Human rights activists, legal experts and religious...

Human rights activists, legal experts and religious figures in Lebanon described the authorities' implementation of capital punishment as inhumane. "Executing capital punishment here is usually based on a political decision and not on a legal basis," said lawyer George Haddad, a member of the Foundation for Human and Humanitarian Rights in Lebanon, during one of the foundation's meetings. According to Father Fadi Daou the Catholic Church's stance on capital punishment was made clear in 1995, when the Pope expressed the church's opposition to the death penalty. Eliane Masri, also a member of the foundation, said that Article 3 of the 1948 Human Rights Declaration stipulated that "everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of person," while Article 5 stipulated that "no one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment." Haddad added that the Lebanese law stipulated the use of capital punishment only in the case of premeditated murder. "Both the Judicial Council and the Military Tribunal Court's decision to implement capital punishment cannot be appealed," he added.