Saudi Arabia executing ‘horrifying’ number of foreigners for drug crimes | Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia has carried out a “horrifying” variety of executions for drug crimes over the previous decade, most of which have been of overseas nationals, in accordance with Amnesty Worldwide.Virtually 600 individuals have been executed over the previous decade for drug-related offences, Amnesty Worldwide has discovered, three-quarters of whom have been overseas nationals from nations together with Pakistan, Syria, Yemen, Nigeria and Egypt.After a brief moratorium on drug-related capital punishments between 2021 and 2022, the executions jumped to file ranges, with 122 in 2024 and 118 to this point this 12 months up till the top of final month.With little worldwide scrutiny of what Amnesty describes as “grossly unfair trials” and a “chilling disregard for human life”, the rights organisation warned that the dying toll would solely enhance.Dana Ahmed, Amnesty Worldwide’s Center East researcher, stated: “We’re witnessing a very horrifying development, with overseas nationals being put to dying at a startling fee for crimes that ought to by no means carry the dying penalty.“Convincing states to name out and condemn Saudi rights abuses was by no means simple, given its deep pockets and geopolitical heft. With ongoing conflicts within the Center East … scrutiny has dwindled even additional,” she stated. Amnesty stated it had discovered overseas nationals who had been “deceived and exploited” after being lured into drug trafficking whereas migrating for work, with rewards that didn’t justify the chance of a dying penalty for his or her crime.It highlighted the case of seven Ethiopians and a Somali man now on dying row accused of trafficking 153kg of hashish estimated to be price about $3.8m (£2.79m). In line with the boys’s testimony in courtroom paperwork, they have been recruited with the promise of a “meagre $267 per individual”.The restricted training and deprived socioeconomic backgrounds of some overseas nationals on dying row elevated their danger of exploitation and made it harder for them to entry authorized illustration in Saudi Arabia, in accordance with Amnesty. Its report discovered a scarcity of entry to authorized representatives, insufficient consular help and no entry to efficient interpretation.At the least 4 instances documented by Amnesty concerned individuals who reported being subjected to torture or different unwell therapy throughout pre-trial detention to extract confessions. Many additionally didn’t know the standing of their appeals or when their execution may happen, with some solely knowledgeable by jail officers a day earlier than they have been put to dying.Kristine Beckerle, Amnesty Worldwide’s deputy regional director for the Center East and North Africa, stated: “The dying penalty is the final word merciless, inhuman and degrading punishment.“Saudi Arabia’s allies within the worldwide group should exert pressing strain on the authorities to halt their execution spree and uphold worldwide human rights obligations.”Saudi officers have been contacted for remark.