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Saudi Arabia Sees Record-High Executions Driven by Drug Sentences and Sectarian Bias
SAUDI ARABIA, JUL 7 – Saudi Arabia executed 345 people in 2024, with about one-third for drug-related offences, disproportionately affecting foreign nationals, Amnesty International reported.
- Saudi Arabia executed a record 345 people in 2024 and 180 people in the first half of 2025, including 46 in June alone.
- This surge followed the lifting of a 33-month moratorium on drug-related executions in November 2022, which had started in January 2021.
- Nearly one-third of all executions since 2014 were for drug-related offences, with about three-quarters of those executed for drugs being foreign nationals from multiple countries.
- Amnesty International called Saudi Arabia's use of the death penalty cruel and highlighted systemic legal failures, noting the death penalty is a 'cruel, inhuman and degrading punishment' that violates international law.
- The reported increase in executions indicates that capital punishment continues to be widely practiced, leading to demands for Saudi Arabia to halt executions and reform its legal framework to better align with internationally recognized human rights principles.
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83 Articles
Saudi foreign executions top 100
Saudi Arabia put two Ethiopians to death Thursday, pushing this year's number of foreigners executed past 100 — a spike in capital punishment. The pair were executed on drug charges, the interior ministry said, bringing AFP's tally of foreigners put to death since the beginning of the year to at least 101. "Khalil Qasim Muhammad Omar and Murad Yaqub Adam Siyo — both of Ethiopian nationality — were found guilty of smuggling hashish," read the sta…
Over the past 10 years, 1,816 people have been executed in Saudi Arabia, primarily for drug-related offenses, according to a report by the human rights organization Amenity International. People with foreign nationality are executed more frequently.
With two new executions in Saudi Arabia, the number of foreigners executed there this year has already increased to more than 100. The two men executed on Thursday came from Ethiopia and were convicted of smuggling from Hashish, as reported by the state Saudi Arabian news agency SPA on the basis of information from the Ministry of the Interior.The number of foreigners executed in the Kingdom in 2025 thus increased to 101 according to a census of…
Saudi Arabia executed two Ethiopian nationals for drug trafficking, announced this Thursday the Ministry of the Interior, bringing to at least 101 the total number of foreigners executed in the kingdom since the beginning of the year, according to an AFP count.
On Thursday, the Ministry of the Interior announced the execution of two Ethiopians for drug trafficking. A total of 189 people – including 88 Saudis – have been sentenced to death since the beginning of the year in the kingdom.
NDTV
OODA LoopSaudi Foreign Executions Top 100 After 2 More Put To Death
Saudi Arabia put two Ethiopians to death Thursday, pushing this year's number of foreigners executed past 100 -- a spike in capital punishment that human rights groups have strongly condemned.
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