On November 10, 2022, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia returned to implementing the sentences of Taazir killing on just drug-related charges, after stopping their implementation in January 2020. The return to implementing these sentences is a lie to the official promises made by the former head of the Human Rights Commission, Awwad al-Awwad, in which he stated Saudi Arabia has suspended the execution of drug-related murder sentences in order to “give individuals facing nonviolent charges a second chance.”
In addition to the commission's statement, Saudi Arabia has repeated promises to reduce death sentences to a minimum, as Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman confirmed in March 2022 that this punishment is now limited to murder.
The European Saudi Organisation for Human Rights believes that the resumption of drug killings is a confirmation that Saudi official promises cannot be trusted. In addition to the commission’s statement regarding stopping drug executions, Saudi Arabia has violated the Juvenile Law 2018 and the Royal Order 2020, by continuing to issue and implement death sentences against minors, as at least 8 minors are still at risk of execution.
The monitoring of ESOHR confirmed that those accused of drug crimes in Saudi Arabia were subjected to widespread and systematic violations. In addition to the use of torture and ill-treatment against them, many detainees are deprived of their right to defend themselves and the assistance of an interpreter, among a series of other violations. A number of reports and information also raised fears that many of those accused of drug-related cases in Saudi Arabia are victims of human trafficking, especially since most of them are foreign workers.
ESOHR considers the execution of three Taazir death penalties for drug crimes within two days and warns that the execution numbers will be a new record. In 2019, executions for drug crimes constituted 45% of all executions carried out. According to documents seen by the organisation, hundreds of detainees face death sentences on drug charges, the execution of which has been suspended over the past two years.
In addition, the execution of sentences coincides with indicators monitored by ESOHR, which raises the alarm about the lives of 53 people. ESOHR was able to document their cases facing execution on charges, most of which are not the most serious, including 8 minors.