MP Elias Hankach called for the formal abolition of the death penalty in Lebanon, saying the country should become the first Arab state to eliminate capital punishment and align its legal system with international human rights standards.

Hankach said the main obstacle preventing the passage of a law abolishing the death penalty was the reluctance of lawmakers to vote on the issue in parliament.

“What’s missing today is political courage and clarity from lawmakers to take this issue to a vote in the general assembly,” Hankach said. “Lebanon has to keep pace with the legal and human rights progress taking place around the world.”

Speaking via Voice of Lebanon 100.5 and VDL24, Hankach noted that Lebanon has effectively suspended executions since 2004, despite the death penalty remaining part of the country’s legal framework.

“Lebanon should be the first Arab country to officially abolish the death penalty,” he said. “We should lead the way in modernizing our laws and moving toward greater respect for human rights and social justice.”

Hankach stressed that abolishing capital punishment is a central part of the Kataeb Party’s political platform and said there are extensive legal and humanitarian arguments supporting the move.

“This issue is too important to remain stuck for two years without a parliamentary vote,” he said.

The lawmaker argued that the death penalty does not guarantee justice and pointed to cases in which defendants sentenced to death were later acquitted on appeal and released.

“There have been people sentenced to death who were later found innocent,” Hankach said. “That alone should make us think carefully before allowing the state to carry out irreversible punishment.”

He also rejected the argument that executions serve as an effective deterrent to crime.

“The real deterrent in society comes from other penalties, such as life imprisonment,” he said. “Scientific studies have repeatedly shown that the death penalty does not reduce crime rates.”

Hankach added that Lebanon should not remain outside what he described as a growing international consensus against capital punishment.

“Lebanon cannot isolate itself from the global movement toward abolishing the death penalty,” he said.

According to Hankach, younger generations in Lebanon are increasingly opposed to executions, noting that “around 90% of young people today do not support the death penalty.”

“Our youth are far more open-minded today,” he said, adding that Lebanon officially supported efforts at the United Nations to abolish capital punishment in 2007.

Hankach also dismissed claims linking the abolition of the death penalty to prison overcrowding, saying the issue should instead be addressed through faster judicial procedures and more efficient court operations.

He praised Justice Minister Adel Nassar for activating court proceedings inside Roumieh Central Prison in an effort to process the cases of inmates who have spent years in detention.

“What we are doing is removing the death penalty from the legal texts because, in practice, it has not been carried out in Lebanon for the past 22 years,” Hankach said.

He stressed that abolishing executions would not mean eliminating accountability for serious crimes.

“No one is saying convicted criminals should go unpunished,” he said. “The point is to replace executions with other severe sentences under the law.”

Hankach said developed countries had modernized their legal systems by integrating principles of human rights and social justice, describing the abolition of capital punishment as one of the first necessary steps toward advancing Lebanon’s institutions and legal framework.

He also credited Nassar with helping push the debate forward through what he described as an important legal review of the issue.