Saudi Arabia carries out more executions of foreigners than ever before

Saudi Arabia has executed more than 100 foreigners this year so far – the highest number ever, according to a human rights group.

The latest execution, on Saturday in the southwestern region of Najran, was of a Yemeni national convicted of smuggling drugs into the Gulf kingdom, the official Saudi Press Agency reported.

It brings the number of foreigners executed in the middle eastern country to 101.

This is almost three times the number last year and in 2022, according to tallies compiled by news agency AFP.

Jeed Basyouni, who heads Middle East anti-death penalty advocacy for the NGO Reprieve, said overall, including Saudi nationals in the figures, the number of executions in the country was on track to exceed 300 for the year.

‘This is an unprecedented execution crisis in Saudi Arabia,’ said Ms Basyouni.

‘Families of foreign nationals on death row are understandably terrified that their loved one will be next.’

Taha al-Hajji,legal director at Berlin-based European-Saudi Organisation for Human Rights (ESOHR) said: ‘This is the largest number of executions of foreigners in one year.

‘Saudi Arabia has never executed 100 foreigners in a year.’

The country has faced ongoing criticism of its use of the death penalty, which human rights groups say is excessive and out of step with efforts to soften its forbidding image and welcome international tourists and investors.

The oil-rich nation executed the third highest number of prisoners in the world after China and Iran in 2023, according to Amnesty International.

In September, it was reported that Saudi Arabia had carried out its highest number of executions in more than three decades, surpassing its previous highs of 196 in 2022 and 192 in 1995.

Executions have continued at worrying rate since and as of Sunday it’s believed 274 people have been put to death.

The nationalities of foreigners executed include 21 from Pakistan, 20 from Yemen, 14 from Syria, 10 from Nigeria, nine from Egypt, eight from Jordan and seven from Ethiopia.

There were also three each from Sudan, India and Afghanistan, and one each from Sri Lanka, Eritrea and the Philippines.

In 2022 Saudi Arabia ended a three-year moratorium on the execution of drug offenders, and executions for drug-related crimes have boosted this year’s numbers.

There have been 92so far this year, 69 of them of foreigners, according to AFP.

Diplomats and activists say that foreign defendants usually face a higher barrier to fair trials, including the right to access court documents.

Foreigners ‘are the most vulnerable group’, said Mr Hajji of the ESOHR.

Not only are they often ‘victims of major drug dealers’ but also ‘subjected to a series of violations from the moment of their arrest until their execution,’ he said.

Saudi Arabia is known for beheading its capital punishment prisoners, although official statements rarely include the method of execution.

The high number of executions undercuts statements by Saudi Arabia’s de facto ruler, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who told The Atlantic in 2022 that the kingdom had eliminated the death penalty with the exception of murder cases or when an individual posed a threat to many lives.

The same year it executed 81 people in one day for terror offences and other violent crimes in what was the largest mass execution in the kingdom’s modern history.

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