Lebanon abolishes the death penalty despite Hezbollah

The Lebanese Parliament has voted to abolish the death penalty. It is not the first member of the Arab League to do so (Djibouti had done so in 1990, but the former French colony is an Arab country only in geopolitical terms). Lebanon is therefore the first country in the Arab world to embark on this path, even if the process is not yet complete. In a 128-member Parliament, half Christian and half Muslim, the bill replacing the death penalty with life imprisonment with hard labour was passed, with Hezbollah (15) and its allies (16 Christians from the Free Patriotic Movement led by former President General Michel Aoun and one Sunni independent) voting against it. It must now be promulgated by the President, General Joseph Aoun (who shares the same rank, Maronite faith and surname as his predecessor, but is merely a namesake with no family connection, and is his political polar opposite). However, this is now a mere formality, as the government has already expressed its support.

In fact, the last death sentence had been carried out in January 2004, but the courts continued to hand down death sentences and the law retained this option for crimes deemed extremely serious: aggravated murder, terrorism resulting in death, treason, espionage and other offences relating to national security. However, the practical implementation of the ruling required the joint signature of the President, the Prime Minister and the Minister of Justice: a combination that had not occurred for 22 years, leaving a number of prisoners on death row, estimated to be between 78 and 25. The reform has been backed by the UN and the EU, and Justice Minister Adel Nasser has stated that it will improve international judicial cooperation, given that the existence of the death penalty hindered the extradition of suspects from countries that prohibit it to countries where they might be sentenced to death. Lebanon is taking a step forward in terms of civilisation and in support of the rule of law. Hezbollah is trying to drag it back again.