hard labor will be imposed. The only faction that opposed was Hezbollah, claiming that the abolition would benefit convicts before the passage of a general amnesty law. The justice minister called the step historic.

In a historic move, the Lebanese parliament approved today (Tuesday) the abolition of the death penalty, making Lebanon the first country in the Arab world to do so. According to the approved law, the death penalty will henceforth be replaced by life imprisonment with hard labor. Lebanon had effectively suspended the use of the death penalty since 2004, but the penalty was not removed from the legal code, and in recent years it was imposed in dozens of cases, although its implementation was delayed or commuted. In the vote held in the 128-member parliament, a majority of lawmakers voted in favor of the abolition, and the only faction that opposed was Hezbollah. Lebanese Justice Minister Adel Nassar called the approval a "historic step." Human rights organizations, including Human Rights Watch, welcomed the vote. Ramzi Kaiss, a researcher at the organization, said Lebanon is marking a final break from a cruel punishment. However, it is unclear how the punishment of "aggravated hard labor" will be implemented, and some parliamentarians admitted that the conditions of the new punishment are still unclear. The abolition comes as parliament debates a controversial general amnesty law, the largest since the end of the civil war in 1990, which could lead to reduced sentences and early release of armed activists and drug traffickers. Families of soldiers killed in the war protested against the law, and some hoped to see the perpetrators executed. Hezbollah did not issue an immediate response but explained its opposition by refusing to allow such a law to pass before the amnesty law, because then those sentenced to death would benefit from two reductions in their sentences.