Since the beginning of 2023, till the end of June Saudi Arabia has announced the execution of 61 individuals.
All 61 executions were carried out in a span of three months, at a rate of one execution every two days.
With the European Saudi Organization for Human Rights monitoring in late 2022 of secret executions and the confirmation of the official Saudi Human Rights Commission to Amnesty the unannounced executions in 2022, it is possible that the actual number of executions carried out is even higher.
Statistics
According to official data, those executed included 2 women and 15 foreign nationals, including:
Saudi Nationals 45
● 2 Indian nationals
● 2 Pakistani nationals
● 2 Bahraini nationals
● 1 Filipino national
● 1 Jordanian national
● 5 Yemeni nationals
● 1 Nepalese national
● 1 Bangladeshi national
Saudi Arabia implements three types of criminal punishment: qisas (retributive), ta’zir (discretionary), and hudud (mandatory).
Despite repeated official promises to halt ta’zir executions, Saudi Arabia has carried out 27 ta’zir executions.
Ta’zir executions are discretionary, either legislated by the State or determined by the judge where there is no punishment specified in Islamic law or where the strict legal, procedural and evidential requirements for other sentences are not met.
And 28 Hudud sentences and 6 Qisas Hudud executions constituted 45% of all executions this year, while ta’zir executions accounted for 44% and qisas accounted for 9%. Last year, Hudud executions accounted for 2% of the total executions recorded in 2022; exemplifying the inconsistency and arbitrary nature of Saudi Arabia’s judicial system.
Failing International Obligations
Saudi Arabia’s executions in the first half of 2023 demonstrate the Kingdom's disregard for its obligations under international law.
According to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and arguably customary international law, the death penalty is reserved for only the ‘most serious’ crimes, which are defined as intentional homicide. Nevertheless, the European Saudi Organization for Human Rights (ESOHR) monitoring reveals that Saudi Arabia imposed the death penalty for less serious crimes, including participation in protests, expressing opinions, and non-lethal drug-related charges.
In addition, some of these sentences may be considered arbitrary deprivations of life, as they involved torture-tainted confessions and a lack of meaningful due process. For example, Hussain Abu al-Kheir reported credible claims of torture, which the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention found were never investigated by Saudi Arabia. Abu al-Kheir was also never appointed a lawyer.
Similarly, UN Special Rapporteurs affirmed a lack of fair trial guarantees in the cases of Sadeq Thamer and Jafar Sultan, who had been arbitrarily arrested and tortured. Saudi Arabia disregarded these opinions and proceeded with the executions.
Saudi Arabia has also persisted in its policy of withholding the bodies of those executed, despite families’ requests for them to be returned. The number of bodies currently held is at least 140.
During the reign of King Salman bin Abdulaziz and his son Mohammed bin Salman, which began in 2015, Saudi Arabia has carried out 1,083 death sentences.
This alarming rate and the Kingdom’s continuous disregard for promises, international obligations, and laws confirm that the danger to the lives of death row detainees in Saudi Arabia is increasing.
ESOHR has confirmed that at least 64 detainees currently face death sentences in Saudi Arabia.
Among those currently threatened are at least nine child defendants: Abdullah al-Howaiti, Abdullah al-Derazi, Jalal Labbad, Youssef al-Manasef, Ali al-Mabeyouq, Hassan Zaki al-Faraj, Ali Hassan al-Sbaiti, Jawad Qureiris, and Mahdi al-Mohsen. 9 قاصرين The Court of Appeal has also approved several death sentences for defendants who were tortured, such as Muhammad Labbad, Ali Al-Rabea, Saud Al-Faraj, and Muhammad Abdullah al-Faraj. In addition, scholars and researchers, like Hassan Farhan al-Maliki, Salman Alodah, and Ali al-Omari, continue to face the death penalty.
