Saudi Arabia

RetentionistLegal status of the death penalty*
46Number of individuals currently under sentence of death
147Executions in 2022
69Executions in 2021
27Executions in 2020

2022Last known execution
StoningMethod(s) of execution
NoParty to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights
NoParty to the Second Optional Protocol to the ICCPR, aiming at the abolition of the death penalty
Not applicableParty to the American Convention on Human Rights
Not applicableParty to the Protocol to the American Convention on Human Rights to Abolish the Death Penalty
NoUN Moratorium Resolution (2010): cosponsor
AgainstUN Moratorium Resolution (2010): vote
YesUN Moratorium Resolution (2010): has signed the Note Verbale of Dissociation
NoUN Moratorium Resolution (2012): cosponsor
AgainstUN Moratorium Resolution (2012): vote
YesUN Moratorium Resolution (2012): has signed the Note Verbale of Dissociation
UnclearDoes the country have a mandatory death penalty?
2023-05-23Last update


Source: Cornell Center on the Death Penalty Worldwide
*Source of classification: Amnesty International

Related document(s)

Document(s)

Migratory dependency and the death penalty: Foreign nationals facing capital punishment in the Gulf

By Lucy Harry, Carolyn Hoyle , and Jocelyn Hutton Death Penalty Research Unit, Centre for Criminology, University of Oxford, on 30 January 2024


2024

Academic Article

Jordan

Kuwait

Lebanon

Qatar

Saudi Arabia

United Arab Emirates


More details See the document

Published on July 2, 2023

This article focuses on the cases of 664 foreign nationals, the majority of whom are migrant workers, under sentence of death across the Gulf states (including Jordan and Lebanon) between 2016 and 2021. The features of these cases suggest that they are inextricably linked to migrant workers’ dependency under the kafala system, with examples of migrants duped into smuggling drugs across the border by their migrant broker, and once in country, accounts of violent altercations due to disputes about exit visas, and in the case of migrant domestic workers, self-defence against sexual violence. Engaging with the burgeoning literature on immigration, exploitation and criminalisation, as well as scholarship on capital punishment, this article will explore the multiple and unique layers of dependency fostered by the kafala system that place migrant workers at higher risk of the death penalty in these Gulf jurisdictions.

  • Document type Academic Article
  • Countries list Jordan / Kuwait / Lebanon / Qatar / Saudi Arabia / United Arab Emirates

Document(s)

الإعدام في السعودية 2023: دمويّة مستمرّة بأحكام غير معتادة

By European Saudi Organization for Human Rights (ESHOR), on 23 January 2024


2024

تقرير منظمة غير حكومية

Saudi Arabia


More details See the document

22 يناير، 2024

ترى المنظمة الأوروبية السعودية لحقوق الإنسان أن 2023 أظهرت التخبط في استخدام السعودية لعقوبة الإعدام. فإلى جانب التغير في أنواع الأحكام المنفذة بدون سبب واضح، وتنفيذ أحكام إعدام بتهم مخدرات، والاستخفاف بالآراء القانونية الدولية، تظهر الأرقام المرتفعة إصرار السعودية على استخدام عقوبة الإعدام دون روادع.

نفذت المملكة العربية السعودية في عام 2023، 172 حكم إعدام بحسب بيانات وزارة الداخلية التي تنشرها وكالة الأنباء الرسمية. عدد الإعدامات أكبر ب 15% من العدد الذي كانت وزارة الداخلية قد أعلنت عنه في 2022، حيث تم رصد 147 حكم، على الرغم من تنفيذ إعدام جماعي طال 81 شخصا في 2022.

نفذت المملكة العربية السعودية في عام 2023، 172 حكم إعدام بحسب بيانات وزارة الداخلية التي تنشرها وكالة الأنباء الرسمية. عدد الإعدامات أكبر ب 15% من العدد الذي كانت وزارة الداخلية قد أعلنت عنه في 2022، حيث تم رصد 147 حكم، على الرغم من تنفيذ إعدام جماعي طال 81 شخصا في 2022.

  • Document type تقرير منظمة غير حكومية
  • Countries list Saudi Arabia

Document(s)

Execution in Saudi Arabia 2023: Ongoing Bloodshed with Unusual Sentences

By The European Saudi Organization for Human Rights (ESOHR), on 23 January 2024


NGO report

Saudi Arabia


More details See the document

Published on 22 January، 2024.

The European Saudi Organization for Human Rights views 2023 as a year that demonstrated Saudi Arabia’s inconsistency in using the death penalty. Besides the unexplained shift in the types of executed sentences, the implementation of death sentences for drug-related charges, and the disregard for international legal opinions, the high numbers indicate Saudi Arabia’s determination to use the death penalty without restraint.

In Saudi Arabia in 2023, 172 executions were carried out according to data from the Ministry of Interior published by the official news agency. The number of executions increased by 15% compared to the figure announced by the Ministry of Interior in 2022, where 147 sentences were reported, despite the mass execution of 81 individuals in 2022.

  • Document type NGO report
  • Countries list Saudi Arabia

Document(s)

The Death Penalty for Drug Offences: Global Overview 2022

on 24 March 2023


2023

NGO report

China

Democratic People's Republic of Korea

Drug Offenses

Indonesia

Iran (Islamic Republic of)

Malaysia

Saudi Arabia

Singapore

Viet Nam


More details See the document

Harm Reduction International has monitored the use of the death penalty for drug offences worldwide since our first ground-breaking publication on this issue in 2007. This report, our twelfth on the subject, continues our work of providing regular updates on legislative, policy and practical developments related to the use of capital punishment for drug offences, a practice which is a clear violation of international standards. As of December 2022, Harm Reduction International (HRI) recorded at least 285 executions for drug offences globally during the year, a 118% increase from 2021, and an 850% increase from 2020. Executions for drug offences are confirmed or assumed to have taken place in six countries: Iran, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, plus in China, North Korea and Vietnam – on which exact figures cannot be provided because of extreme opacity. Therefore, this figure is likely to reflect only a percentage of all drug-related executions worldwide. Confirmed death sentences for drug offences were also on the rise; with at least 303 people sentenced to death in 18 countries. This marks a 28% increase from 2021.

  • Document type NGO report
  • Countries list China / Democratic People's Republic of Korea / Indonesia / Iran (Islamic Republic of) / Malaysia / Saudi Arabia / Singapore / Viet Nam
  • Themes list Drug Offenses
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