Saudi Arabia executing foreigners, drug offenders at record pace: Amnesty

The Associated Press

· Posted: Jul 07, 2025 10:11 AM EDT | Last Updated: 2 hours ago

Executions successful Saudi Arabia surged past twelvemonth to a grounds high, Amnesty International said Monday, arsenic activists progressively pass astir the kingdom's usage of the decease punishment successful non-violent cause cases.

Saudi Arabia executed 345 radical past year, the highest fig ever recorded by Amnesty successful implicit 3 decades of reporting. In the archetypal six months of this twelvemonth alone, 180 radical person been enactment to death, the radical said, signalling that grounds apt volition again beryllium broken.

This year, astir two-thirds of those executed were convicted connected non-lethal cause charges, the activistic radical Reprieve said separately. Amnesty besides has raised akin concerns astir executions successful cause cases.

Saudi Arabia has not offered immoderate remark connected wherefore it progressively employs the decease penalty.

It is 1 of respective countries successful the Middle East, including Iran, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates, that tin levy the decease punishment connected drug-related charges. But the kingdom remains 1 of the world's apical executioners behind lone China and Iran — whose execution numbers are often hard to accurately gauge — and its usage of executions successful cause cases appears to beryllium fuelling that.

Short-lived moratorium connected drug-related executions

Amnesty documented the cases of 25 overseas nationals who are presently connected decease row, oregon were precocious executed, successful Saudi Arabia for drug-related offences.  

More than fractional of those executed this twelvemonth successful the kingdom were overseas nationals, according to Reprieve.

One specified national, Egyptian Essam Ahmed, disappeared successful 2021 portion moving connected a sportfishing vessel successful Sinai. A period later, his household received connection helium had been detained successful Saudi Arabia and sentenced to decease for cause trafficking. Ahmed claims helium was forced by the boat's proprietor to transportation a bundle for him astatine gunpoint.

"We're surviving successful terror, we're frightened each morning," said a subordinate of Ahmed's family, who spoke to the AP connected information of anonymity fearing his comments could interaction the case. "Every greeting until 9 a.m., we're acrophobic that they took 1 of them for execution without america knowing."

Ahmed's communicative is all-too common, Amnesty said, successful a state wherever an estimated 76 per cent of the workforce is comprised of migrant workers.

"Low-wage migrant workers caught successful Saudi Arabia's 'war connected drugs' person small superior to forestall their exploitation astatine the hands of experienced, fraudulent agents oregon to spend ineligible practice that would efficaciously support their rights erstwhile successful Saudi Arabia and facing the decease penalty."

In 2021, arsenic portion of the crown prince's transgression justness overhaul, Saudi Arabia's Human Rights Commission announced a moratorium connected drug-related executions. The moratorium, however, remained successful spot for conscionable nether 3 years, earlier it was scrapped without an explanation.

Before that period, Amnesty documented that 76 per cent of the 202 radical executed for drug-related offences betwixt 2017 and 2019 were migrant workers.

In a 10-year play review, migrant workers from Pakistan were the astir apt to beryllium executed solely for drug-related offences, a full of 155, with 69 migrant workes from Syria and 50 from Jordan executed for cause offences.

Read the Amnesty report:

Crackdowns proceed contempt modernization

Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Saudi Arabia's day-to-day ruler, highlighted successful 2022 that he constricted the usage of superior punishment to conscionable homicide cases.

"About the decease penalty, we got escaped of each of it, but for 1 category, and this 1 is written successful the Qur'an, and we cannot bash thing astir it, adjacent if we wished to bash something, due to the fact that it is wide teaching successful the Qur'an," the prince told The Atlantic.

The executions travel arsenic the kingdom continues to undertake bold reforms to diversify its system arsenic portion of its Vision 2030 initiative.

Human rights groups for years person been captious of Saudi Arabia's quality rights record. There person been accelerated societal changes successful Saudi Arabia nether King Salman and the crown prince, with women entering the workforce successful expanding numbers and besides present being allowed to drive.

But the kingdom has also overseen the apprehension of women's rights activists, including erstwhile University of British Columbia pupil Loujain al-Hathloul, who was detained for 3 years.

Saudi Arabia besides has imprisoned businessmen, royals and others successful a crackdown connected corruption that soon resembled a shakedown of the kingdom's astir almighty people.

Jeed Basyouni, who directs Britain-based ineligible non-profit Reprieve's Middle East and North Africa program, insisted Prince Mohammed could alteration Saudi Arabia's execution argumentation rapidly if helium wanted.

"He could bash wide pardons. He could importune connected rewriting laws truthful that they are successful enactment with planetary law," Basyouni said. "The billions spent connected alleged reforms, designed to beforehand a much tolerant and inclusive kingdom nether the crown prince's rule, disguise an authoritarian authorities wherever regular executions for cause crimes are present the norm."