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.
