The Gulf Centre for Human Rights (GCHR) has been following with great concern the escalating use of the death penalty in Saudi Arabia. According to execution statements published by the official Saudi Press Agency (SPA), authorities have carried out over 200 executions this year, marking it the highest number of executions in decades.

Since Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman rose to power in June 2017, Saudi Arabia has become an increasingly repressive state, with high execution figures reflecting this shift, despite the Crown Prince’s 2018 pledge to reduce the use of the death penalty.

The Saudi government has been using the death penalty extensively as part of its ongoing anti-drug campaign launched last year and following the lifting of the moratorium on the death penalty for these offenses two years ago. At least 50 prisoners in Tabuk prison, including 34 Egyptians as well as dozens of Jordanians and Syrians, are on death row for drug trafficking. From August to October 2024, six Egyptian nationals were executed for smuggling drugs into the Kingdom, raising concerns over the disproportionate use of the death penalty against foreign nationals, especially for low-level drug offenses.

Foreign nationals are especially vulnerable to violations of fair trial and due process rights, often being denied access to legal representation, consular assistance, and in many cases, interpretation services. This represents a flagrant breach of right to life, as executions lack any standards for fair trial, in addition to being discriminatory. 

In general, non-lethal offenses make up a high proportion of executions in Saudi Arabia. These offenses refer to crimes that do not meet the threshold of most serious crimes under international law. International law stipulates that if the death penalty is to be retained by states, it should be limited to cases that are most serious, such as those involving intentional killing for example. However, the Saudi government does not abide by these standards and continues to apply the death penalty for non-lethal offenses.

In particular, some of these non-lethal offenses extend to those related to the exercise of fundamental rights, including freedom of expression and assembly. On 19 July 2023, the Saudi Specialised Criminal Court (SCC) sentenced retired teacher Mohammed Nasser Al-Ghamdi to death over social media posts. The sentence was later overturned in August 2024 and replaced with a life sentence. Several human rights defenders and scholars are at heightened risk of the death penalty for exercising their civil rights as they are being tried before the SCC, which is notoriously known for imposing life sentences and death penalties for so-called terrorism and state security offenses.

The authorities clearly use the death penalty as a tool for stifling dissent and silencing the voices of those who dare to criticize the government or demand reforms. Sentencing an individual to death and carrying out an execution for actions related to their human rights work fundamentally violates the core principles of international human rights law.

More flagrantly, some of those sentenced to death by the Saudi authorities were minors at the time of their alleged offenses. For example, Mustafa Al-Darwish was executed on 15 June 2021 over charges related to participating in a protest. The charges he was executed for were committed when he was below the age of 17. Similarly, Yousif Al-Manasif and Ali Al-Mabyook received death sentences for participating in protests when they were under the age of 17. In April 2024, the Supreme Court upheld theses sentences. This comes after King Salman issued a royal decree in 2020 pledging not to execute individuals for crimes they committed as minors and that they would instead serve prison sentences of up to 10 years in juvenile detention centers. Not only does this continued use of the death penalty against child defendants violate international standards prohibiting the execution of minors, but it also underscores the lack of genuine commitment from Saudi authorities to end this egregious practice.

Recommendations

GCHR calls on the Saudi authorities to:

1. Abolish the death penalty for minors and for those who commit non-lethal offenses;
2. Release all prisoners of conscience sentenced to death for exercising their fundamental rights, and stop weaponising the death penalty against human rights defenders; and
3. Stop the disproportionate use of the death penalty against foreign nationals, and ensure that they have access to a fair trial and due process.