Alongside 55 countries that still retain the death penalty, and ranking third globally among the countries with the highest executions, Saudi Arabia stands on the World Day Against the Death Penalty on October 10.
The European Saudi Organization for Human Rights (ESOHR) believes that the rising numbers of executions in Saudi Arabia, along with the shifting justifications for these executions and the widening scope of their application, confirm that the kingdom is far from aligning with the global trend on this international day. Instead, it is taking an opposing path, one that entrenches violations and bloodshed.
While the theme of the 2024 World Day is "Countering the Misconception that the Death Penalty Enhances the Security of Individuals and Communities," Saudi Arabia continues to justify its executions with broad, vague terms, using security as a pretext across various charges and types of punishment.
Saudi Arabia announces executions in statements issued by the Ministry of Interior. Tracking these statements reveals that the ministry repeats the same phrases in an attempt to justify the objectives behind the executions.
Political Charges and Terrorism Charges:
In its announcements of executions based on rulings from the Specialized Criminal Court, which merges political detainees and those accused of terrorism, the Ministry of Interior often states that the execution is being carried out "to ensure the preservation of security, achieve justice, and eliminate anyone attempting to jeopardize the nation's security or threaten its unity. The Sharia punishment will be the fate of anyone who dares to commit such acts, cutting off their evil and deterring others."
The European Saudi Organization for Human Rights points out that most of the sentences carried out against detainees accused of political or terrorism-related charges are taazir. While the Ministry of Interior claims that these sentences are legitimate Sharia penalties, in reality, they are political judgments, left to the judge's discretion and not based on specific Islamic texts.
According to an analysis conducted by the organization of several rulings against political detainees, judges—who graduated from the Sharia departments of Saudi universities—use religious texts from the Quran and Hadith to justify their rulings, which may reach the death penalty. They apply these texts according to a strict interpretation, compared to the more moderate or lenient approaches practiced by other Islamic schools. They also sometimes rely on texts unrelated to the charges against the victims to justify harsh sentences and give them a religious guise.
Additionally, Saudi Arabia uses the phrase "jeopardizing national security and threatening its unity" loosely. According to the organization’s tracking, the charges covered by this phrase can range from insulting the royal family and using social media to using weapons and committing murder.
The organization has documented mass executions where Saudi Arabia has deliberately mixed charges to confuse public opinion, using security policy justifications to influence the public and categorize individuals and groups it considers dangerous. In January 2016, the Ministry of Interior issued a statement announcing the mass execution of 47 people. While the statement claimed that the goal of carrying out the sentences was to "maintain security and stability and achieve justice," the charges ranged from bombings and the use of weapons leading to death to inciting unrest and encouraging protests, the latter of which Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr and others were accused of.
Additionally, on March 12, 2022, the Saudi Ministry of Interior released a statement announcing the mass execution of 81 people. The statement said that Saudi Arabia "will not hesitate to deter anyone who threatens its security, the security of its citizens and residents, disrupts public life, or obstructs authorities from performing their duties in preserving societal security and interests."
An examination of the charges that the Ministry of Interior claimed the accused faced reveals a wide range, from killing security personnel and targeting buildings to inciting unrest.
Along with the charges, the use of security as a pretext and the application of special laws, such as the Anti-Terrorism Law, allow Saudi Arabia to commit severe human rights violations. These include justifying solitary confinement and enforced disappearances, which significantly facilitate the use of torture and ill-treatment, as well as depriving detainees of basic rights, including the right to legal defense. The organization has clearly documented these violations in numerous cases.
Murder Charges:
Saudi Arabia also uses the security argument against individuals accused of murder. Statements from the Ministry of Interior regarding executions carried out as retribution (qisas) or for crimes like haraba (banditry) with murder charges claim that "this announcement is made to affirm the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia's commitment to maintaining security, achieving justice, and enforcing Sharia law on anyone who attacks peaceful citizens, sheds their blood, and violates their right to life. It also warns that the same punishment will be meted out to anyone who dares to commit similar acts."
From the start of 2024 until October 10, Saudi Arabia carried out 117 executions related to murder charges, representing 55% of all executions during that period. While Saudi Arabia claims that these executions are meant to maintain security, scientific studies have not found any evidence that the death penalty serves as a deterrent to crime. On the contrary, many countries have witnessed a significant decrease in murder and violent crime rates after abolishing the death penalty. The organization points out that the Saudi judicial system lacks the components of fairness, as it has documented serious violations against detainees accused of murder. One such case is that of Abdullah al-Huwaiti, who was convicted of murder at the age of 14 after being subjected to torture, ill-treatment, and deprivation of adequate defense.
Drug Charges:
In 2024, the number of executions for drug-related charges in Saudi Arabia increased by 2850% compared to 2023, this sharp rise followed official inconsistency regarding the punishment. In January 2021, the official Saudi Human Rights Commission issued a statement announcing a halt to these executions. The former head of the commission, Awwad Alawwad, stated that Saudi Arabia had stopped carrying out death sentences for drug crimes to "give individuals facing non-violent charges a second chance." However, in November 2022, Saudi Arabia resumed executions for these charges after a 22-month suspension.
In its official statements, Saudi Arabia frequently uses the pretext of security to justify executions. The Ministry of Interior claims that the purpose of announcing sentences is to demonstrate the government’s commitment to "protecting the security of citizens and residents from the scourge of drugs, and enforcing the strictest legal penalties on drug traffickers and promoters, due to the harm they cause by taking innocent lives, severely corrupting the youth, individuals, and society, and violating their rights. It also warns that anyone who engages in such actions will face the prescribed Sharia punishment."
The European Saudi Organization for Human Rights (ESOHR) believes that using the justification of protecting citizens' security to execute individuals on drug-related charges contradicts the very promises made by government agencies, which categorized these offenses as non-violent. The organization also highlights severe flaws surrounding the trials of those accused of drug-related crimes. Foreign nationals made up 78% of all individuals executed for drug-related offenses in 2024, and a review of several cases reveals that these individuals were subjected to grave violations, including torture and being deprived of the right to adequate defense. Additionally, many of them were reportedly victims of human trafficking.
On the World Day Against the Death Penalty, ESOHR believes that Saudi Arabia's erratic handling of executions in recent years has culminated in an intensification of violence. This is evident in the high numbers of executions, with 2024 setting a record at 214 executions. Alongside the broad list of charges resulting in death sentences, severe and evident flaws in the judicial system make these rulings arbitrary.
Human rights organizations assert that the security argument repeatedly used by Saudi Arabia in its official statements to justify death sentences for various groups and a wide range of charges is an official approach aimed at concealing the political and arbitrary use of the death penalty. It serves as a justification to obscure the underlying purpose of intimidation, which is clearly reflected in the numbers and judgments.