According to numerous reports, the rate of executions in Saudi Arabia nearly doubled and alarming under bin Salman’s rule, highlighting flagrant human rights violations and making the past six years among the bloodiest in the Kingdom’s modern history, since King Salman and his son Mohammed bin Salman came to power in 2015.
At least 1,243 people were executed between 2010 and 2021, according to a new report published on Tuesday by Reprieve and the European Saudi Organization for Human Rights (ESOHR). Last year, 147 people were executed.
According to the report, Mohammed bin Salman served as Saudi Arabia’s crown prince, de facto ruler, and father during the six bloodiest years of executions in recent history—2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, and 2022.
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It pointed to an 82% increase in the number of executions from 2015 to 2022, with an average of 129.5 per year.
The 2023 report from Reprieve titled “Bloodshed and Lies: According to Mohammed bin Salman’s “Kingdom of Executions,” from 2010 to 2021, those convicted of murder, drug trafficking, sexual offenses, formation of or membership in an organized criminal group, abduction or false imprisonment accompanied by assault, robbery, sedition, treason, and other state security offenses, as well as witchcraft and sorcery received the death penalty.
The actual number of people on death row in the country is unknown because Saudi authorities do not provide any information about capital trials and keep them shrouded in secrecy, International rights groups emphasized; making 2022 one of the bloodiest years on record in Saudi Arabia’s recent history.
Reprieve investigations have revealed that legal decisions, particularly those pertaining to the death penalty, are made behind closed doors, that court documents cannot be published, that charges are changed, and that court sessions are postponed indefinitely. Additionally, investigations have revealed that torture and violations of fair trial laws are prevalent in cases involving the death penalty, including those involving child defendants.
In addition, despite Saudi Arabia’s announcement that it would abolish the death penalty for crimes committed by minors, at least 15 child defendants—those who allegedly committed crimes while still minors—have been executed since 2013. Mustafa al-Darwish was put to death in 2021 for an alleged crime he committed when he was just 17 years old.
The report also revealed that from 2010 to 2021, Saudi Arabian officials executed 490 foreigners. This represents 39% of the total number of executions that occurred in the kingdom during that time period. Nearly three times as many foreigners as Saudis were executed for drug offenses in Saudi Arabia.
Additionally, 31 women were executed from 2010 to 2021. Nearly all of the victims were foreign nationals, and at least 56% of those foreign nationals were domestic workers.
According to human rights groups, bin Salman and his cabinet are busy accumulating wealth and hosting different reality shows like Newcastle United and creating a series of tournaments like the LIV Golf Tour, and Arab Idol in order to divert attention away from his violations of human rights.
To portray these gruesome and despicable activities of the Kingdom, One of the more vexing instruments used by the new regime is the death penalty, which was also confirmed by One Saudi royal living in exile in Europe stated, “It’s literally a sword that hangs over all of us, anyone who dares to defy him.”
