Saudi Arabia executes more than 100 foreigners in 2024 - triple the amount of previous years

Saudi Arabia has executed much than 100 foreigners this year, according to an AFP tally indicating a crisp summation which 1 rights radical said was unprecedented.

The latest execution, connected Saturday successful the southwestern portion of Najran, was of a Yemeni nationalist convicted of smuggling drugs into the Gulf kingdom, the authoritative Saudi Press Agency reported.

That brought to 101 the fig of foreigners executed truthful acold successful 2024, according to the tally which is compiled from authorities media reports.

This is astir triple the figures for 2023 and 2022, erstwhile Saudi authorities had enactment to decease 34 foreigners each year, according to AFP tallies.

The Berlin-based European-Saudi Organisation for Human Rights (ESOHR) said this year's executions had already breached a record.

'This is the largest fig of executions of foreigners successful 1 year. Saudi Arabia has ne'er executed 100 foreigners successful a year,' said Taha al-Hajji, the group's ineligible director.

Saudi Arabia has faced persistent disapproval implicit its usage of the decease penalty, which quality rights groups person condemned arsenic excessive and retired of measurement with efforts to soften its forbidding representation and invited planetary tourists and investors.

The oil-rich kingdom executed the 3rd highest fig of prisoners successful the satellite aft China and Iran successful 2023, according to Amnesty International.

In September, AFP reported that Saudi Arabia had carried retired its highest fig of executions successful much than 3 decades, surpassing its erstwhile highs of 196 successful 2022 and 192 successful 1995.

Executions person continued astatine a accelerated clip since past and totalled 274 for the twelvemonth arsenic of Sunday, according to AFP's tally.

Foreigners executed this twelvemonth person included 21 from Pakistan, 20 from Yemen, 14 from Syria, 10 from Nigeria, 9 from Egypt, 8 from Jordan and 7 from Ethiopia.

There were besides 3 each from Sudan, India and Afghanistan, and 1 each from Sri Lanka, Eritrea and the Philippines.

Saudi Arabia successful 2022 ended a three-year moratorium connected the execution of cause offenders, and executions for drug-related crimes person boosted this year's numbers.

There person been 92 specified executions truthful acold this year, 69 of them of foreigners, according to the AFP tally.

Diplomats and activists accidental that overseas defendants usually look a higher obstruction to just trials, including the close to entree tribunal documents.

Foreigners 'are the astir susceptible group', said Hajji of the ESOHR.

Not lone are they often 'victims of large cause dealers' but besides 'subjected to a bid of violations from the infinitesimal of their apprehension until their execution,' helium said.

Saudi Arabia is notorious for beheading those convicted of superior crimes, though authoritative statements thin not to notation the method of execution.

The precocious fig of executions undercuts statements by Saudi Arabia's de facto ruler, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who told The Atlantic successful 2022 that the kingdom had eliminated the decease punishment with the objection of execution cases oregon erstwhile an idiosyncratic posed a menace to galore lives.

Jeed Basyouni, who heads Middle East anti-death punishment advocacy for the NGO Reprieve, said persistent cause arrests were 'perpetuating the rhythm of violence'.

The wide fig of executions was connected way to transcend 300 for the year, she noted.

'This is an unprecedented execution situation successful Saudi Arabia,' said Basyouni.

'Families of overseas nationals connected decease enactment are understandably terrified that their loved 1 volition beryllium next.'