![A large flag of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is seen flying near Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on 14 December, 2023. [Photo by Jaap Arriens/NurPhoto via Getty Images]](https://i0.wp.com/www.middleeastmonitor.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/GettyImages-1853589608.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1)
Saudi Arabia has executed more than 100 foreigners since the beginning of 2024, according to Agence France Presse (AFP). The tally is based on official announcements and marks a new record, added a human rights group.
The Saudi news agency reported that on Saturday, a Yemeni citizen was executed after being found guilty of smuggling drugs. The execution of Moussa Mohammed Abdullah Saleh was carried out in Najran. It was execution number 101 of foreigners in the kingdom since January.
The legal director of the European Saudi Organisation for Human Rights (ESOHR), based in Berlin, said, “This is the largest number of executions of foreigners in one year.” In both 2022 and 2023, added Taha Al-Hajji, the annual number of foreigners executed in Saudi Arabia rose to 34.
Saudi Arabia faces repeated criticism for its excessive use of the death penalty. Human rights organisations argue that these executions undermine the efforts made by Saudi Arabia to polish its image through social and economic reforms under the “Vision 2030” initiative overseen by Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman.
READ: Saudi executes 3 family members for ‘allegiance to terrorist group’
The kingdom ranked third on the list of countries with the highest number of executions in the world in 2022 and 2023, following China and Iran, according to Amnesty International. AFP pointed out that by September Saudi Arabia had executed 198 individuals since the beginning of 2024, the highest number of executions carried out in one year in over 30 years. By yesterday, 274 people had been executed in the kingdom since January.
The significant increase in the number of executions contradicts statements by Bin Salman, who told The Atlantic magazine in 2022 that Riyadh had eliminated the death penalty except in cases of murder or when someone’s life is threatened.
Jid Basyouni, head of the Middle East and North Africa defence department at the human rights organisation Reprieve, stated that there is “an unprecedented execution crisis in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.” The anti-death penalty NGO estimates that the total number of executions in 2024 will exceed 300.
Among the foreigners executed since the beginning of 2024 were 21 Pakistanis, 20 Yemenis, 14 Syrians, 10 Nigerians, nine Egyptians, eight Jordanians and seven Ethiopians. Sudanese, Indians, Afghans, Sri Lankans, Eritreans and Filipinos were also executed. Of these, 69 were executed on drug trafficking charges.
The execution of those convicted of drug crimes resumed at the end of 2022 in Saudi Arabia, with 19 individuals executed in one month after a three-year suspension of the death penalty.
Al-Hajji noted that foreigners are often exploited by major drug traffickers. He added that they allegedly face numerous human rights violations from the time of their arrest to the day of their execution.
READ: Saudi Arabia condemns Israeli air strike on UN school in Gaza