Saudi Arabian authorities have put to death over 198 individuals so far in 2024, the highest number of executions recorded in the country since 1990, Amnesty International said today.
Despite repeated promises to limit the use of the death penalty, Saudi authorities have ramped up executions while routinely failing to abide by international fair trial standards and safeguards for defendants. Executions for drug-related crimes soared this year, with 53 carried out so far – with an average of one execution every two days in July alone – rising from just two drug-related executions in 2023. Authorities have also weaponised the death penalty to silence political dissent, punishing citizens from the country’s Shi’a minority who supported “anti-government” protests between 2011 and 2013.
“Saudi Arabia’s authorities are pursuing a relentless killing spree displaying a chilling disregard for human life while promoting an empty-worded campaign to rebrand their image,” said Agnès Callamard, Amnesty International’s Secretary General.
“The death penalty is an abhorrent and inhuman punishment which Saudi Arabia has used against people for a wide range of offences, including political dissent and drug-related charges following grossly unfair trials. The authorities must immediately establish a moratorium on executions, and order re-trials for those on death row in line with international standards without resorting to the death penalty.”
Executed for supporting “anti-government protests”
On 17 August 2024, the Saudi Press Agency (SPA) announced the execution of Abdulmajeed al-Nimr, a retired traffic police officer, for terrorism-related offences related to joining Al-Qaeda. However, his court documents tell another story about his charges, which are related to his alleged support for “anti-government” protests in Saudi Arabia’s Shi’a majority Eastern Province.
According to the court document reviewed by Amnesty International, he was initially sentenced by the Specialized Criminal Court to nine years in prison on 25 October 2021 on charges of “seeking to destabilize the social fabric and national unity by participating in demonstrations … supporting riots, chanting slogans against the state and its rulers”, as well as “dissenting against the decision to arrest and prosecute wanted individuals”, and joining a WhatsApp group that included individuals wanted for security purposes. Upon appeal, his punishment was increased to a death sentence. The Specialized Criminal Court did not make a single reference to Al-Nimr’s involvement with Al-Qaeda. The discrepancy in the charges announced by the Saudi Press Agency and Al-Nimr’s court documents shows a striking lack of transparency in judicial proceedings of death penalty cases.
After Al-Nimr’s arrest on 28 October 2017 he was denied access to a lawyer for around two years during his interrogations and pre-trial detention. He spent three months in detention without being informed of the reason for his arrest.
According to a court document, Al-Nimr’s conviction was based solely on a “confession” he said was obtained under duress, including being detained in solitary confinement for a month and a half.
Executions for drug-related offences skyrocketed
In 2024, Saudi authorities have so far executed 53 individuals solely for drug-related offences after only two executions for drug-related offences were recorded in the country in 2023. Between May and June, three foreign nationals from Syria and Nigeria were executed for drug-related offences. The surge has continued since July, with 53 individuals executed so far solely for drug-related offences across the country, 38 of whom were foreign nationals.
This spike in executions for drug-related offences raises serious fears for the fate of dozens of prisoners convicted of similar offences and currently on death row. Today, the authorities executed two Egyptian men who were detained in Tabuk prison for drug-related crimes.
Amnesty International documented the cases of four Egyptian men on death row in Tabuk Prison for drug-related offences. The four individuals are among a group of at least 50 individuals on death row for drug-related crimes in Tabuk Prison, the majority of whom are Egyptian.
This month, Omar (pseudonym), one of the detained men told Amnesty International: “I’ve been on death row for seven years for the possession of eight grams of hashish. I was also convicted of the intent to receive drugs, which I didn’t confess to and have denied. Where else in the world is someone sentenced to death for this?”
Authorities sentenced the men to death in January 2019 on various drug-related charges and upheld the sentence in November 2019. Since then, the men have not received any information about the status of their case, and whether their death sentence has been upheld by the Supreme Court.
Omar added: “I have asked all governmental entities who may know- from the Ministry of Interior to the Supreme Judicial Council, and no one could tell me the status of my case. My son grew up without me for seven years. This makes me feel like I’m already a dead man… A few days ago, I shared a final meal with one of my fellow inmates before he was taken to be executed the next morning. He didn’t know about his impending execution until that morning. All I want to know is the status of my case.”
According to the court document analysed by Amnesty International, the four men had no legal representation throughout the pre-trial detention, interrogations and preliminary trial resulting in their death sentence. Following their conviction, the court stated that they have the right to a legal representative to submit appeal proceedings. However, the court only appointed a lawyer for one of those men.
Omar told Amnesty International that during his appeal session, the judge told him he was unable to object to his conviction because you don’t have a lawyer.” Omar submitted an appeal myself to the Supreme Judicial Council himself after the conviction as held but does not know if it was received it or not. He still has no lawyer.
“Sentencing people to death following unfair trials that lack transparency and due process rights is abhorrent, and highlights the grim reality in the country. The only way to polish the country’s image is through genuine reform and adherence to human rights and international law. Anything less than that will leave these repressive milestones at the forefront of any campaign,” said Agnès Callamard.
Amnesty International opposes the death penalty in all cases without exception, regardless of the nature or circumstances of the crime; guilt, innocence or characteristics of the individual; or the method used by the state to carry out the execution.
Background
The SPA today confirmed the 198th execution carried out this year. The real number of executions may be higher given SPA under-reported on the actual number of executions in 2022.
In 2022, Saudi Arabia executed 196 people – the highest annual number of executions that Amnesty International has recorded in the country in the last 30 years. In March 2022, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman said that the country has “got rid of” the death penalty except for cases where it is mandated under Sharia. Yet, in November 2022, the authorities carried the first executions for drug-related offences in nearly three years, reversing a moratorium on executions for such offences which was announced by the Saudi Human Rights Commission in 2021.
Earlier this year, Amnesty International analysed the country’s draft penal code, which codifies death penalty as a punishment and continues to enable judges to use their discretion to impose death sentences for murder, rape, blasphemy or apostasy.