Kathmandu— Lebanon's parliament voted on Tuesday to abolish the death penalty, making it the first country in the Middle East to do so. The decision replaces capital punishment with life imprisonment involving aggravated hard labour, despite courts continuing to issue death sentences during an unofficial moratorium observed since January 2004. As of late 2025, Lebanon held 85 individuals on death row, according to the Ministry of Justice’s Directorate of Prisons.

Global Trend Towards Abolition

Three-quarters of the world's nations have either abolished the death penalty in law or ceased its practice, having not carried out an execution in the last decade, according to Amnesty International. This global shift demonstrates a growing international consensus against capital punishment. As of December 2025, 113 countries have abolished the death penalty for all crimes, while nine others maintain abolition only for 'ordinary crimes' – typically excluding offenses under military law or those committed in exceptional circumstances.

Worldwide Execution Numbers

Despite the global trend towards abolition, Amnesty International recorded a significant increase in executions worldwide in 2025. The organization documented 2,707 executions, a 78 percent rise from the 1,518 reported in 2024. This spike was largely attributed to a more than doubling of executions in Iran, which carried out at least 2,159 executions in 2025 compared to 972 the previous year.

Data Limitations and Retentionist Countries

Amnesty International’s data excludes execution numbers from China, where thousands are believed to have been put to death. Executions were carried out in a total of 17 countries during 2025, continuing a trend of historically low levels observed since 2018. Currently, 54 countries retain the death penalty as part of their legal systems.

Lebanon’s move aligns with a growing international movement to abolish capital punishment and represents a significant step towards upholding human rights within the Middle Eastern region.

(With inputs from Al Jazeera)

Originally published on abcnews.com.np.