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Saudi Arabia has carried out a “horrifying” number of executions for drug crimes over the past decade, most of which were of foreign nationals, according to Amnesty International.
Almost 600 people have been executed over the past decade for drug-related offences, Amnesty International has found, three-quarters of whom were foreign nationals from countries including Pakistan, Syria, Yemen, Nigeria and Egypt.
After a temporary moratorium on drug-related capital punishments between 2021 and 2022, the executions jumped to record levels, with 122 in 2024 and 118 so far this year up until the end of last month.
With little international scrutiny of what Amnesty describes as “grossly unfair trials” and a “chilling disregard for human life”, the rights organisation warned that the death toll would only increase.
Dana Ahmed, Amnesty International’s Middle East researcher, said: “We are witnessing a truly horrifying trend, with foreign nationals being put to death at a startling rate for crimes that should never carry the death penalty.
“Convincing states to call out and condemn Saudi rights abuses was never easy, given its deep pockets and geopolitical heft. With ongoing conflicts in the Middle East … scrutiny has dwindled even further,” she said.
Amnesty said it had found foreign nationals who had been “deceived and exploited” after being lured into drug trafficking while migrating for work, with rewards that did not justify the risk of a death penalty for their crime.
It highlighted the case of seven Ethiopians and a Somali man now on death row accused of trafficking 153kg of cannabis estimated to be worth about $3.8m (£2.79m). According to the men’s testimony in court documents, they were recruited with the promise of a “meagre $267 per person”.
The limited education and disadvantaged socioeconomic backgrounds of some foreign nationals on death row increased their risk of exploitation and made it more difficult for them to access legal representation in Saudi Arabia, according to Amnesty. Its report found a lack of access to legal representatives, inadequate consular support and no access to effective interpretation.
At least four cases documented by Amnesty involved people who reported being subjected to torture or other ill treatment during pre-trial detention to extract confessions. Many also did not know the status of their appeals or when their execution might occur, with some only informed by prison officials a day before they were put to death.
Kristine Beckerle, Amnesty International’s deputy regional director for the Middle East and North Africa, said: “The death penalty is the ultimate cruel, inhuman and degrading punishment.
“Saudi Arabia’s allies in the international community must exert urgent pressure on the authorities to halt their execution spree and uphold international human rights obligations.”
Saudi officials were contacted for comment.
