Saudi Arabia has executed more than 100 foreigners this year, according to an AFP tally indicating a sharp increase, which one rights group described as unprecedented.
The latest execution, reported on Saturday in the southwestern region of Najran, was of a Yemeni national convicted of smuggling drugs into the Gulf kingdom, according to the official Saudi Press Agency.
This brings the total number of foreigners executed so far in 2024 to 101, according to the tally compiled from state media reports.
This figure is nearly triple the numbers for 2023 and 2022, when Saudi authorities executed 34 foreigners each year, according to AFP tallies.
The Berlin-based European-Saudi Organization for Human Rights (ESOHR) stated that this year's executions have already set a record.
"This is the largest number of executions of foreigners in one year. Saudi Arabia has never executed 100 foreigners in a year," said Taha al-Hajji, the group's legal director.
Saudi Arabia has faced persistent criticism over its use of the death penalty, which human rights groups have condemned as excessive and inconsistent with efforts to soften its forbidding image and attract international tourists and investors.
The oil-rich kingdom executed the third highest number of prisoners in the world after China and Iran in 2023, according to Amnesty International.
In September, AFP reported that Saudi Arabia had carried out its highest number of executions in more than three decades, surpassing its previous highs of 196 in 2022 and 192 in 1995.
Executions have continued at a rapid pace since then, totaling 274 for the year as of Sunday, according to AFP's tally.
'Execution Crisis'
Foreigners executed this year include 21 from Pakistan, 20 from Yemen, 14 from Syria, 10 from Nigeria, nine from Egypt, eight from Jordan, and seven from Ethiopia.
There were also three each from Sudan, India, and Afghanistan, and one each from Sri Lanka, Eritrea, and the Philippines.
In 2022, Saudi Arabia ended a three-year moratorium on the execution of drug offenders, and executions for drug-related crimes have significantly increased this year's numbers.
So far this year, there have been 92 such executions, 69 of which involved foreigners, according to the AFP tally.
Diplomats and activists say that foreign defendants typically face greater barriers to fair trials, including limited access to court documents.
Foreigners "are the most vulnerable group," said Hajji of the ESOHR.
They are often "victims of major drug dealers" and are "subjected to a series of violations from the moment of their arrest until their execution," he added.
Saudi Arabia is notorious for beheading those convicted of capital crimes, although official statements usually do not mention the method of execution.
The high number of executions contradicts statements made by Saudi Arabia's de facto ruler, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who told The Atlantic in 2022 that the kingdom had eliminated the death penalty except in cases of murder or when an individual posed a threat to many lives.
Jeed Basyouni, who leads Middle East anti-death penalty advocacy for the NGO Reprieve, stated that persistent drug arrests are "perpetuating the cycle of violence."
The overall number of executions is on track to exceed 300 for the year, she noted.
"This is an unprecedented execution crisis in Saudi Arabia," said Basyouni.
"Families of foreign nationals on death row are understandably terrified that their loved ones will be next."
(With AFP)
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