According to an AFP calculation, Saudi Arabia has executed twice as many people in 2022 as it did in 2021, illustrating a spike in capital punishment that is criticized by human rights organizations.
The latest execution included a Jordanian national convicted of importing amphetamine tablets, according to the official Saudi Press Agency.
The execution brought the overall executions for the year to 138, up from 69 last year, according to an AFP count.
In 2020, 27 death sentences were carried out, compared to 187 in 2019.
The latest execution included a Jordanian national convicted of importing amphetamine tablets, according to the official Saudi Press Agency. The case marked 138 executions for the year, up from 69 last year, according to an AFP count.
A week prior, Saudi Arabia announced the execution of two Pakistani nationals for heroin smuggling, marking the first time in over three years that the death penalty was imposed for drug crimes.
Amnesty International has decried the continuation of drug-related killings, which contradicts a Saudi ban on such executions declared in January 2021.
Amnesty International stated last week in a statement that the lives of those on execution row for drug-related and other offences are in danger.
No one should be subjected to this cruel, inhuman, and degrading punishment, regardless of the severity of the crime committed.
In the past week, ten reported drug-related executions have occurred.
Saudi Arabia said a week ago that it had executed two Pakistani nationals for heroin smuggling, marking the first time in over three years that the death penalty was imposed for drug crimes. Amnesty International has decried the reinstatement of drug-related killings.
The sources do not specify how these executions were carried out, but the affluent Gulf state frequently executes death sentences via beheading.
In March, Saudi Arabia killed 81 individuals on a single day for terrorism-related offenses, provoking international outrage.
The kingdom is not the only country in the region with a death punishment.
On Wednesday, neighboring Kuwait executed seven murderers, the first executions there since 2017.
Thursday, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights spokeswoman Liz Throssell described the executions in Kuwait as “disturbing” and “a truly unfortunate step backwards by the Kuwaiti authorities.”