Lebanon has officially abolished the death penalty, becoming the first country in the Middle East to do so. On Tuesday, the Lebanese parliament voted to scrap capital punishment, replacing death sentences with life imprisonment with aggravated hard labour.

The move marks a significant step for the nation, which has observed an unofficial moratorium on executions since January 2004. Despite this de facto halt, courts have continued to issue death sentences, with 85 individuals facing capital punishment at the end of 2025, according to the Lebanese Ministry of Justice’s Directorate of Prisons.

Globally, the trend continues towards abolition. Amnesty International reports that as of December, nearly three-quarters of the world's countries have abolished the death penalty either in law or in practice. This means 113 countries have abolished it for all crimes, nine have abolished it for ordinary crimes only, and 23 have abolished it in practice, having not carried out executions for at least a decade.

Lebanon's decision aligns with a global movement away from capital punishment. The abolitionist stance is strengthening, though challenges remain. The shift in Lebanon is particularly noteworthy given its regional context, potentially influencing other nations in the Middle East.

Despite the overall decrease in countries retaining the death penalty, Amnesty International recorded a significant spike in recorded executions in 2025. A total of 2,707 executions were documented worldwide, a 78 percent increase from 1,518 in 2024. This surge was largely driven by Iran, which more than doubled its executions from 972 in 2024 to at least 2,159 in 2025.

Amnesty's figures do not include the thousands of executions believed to have been carried out in China, where data is considered a state secret. Executions were carried out in 17 countries in 2025, a number consistent with the historical lows observed since 2018, indicating that while the number of countries carrying out executions is small, some are significantly increasing their use of the death penalty.

The Lebanese parliament's vote to end executions follows years of debate and advocacy. The decision to replace death sentences with life imprisonment with aggravated hard labour ensures that individuals convicted of capital offenses will still face severe punishment, but without the finality of execution.

With Lebanon's abolition, the global landscape of capital punishment continues to evolve. While the majority of nations have moved towards abolition, the concentration of executions in a few countries highlights ongoing human rights concerns and the varying approaches to justice and punishment worldwide.