Photo Credit: Getty Images
Despite Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman's (MBS) 2022 claim that the death penalty would be limited to murder cases, Saudi Arabia executed 330 people this year, marking the highest number in decades. This contradicts MBS's Vision 2030 plan to transform the kingdom into a tourism and entertainment hub, shedding its reputation for strict religious restrictions and human rights abuses.
The latest execution toll, compiled from execution announcements by human rights NGO Reprieve and verified by Reuters, is a big jump from the 172 total for last year and 196 for 2022. Reprieve said it was the highest ever recorded.
Saudi Arabia denies accusations of human rights abuses and says its actions are aimed at protecting national security.
More than 150 people were executed for non-lethal crimes this year, according to the tally, which rights groups say is contrary to international law. Those executions were mainly related to alleged drug smuggling amid a flood of amphetamine-like captagon from Syria under ousted President Bashar al-Assad. They also included people charged with non-lethal terrorism, a charge rights groups say is often used against those who have participated in anti-government protests.
The total includes more than 100 foreign nationals from the Middle East, Africa and Asia.
After taking power in a palace coup in 2017, MBS faced international censure for cracking down on dissent and for the killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi at the kingdom’s consulate in Istanbul in 2018. Saudi Arabia has maintained that Khashoggi’s killing was carried out by a rogue group, although MBS has said that he bears ultimate responsibility because it happened under his watch.
Rights groups have accused the country of sentencing minors to death and using torture to extract confessions.
For decades Saudi Arabia held weekly executions by beheading with a sword in a public square; now that same area is dominated by cafes and restaurants with almost no sign of its bloody past.
MBS told the Atlantic in a 2022 interview that Saudi Arabia had eliminated the death penalty, except in cases of murder, which he said he was powerless to change since it is punishable by death according to the Koran.
