This Thursday, two human rights organizations denounced the “execution frenzy” in Saudi Arabia, where at least 338 death row inmates were executed in 2024, according to an AFP count based on official data. A number “unprecedented”denounce in a press release the British organization Reprieve and the European Saudi Organization for Human Rights (ESOHR), which report “at least 345” executions last year. “This frenzy of executions reveals the reality of Mohammed bin Salman’s Saudi Arabia”the crown prince and de facto leader of the powerful Gulf monarchy, reacts Jeed Basyouni, Middle East director of Reprieve. “The kingdom’s international and economic partners cannot pretend not to know, they too are tainted by the blood of the victims”he adds.
According to Amnesty International, which has been counting executions in this country since 1990 following a rigorous application of Islamic law, the highest tolls until then were 196 executions in 2022 and 192 in 1995. The kingdom is the country which executed the more prisoners in the world in 2023 after China and Iran, according to the NGO, with 170 executions according to the AFP count. Among the people executed in 2024, 117 had been convicted of drug offenses, including some for simple possession of hashish, according to the AFP count.
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The Interior Ministry announced Wednesday the execution of six Iranians in the east of the kingdom for “smuggled hashish”without specifying the date. “The regime uses the death penalty as a weapon, applied more broadly and for less serious crimes than ever before”said Taha al-Hajji, legal director of ESOHR. “Any public disagreement with the crown prince is now punishable by death and anyone who smokes cannabis risks their life”he said. Riyadh’s application of the death penalty is criticized by human rights defenders who consider it excessive and out of step with the kingdom’s efforts to present a modern and reformist image.
Saudi Arabia has carried out more than 1,000 executions since King Salman came to power in 2015, according to a report published in early 2023 by Reprieve and ESOHR. Riyadh, engaged in an ambitious reform policy led by its crown prince, seeks to attract tourists and sports competitions, and will host the 2034 World Cup. “How many executions will be deemed excessive before the World Cup in 2034?”s’interroge M. Basyouni. “At the current rate, it will be more than 3,000 deaths. International pressure is essential”.
