Saudi Arabia remains committed to the death penalty despite the kingdom moving towards social reforms, according to a new report published by a human rights group.
“Amidst
Saudi Arabia’s abysmal human rights landscape, the use of capital punishment remains a highly contentious issue, particularly where it violates the non-derivable right to life,” the report argued. “Employed as a tool of terror by the authorities, the irreversible nature of capital punishment means that this particular violation must be reported on,” it added, “particularly when a lack of due process or the use of execution as a political tool is a key concern.”
Under the watch of 32-year-old Crown Prince
Mohammed bin Salman, Saudi Arabia is trying to promote a more progressive social image. The prince’s Vision 2030 program aims to modernize the Saudi economy and foster a more “
vibrant society.” In an effort to attract foreign investment and expand the country’s soft power, a range of relatively liberal steps have been taken.
Cinemashave been allowed to open, music concerts by both men and women have been held and women have been given the right to drive, among other new policies.
Despite the reforms, Saudi Arabians remain severely politically repressed. Absolute power still lies with King Salman, and recent clampdowns on human rights
activists, prominent businessmen and
fellow royals have been designed to drive home the message that reform is gifted to the population, not demanded by it. “Saudi Arabia’s poor human rights record continues to plunge into deeper crisis with severe restriction on expression and association, and waves of arbitrary arrests,” ESOHR explained.
The kingdom executed eight fewer people in 2017 than in 2016, but remains one of the most prominent users of capital punishment. In recent years, the number of death sentences has grown, coinciding with the ascension of King Salman to the throne in 2015, hitting levels not seen since the 1990s.
Warning: Highly Disturbing Content (video & audio)
Public execution of a female Burmese prisoner in the city of Mecca, Saudi Arabia,
in January 2016. The woman, who was sentenced to death
for allegedly killing a child, is heard screaming: "I didn't kill, I didn't kill!"
Ninety of those executed last year were Saudi nationals and the other 56 were foreigners. Saudi Arabia employs a
variety of methods for executions including stoning and firing squads, but the most common is beheading. Convicts are sedated before their execution. The bodies of some of those killed have been
crucified afterwards—with the heads sewn back on—as an indignity to the condemned and a warning to other citizens.
The kingdom occasionally stages mass executions, especially for those accused of terrorism or subversion. In 2016, 47 terrorism convicts
were executed across 12 different provinces, most by beheading and four by firing squad. It was the largest execution since the 1980s.
ESOHR said there are 31 detainees who remain on death row, having exhausted all legal challenges. Another 10 are currently appealing death sentences.
Warning: Graphic Content
Medieval and barbaric: Public beheading in Saudi Arabi
China executes the most people of any nation. Though the country does not reveal how many people are killed each year, the figure is believed to be over 1,000. Iran comes in second place, having executed at least 507 people last year. For comparison, the U.S. sent 23 prisoners to their deaths in 2017.
Source: TIME, David Brennan, August 18, 2018
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"One is absolutely sickened, not by the crimes that the wicked have committed,
but by the punishments that the good have inflicted." -- Oscar Wilde
