Fight for the abolition of capital punishment in Lebanon
The Association Justice and Mercy, committed to the defense of Human Rights in Lebanese prisons and against capital punishment for more than fifteen years;
Profoundly convinced by the inhuman character of capital punishment;
Persuaded that capital punishment is an act of torture and that the act of execution is a dehumanizing and cruel treatment;
CertainÂthat justice must establish a balance and not favor vengeance over reason;
With a strong conviction that capital punishment mainly affects disadvantaged individuals who often belong to minorities and rejects all hope of a second chance for the condemned without giving them any possibility of rehabilitation;
Determined to work for the well-being of citizens and the progress of our societies, in addition to striving for a fairer world;
Works for the abolition of capital punishment in Lebanon.
For AJEM, « capital punishment is the extreme form of torture ».
With its evident cruelty, death penalty violates the conventional human rights set out internationally.
With this violation, AJEM seeks therefore to reinforce in Lebanon the application of international instruments defending the right to live as a fundamental right.
Our project aims at reaching a consensus concerning the abolition of capital punishment through:
– the establishment of exchange and claiming of rights networks;
– the reinforcement of the intervention of civil society organizations in this area;
– the application and respect of common rights for every Lebanese citizen and foreigner in Lebanon.
It is important to reiterate that AJEM was the first NGO to rise up against the sentencing and executions of capital punishment which took place after the 15 years of civil war.
Objectives of the project:
To raise the awareness of the Lebanese public and policy makers, in addition to redirecting their thinking towards the abolition of capital punishment:
To form a common understanding of the abolition of capital punishment
To provide means to raise the awareness of the different kinds of publics (pupils, university students, adults, judicial personnel, politicians…)
To promote a reconciliation between prisoners under sentence of death, their families and those of the victims
To drive the actions necessary to commute the sentences of the detainees already on death row
To induce the State to ratify the conventions relating to the abolition of capital punishment
This project has been on hold since the last execution which took place in 2004. Since then, all execution procedures have been blocked, establishing thus a de facto moratorium. Nevertheless, Lebanon hasn’t ratified yet the international conventions against capital punishment.