Thirty-six rights groups condemned Saudi Arabia’s 2025 execution surge, including of foreigners and children, calling it a flagrant breach of international human rights law.
In a joint statement issued on the World Day Against the Death Penalty on Oct. 10, the groups said Saudi authorities carried out at least 292 executions from Jan. 1 to Oct. 9, including four women, citing data from the state-run Saudi Press Agency. They said the tally is on course to surpass last year’s record.
Saudi Arabia had set a record in 2024 with 345 executions, compared with 172 in 2023 and 196 in 2022, according to Amnesty International, which ranked the kingdom third globally for executions in the last three years, after China and Iran.
The statement said recent years have seen numerous executions of foreign nationals in drug cases, Saudi citizens sentenced for peaceful dissent, and a young man executed for an offense allegedly committed as a child. It described these acts as a clear violation of international human rights law. The statement called the escalation “a stark contradiction” with the kingdom’s earlier promises to curb use of the death penalty.
Of those executed this year, 195 were convicted in drug-related cases, the groups said. They added that 151 of those were foreign nationals from Asian and African countries, including 38 from Somalia, 30 from Ethiopia, 23 from Pakistan, 16 from Egypt and 12 from Afghanistan.
The organizations noted that this wave followed the reversal of a moratorium on drug-related executions that had lasted 33 months, from Feb. 2020 to Nov. 2022, raising serious fears for hundreds of other prisoners at imminent risk of execution for non-lethal drug offenses.
They said foreign defendants in Saudi Arabia often face serious due-process violations during arrest and trial, including denial of consular assistance, inadequate legal representation, and poor interpretation, making an effective defense nearly impossible.
“Terrorism” charges and free expression
According to the statement, 34 men were executed in 2025 for terrorism-related offenses—a category so broadly defined in Saudi law that it can include non-lethal acts not deserving of the death penalty by nature. The groups pointed to the June execution of Saudi journalist Turki Al-Jasser, following seven years of enforced disappearance, as an example of how capital punishment is used to silence freedom of expression.
Meanwhile, Islamic scholars Salman Al-Odah and Hassan Farhan Al-Maliki still face possible death sentences in protracted trials for reasons that remain unclear.
Juveniles at risk despite pledges
The rights organizations denounced the Aug. 21 execution of Jalal Labbad, saying the charges against him stemmed from acts allegedly committed before he turned 18—a clear breach of Riyadh’s pledge to end executions for crimes by minors. They warned that other child defendants remain at risk, including Abdullah Al-Derazi, Youssef Al-Manasef, Ali Hassan Al-Subaiti, Jawad Qureiris, and Hassan Al-Faraj.
The statement condemned what it described as “the stark contradiction” between the surge in executions and Riyadh’s campaign to burnish its international image through megaprojects like Neom and high-profile sports investments, including hosting the 2034 FIFA World Cup, all while continuing a domestic crackdown.
The groups urged Saudi authorities to immediately halt all executions as a step toward full abolition. They called for amending national laws to bar the death penalty for non-lethal crimes and vaguely defined “terrorist acts,” commuting all death sentences for children and those convicted of non-lethal offenses, publishing execution data, allowing independent monitoring of death row conditions, and releasing all individuals sentenced to death for peaceful activity.
The groups’ statement also appealed to the UN Human Rights Council, and relevant UN mechanisms, to monitor and report on Saudi Arabia’s growing use of executions. Further urging the kingdom’s international partners to speak out and press for a moratorium pending full abolition.
The joint statement was signed by rights groups from countries including Germany, the United States, Egypt, Pakistan, Somalia, Kenya, Tunisia, and Bahrain.
Saudi authorities say they carry out sentences only “after defendants exhaust all levels of litigation,” stressing that “the Government of the Kingdom is keen to maintain security, achieve justice, and combat drugs.”
