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Lebanon

Engagée au Liban depuis 2010, ECPM accompagne et renforce le travail des acteurs abolitionnistes locaux afin d'obtenir une réforme du Code Pénal. Elle développe également un programme pédagogique et a mené une importante mission d'enquête dans les couloirs de la mort libanais, publiée en 2021.

Barometer

With a moratorium on executions
Country status
78
Sentenced
0
Execution(s)
5
Conviction(s)
Figures for 2022. The last execution in Lebanon took place in 2004.

ECPM supports its local partners by promoting dialogue with national authorities, supporting advocacy with regional and international human rights mechanisms, supporting the defence of prisoners on death row and advocating for the improvement of their detention conditions.

Lebanon has observed a de facto moratorium since 2004, but Lebanese courts continue to hand down death sentences. Prison conditions are appalling in the country, which has the highest prison occupancy rate in the Middle East (236% in 2019). The number of people sentenced to death is not published by the authorities and access to prisons (administered by the Ministry of Interior and the Ministry of National Defence) remains very limited.

In December 2020, for the first time, Lebanon voted in favour of the United Nations General Assembly Resolution calling for a universal moratorium on the use of the death penalty. In 2024, Lebanon will mark 20 years of moratorium.

Strengthening civil society action

Since 2010, ECPM has been working in Lebanon in partnership with the Lebanese Coalition against the Death Penalty, the Association of Justice et Mercy (AJEM) and the Lebanese Association for Civil Rights (LACR). Through professional training, structural and strategic support (in particular for the organisation of general assemblies and the development of specific tools), this collaboration has enabled AJEM and LACR to become leading associations within Lebanese civil society (increasing their membership and the scope of their actions in the country) and has thus contributed to increasing their impact.

IThese associations are invited to participate in the main international abolitionist events, taking the Lebanese cause beyond its borders and uniting in a broader movement. Locally, they are also uniting efforts, in particular by creating the Lebanese Parliamentary Network Against the Death Penalty, in partnership with members of the World Action Against the Death Penalty.

ECPM’s support has included facilitating participation of a large Lebanese delegation in the 6th World Congress against the Death Penalty, in Oslo in 2016, and in the General Assembly of the Moroccan Coalition against the Death Penalty, in Rabat. Several Lebanese parliamentarians were also given the opportunity to take part in regional training sessions organised in Morocco.

The project “Supporting local actors towards abolition of the death penalty in North Africa and the Middle East” was launched in 2017 with the support of the Agence française de développement, Norway, Switzerland, the European Union delegation in Morocco and the Fondation de France.

Lebanon, April 2022

Advocating for legislative reform

ECPM conducts advocacy in Lebanon for reform of the Penal Code to abolish the death penalty. The association promotes international instruments such as the United Nations resolution for a moratorium on use of the death penalty and follow-up on the commitments made by the country during the Universal Periodic Review (UPR). ECPM’s fact-finding mission on the reality of the death penalty in Lebanon, “Vivants, sans l’être” (Alive, but not living), published in 2021, is an important advocacy tool to engage in dialogue with the local authorities based on verified facts.

Developing an educational programme

ECPM implements an educational programme for young people in Lebanon, organising presentations in schools.

Presentation and testimonies on the death penalty in Lebanon

All reports

Conditions of detention
Alive, without being: fact-finding mission, Lebanon (French, Arabic)
Oct 2022
Abolition process
The process of abolishing the death penalty in member states of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation
Oct 2020

All tools

Infographics – the death penalty in Lebanon (2022)
The death penalty in law and in practice in Lebanon

All news

Event
3 questions to Sarah Hajjar, Coordinator of the 4th Regional Congress on the Death Penalty in the Middle East
06 July 2023
Sarah Hajjar has been active in the Human Rights field for over ten years and carried numerous campaigns and events for non-governmental organizations including ECPM and Amnesty International France. After working on the 6th and the 8th World Congresses against the Death Penalty, Sarah Hajjar was appointed Coordinator of the…
Uncategorized
Walid Slaïby, a prominent abolitionist figure, dies at 68
09 May 2023
Walid Slaïby, a leading figure in Lebanese civil society and the abolitionist movement, passed away on Wednesday, May 3. ECPM expresses its support to his family and joins them in their grief. Walid Slaïby and Ogarit Younan, his wife, were nominated for the Grand Prix Robert Badinter awarded by the…
Advocacy, Event
ECPM heads to the Middle East for the Fourth Regional Congress on the Death Penalty
02 May 2023
After Morocco (2012), Malaysia (2015) and Abidjan (2018), ECPM, Penal Reform International, Adaleh Center for Human Rights Studies teams and their partners are now heading to the Middle East to organize the fourth regional congress on the death penalty that will take place on July 11 and 12, 2023. An…
cover 10 arguments for the abolition in arabic
Editorial / opinion page
ECPM publishes 10 arguments against the death penalty in Arabic
02 March 2022
As part of its project co-funded by the European Union, Norway and the French Development Agency, ECPM is publishing a leaflet against the death penalty in Arabic. The leaflet aims to strengthen awareness and advocacy among Arabic-speaking interlocutors and is available both print and online.
Poster Abolition Now Tour
In the field
#AbolitionNowTour : The Youth Stands Against the Death Penalty
24 February 2022
ECPM is glad to introduce an unprecedented experience! In the framework of the 8th World Congress Against the Death Penalty, due in Berlin in November 2022, ECPM just wrapped up the #AbolitionNowTour: a unique mobilization programe intended for young people from Africa, Asia, the Middle-East and North America. The project targetted 6 countries…
Event, In the field
Announcement of the 5th edition of the “Draw me the abolition” competition’s winners!
30 April 2021
Competition poster
Culture
” Draw me abolition “: you are the jury !
06 April 2021
It is time to decide on the winners of the 5th edition of “Draw me abolition”! Out of around 400 posters produced by young people aged between 14 and 20 from 13 different countries, 50 posters have been shortlisted. ECPM and the International Network for Abolition Education are pleased to…
Event, In the field
Join us on 21 January for the webinar to launch our fact-finding mission in Lebanon
15 January 2021
Join us on Thursday, 21 January at 10am (UTC+1) for the launch of our new fact-finding mission on the death penalty in Lebanon, “Alive, without being”. Register online by following this link. The fact-finding mission was carried out by ECPM in partnership with the AJEM (l’Association Justice et Miséricorde) and the LACR…
cover publication
Publication
The process of abolishing the death penalty in member states of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC)
26 November 2020
As the 47th session of the Council of Foreign Ministers organised by the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) is being held in Niamey, Niger, on 27 and 28 November 2020, ECPM and Nael Georges publish the study The process of abolishing the death penalty in member states of the Organisation…