The US-based human rights group Human Rights Watch has stated that the human rights situation in Saudi Arabia is deplorable.
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Saudi Arabia has set a new record for the second consecutive year in the number of executions. According to the UK-based human rights group Reprieve, at least 347 people have been executed so far in 2025. The previous record was 345 in 2024.
Reprieve has been providing legal assistance to prisoners sentenced to death in Saudi Arabia. It also monitors executions in Saudi Arabia. Reprieve said that this year was the highest number of executions since it began monitoring. According to Reprieve, nearly two in ten people were convicted of non-lethal drug-related crimes. The United Nations has called the sentence a violation of international norms and standards.
More than half of those executed were foreign nationals. “Saudi Arabia is making a mockery of the human rights system,” said Jid Bassiouni, Reprieve’s representative for the Middle East and North Africa. Bassiouni said that innocent people and marginalized groups in society are being targeted.
Egyptian fisherman Issam al-Shazli was executed in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday. He was arrested at sea in 2021. He claimed he was forced to work in drug trafficking. According to Reprieve, 96 of the executions this year were related to hashish alone.
Bassouni added, “Saudi Arabia is trying to send a message to society. Whether it’s protests, freedom of expression or drugs, they have a zero-tolerance policy for anything they don’t like.”
A royal decree in 2020 banned the death penalty for drug-related crimes. However, it was reinstated in late 2022. Since then, the number of executions for drug-related crimes has increased sharply. The UN human rights office has called the move regrettable.
Relatives of people sentenced to death for drug-related crimes say they are now living a “life of terror.” One person, speaking on condition of anonymity, told the BBC: “I can only sleep on Fridays and Saturdays. Because they don’t carry out executions on those days.”
Saudi Arabia’s ruler Mohammed bin Salman, who became crown prince in 2017, has transformed the country in recent years. On the one hand, he has loosened social restrictions by removing religious police from the streets and allowing women to drive.
On the other hand, he has silenced critics. The human rights situation in Saudi Arabia remains “deplorable,” according to the US-based human rights group Human Rights Watch. According to human rights activists, Saudi Arabia has carried out the most executions in recent years, after China and Iran.
