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| Public execution on a parking lot in Saudi Arabia |
According to the High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay, the number of people that have been executed in Saudi Arabia in 2013 shows a significant increase in comparison to recent years.
While 27 people were executed in 2010, that number almost tripled in 2012, with 79 executions. In July 2013 the number of death penalties applied stood at 57, clearly marking a negative trend. Experts however suspect the shadow figure of executions in Saudi Arabia to be much higher. Many of these executions were not applied to persons committing ‘serious’ crimes under international norms.
In Saudi Arabia the death penalty cannot only be applied for murder and terrorism but also for drug offences (trafficking and possession), apostasy, armed robbery, sorcery, heresy and witchcraft; crimes that are not considered ‘serious’ enough to apply the death penalty under international standards. Especially drug-related offences are increasingly punished with death penalty. While in 2010 one person was executed for drug offences, it was three in 2011, twenty-two in 2012 and until May this year already thirteen left their life for possessing or trafficking drugs.
The United Nations Special Rapporteurs on summary executions, torture and migrants expressed concern several times over the last years and especially the case of a Sri Lankan domestic worker who was beheaded on the 9th of January leading to widespread outrage amongst the international community and straining diplomatic ties with Sri Lanka. Rizana Nafeek was charged with murder after a baby in her care choked to death while being fed in 2005. She was 17 years old at the time.
Source: The World Online, July 12, 2013
31 death row inmates pardoned in Saudi Arabia
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia, July 11 (UPI) -- Thirty-one Saudi Arabian death row inmates have been pardoned during the last eight months, officials told a Saudi newspaper.
The families or tribes of those who have been pardoned paid diya, or blood money, or were otherwise pardoned by the victims' families, the daily newspaper al-Sharq reported.
Under Saudi law, a convicted murderer can be pardoned if he or she is pardoned by the victim's relatives, either through the diya system or the fulfillment of other demands, Gulf News said Thursday.
"Most pardon cases were related to paying diya," a source told al-Sharq. "However, in a few cases, it was just the families pardoning the culprit."
Lawyer Abdul Aziz al-Zamel said a victim's relatives' pardon has to be documented in a court of law.
"Three judges check the information and the form of the granted pardon before they allow the procedures to go ahead," al-Zamel said. "They also check whether the families pardoning the prisoners had any special conditions or requirements."
Source: UPI, July 12, 2013
