The death penalty in Saudi Arabia during the past years, represented by the reign of King Salman bin Abdulaziz and his son Muhammad, has been turbulent. In addition to the discrepancy in the numbers of executions carried out between years and between promises and implementation, there have been changes in the nature of the sentences and delinquency in the background to the use of this punishment.
From January 2015 until March 2022, Saudi Arabia carried out 1,004 executions. Among those executed were 625 Saudis and 375 foreigners, in addition to one stateless and one unknown nationality, meaning that convicts of other nationalities constituted approximately 38 percent of all executions. 48 percent of all executions carried out since 2015 were based on the opinion and discretion of the judge, which does not depend on a Sharia or legal text, which are called
Mass executions:
- The first mass execution carried out by the Saudi government was on January 2, 2016. The execution included 47 people, including at least four minors: Mustafa Abkar, Amin Al-Ghamdi, Mishaal Al-Faraj, and Ali Al-Reb. The social justice advocate Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr was also executed, and many other young men faced charges related to participating in demonstrations. Forty-Three executions were carried out by disciplinary verdicts, while four executions were carried out under the penalty of Harba.
- The second mass execution carried out by Saudi Arabia on April 23, 2019, affected 37 people, including at least six minors: Saeed Al-Skafi, Salman Amin Al Quraish, Mujtaba Nader Al-Suwaiket, Abdullah Salman Al-Sarih, Abdulaziz Hussein Sahwi, and Abdul Karim Muhammad Al-Hawaj, along with those accused of participating in demonstrations. Thirty-five of the convicts were executed with Taazir punishment, while two were executed under the penalty of Harba.
- The third mass execution carried out by Saudi Arabia on March 12, 2022, is the largest massacre documented where 81 persons were executed. The Ministry of Interior did not disclose the type of executions carried out.
The Saudi Ministry of Interior announces the executions by publishing statements through the official news agency and the media. Over the past seven years, the Saudi government has carried out several executions on the same day, some of them on the same charges. The most prominent executions took place in July 2017 against four people who faced charges, including participation in demonstrations. The European Saudi Organization for Human Rights documented the violations involved in these cases.
The patterns used:
There is a lack of transparency in how the Saudi government handles the execution files. There is no official database showing the numbers of individuals facing sentences or judicial stages, and families and legal representatives often face significant obstacles that prevent access to information about cases. Despite this, the European Saudi Organization for Human Rights documented several cases: including the execution cases carried out during massacres. The documentation shows that Saudi Arabia follows a pattern of violations in mass executions.
Mixing charges:
During the three massacres, the Saudi government combined several cases and declared them one. In the official statements published by the Ministry of Interior, all detainees are placed together, even though they face different charges. During the 2016 executions, the Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr's charges were related to his activism in defending civil and political rights. However, they were mixed with other cases related to armed attacks and terrorism. This was repeated in the two mass executions in 2019 and 2022. Therefore, and far from the accuracy of the official charges, the Ministry of the Interior deliberately mixed cases that are not among the most serious in international law with other charges intending to mislead public opinion.
Taazir death penalty:
The data shows that 93% of the mass death sentences carried out in 2016 and 2019 were the Taazir death penalty. Whereas, out of 84 rulings, only 6 were executed under the penalty of Harba. Consequently, 93% of the sentences in the first two mass executions were based on the judge's assessment of the charges, without reference to a legal or Sharia text. In the mass execution that was carried out in March 2022, the Ministry of Interior did not disclose the type of sentences that were issued, but the monitoring of the European Saudi Organization for Human Rights confirms that many of the accused were facing Taazir death sentences.
The Ministry of Interior’s concealment of the types of sentences comes after several official Saudi statements that talked about working to reduce the number of death sentences that are not based on Sharia. Most notably, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman promised judicial reforms a month before the latest mass execution.
Violations of the terms of justice:
The European Saudi Organization for Human Rights has documented a pattern of violations practiced by the Saudi government against individuals who face the death penalty that makes their trials unfair.
The documentation of several cases and judgment instruments confirmed that individuals were subjected to multiple forms of torture and ill-treatment. The physical torture and abuse, in some cases, led to permanent disability, psychological torture, and solitary confinement.
Although many defendants asserted before the judge that they were forced under torture to sign confessions, they did not investigate their claims, and the judge approved the verdicts.
In addition to torture, Saudi Arabia violates the right of individuals to adequate self-defense, like the cases documented by the organization in the three mass executions, the defendants did not obtain their right to appoint a lawyer until after the start of the trial sessions, and the lawyer faces many obstacles that prevent him from performing his work.
Ignoring international opinions:
Special UN bodies have issued opinions regarding several issues in mass executions. In the sentences it implemented in January 2016, the United Nations had called for a halt to the arbitrary death sentence against Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr.
In the rulings carried out in April 2019, experts at the United Nations called on Saudi Arabia to stop the death sentences against minors and demonstrators. Where the Saudi government was sent a message about the cases of Saeed Al-Skafi, Salman Al-Quraysh, Mujtaba Al-Suwaiket, Hussein Al-Rabei, Abdullah Al-Tarif, Hussein Al-Muslim, Muhammad Al-Nasser, Fadel Al-Labbad, Munir Al-Adam, Ahmed Al-Rabei, and the concerned committee demanded rights of persons with disabilities in its decision to protect Munir Al Adam from execution. UN experts wrote to Saudi Arabia in the cases of Hussein Al-Aboud, Sheikh Muhammad Attia, Hussein Al-Hamidi, Abbas Al-Hassan, Khader Al-Marhoon, Youssef Al-Harbi, Ahmed Al-Nasser, Hussein Al-Rabi, Abdullah Al-Tarif, Hussein Al-Muslim, and pointed out the violations in their cases. The Working Group on Arbitrary Detention also issued an opinion regarding the businessman Abbas Al-Hassan, whom they executed after ignoring the group's decision.
In the 2022 executions, UN experts had contacted the Saudi government in the cases of the two young men, Muhammad al-Shakhouri and Asaad Shuber.
Sudden and secret implementation:
The Saudi government did not inform most families of when, where, and how the mass executions took place. In some cases, families learned from the media about the execution. Many families confirmed that they could not say goodbye to the convict, even over the phone. In the official statements published about the death penalty, the Ministry of Interior did not mention the place of execution.
Withholding Bodies and Intimidating Families:
The Saudi government holds the bodies of the individuals it executed. According to the European-Saudi Organization for Human Rights, 132 bodies have been detained since 2016. In addition to depriving the victims' families of their right to say goodbye and burial, they were pressured when they asked for the bodies and personal belongings of the victim. Families were informed that the bodies were buried in Muslim cemeteries without further information.
In addition, families have been threatened because of accepting condolences in homes and public places, and in the base of opening groups on social media to accept condolences. According to the information, some families of the victims were forced to sign pledges not to demand to know the fate of the bodies or to talk about the cases.
Method of Intimidation
The European Saudi Organization for Human Rights considers that the mass executions carried out in succession since King Salman bin Abdulaziz came to power demonstrated the political and retaliatory use of the death penalty in Saudi Arabia. The organization stresses that the patterns of violations that were monitored in some of the cases included in the three mass executions show bloodshed and lack of justice, and the fears of carrying out another massacre by killing dozens of individuals whose cases were monitored by the organization, and others that the organization was not able to monitor.