In 2023, the number of foreigners executed had been 34. Pakistanis, Yemenis and Syrians were among the nationalities most sentenced to death. Westerners not on this list
Saudi Arabia has executed more than 100 foreigners since the beginning of 2024, according to accounts by the agency France Presse based on official announcements, a number that constitutes a new record according to a human rights organization.
On Saturday, “Moussa Saleh, a Yemeni citizen, was executed in Najran (in the south of the country) for drug trafficking, reported the Saudi agency SPA. His execution brings to 101 the number of foreigners executed in the country since January 2024, according to France Presse accounts.
“This is the highest number of executions of foreigners in a single year,” Taha al-Hajji, Saudi head of a Berlin-based human rights organization (ESOHR), told France Presse.
In 2023, as in 2022, the number of annual executions of foreigners rose to 34.
Riyadh’s application of the death penalty has been repeatedly criticized by human rights groups who consider it excessive. It also contradicts Saudi Arabia’s efforts to present a modern and reformist image internationally.
Saudi Arabia is the country that executed the most prisoners in the world in 2023, after China and Iran, according to Amnesty International.
In September, the AFP recorded 198 executions since the start of 2024, the highest number in more than three decades, surpassing previous records of 196 executions in 2022 and 192 in 1995.
Executions have continued at a rapid pace since then, reaching a total of 274 for the year today, according to France Presse.
These statistics contradict statements by the crown prince and de facto leader of Saudi Arabia, Mohammed bin Salman, who assured the American magazine The Atlantic in 2022 that his kingdom had eliminated the death penalty except for criminals or individuals who put lives at risk. .
Foreigners executed since the beginning of the year include 21 Pakistanis, 20 Yemenis, 14 Syrians, 10 Nigerians, nine Egyptians, eight Jordanians and seven Ethiopians. Sudanese, Indians, Afghans, a Sri Lankan, an Eritrean and a Filipino were also executed.
Of these, 69 were executed for drug trafficking.
In 2022, Saudi Arabia ended a three-year moratorium on drug-related executions.
Foreigners “are often exploited by large drug traffickers who take advantage of their vulnerability,” al-Hajji explained, adding that they suffer numerous human rights violations from their arrest to their execution.
