Which country became the first in the Arab world to abolish the death penalty?

On August 11, 2026, the Lebanese Parliament abolished the death penalty, replacing it with provisions for life imprisonment with hard labor, making it the first abolitionist country in the Arab world; a *de facto* moratorium on the death penalty had been in place there since 2004. This decision is linked to the Right to Life, Human Dignity, the UDHR, and the ICCPR, and is considered a significant step towards human rights and criminal justice reform in West Asia.