More than 100 foreigners have been executed in Saudi Arabia this year. Human rights organizations have described the number as 'unprecedented'. French news agency AFP reported.
A Yemeni citizen was executed on Saturday in the country's southwestern Nazran province. The man was found guilty of drug trafficking in Saudi Arabia, the official Saudi Press Agency reported.
According to AFP data, a total of 101 foreigners have been executed so far in 2024. 34 foreigners were executed in Saudi Arabia in 2023 and 2022 respectively.
Taha al-Hajji, legal director of the German-based European-Saudi Organization for Human Rights (SOHR), called the number unprecedented. He said, Saudi Arabia has never executed 100 foreigners in a year before.
Human rights organizations have been strongly criticizing Saudi Arabia's use of the death penalty. They are calling it an excessively harsh punishment. This is in conflict with Saudi Arabia's efforts to attract international tourism and investment.
According to Amnesty International, Saudi Arabia had the third highest number of executions in the world in 2023. China and Iran top the list.
Among those executed in 2024 are 21 from Pakistan, 20 from Yemen, 14 from Syria, 10 from Nigeria, 9 from Egypt, 8 from Jordan and 7 from Ethiopia. Besides, there are three citizens each from India, Sudan and Afghanistan and one each from Sri Lanka, Eritrea and the Philippines.
Taha Al-Hajji of SOHR said foreigners are the most vulnerable group. They are victims of major drug cartels and face human rights violations ranging from arrest to execution.
In 2022, Saudi Arabia lifted a three-year moratorium on the death penalty for drug-related crimes. According to AFP data, 92 people were executed this year for drug-related crimes. 69 of whom are foreigners.
Repreve's head of Middle East affairs, Jed Bassiuni, said the rate of executions signaled a new crisis in Saudi Arabia. Drug-related arrests and executions perpetuate the cycle of violence.
Bassiuni warned that this number could exceed 300 by the end of the year. In this situation, there is fear and anxiety among the families of foreign nationals sentenced to death.
Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman said in an interview in 2022 that the monarchy has moved away from the death penalty except for murder or crimes that threaten mass. However, human rights activists are claiming that the reality completely rejects this statement of Yuvraj.
