Human rights organisations across Africa, Asia, and Europe have raised urgent concerns over the looming execution of hundreds of foreign nationals in Saudi Arabia, many of whom were convicted of non-lethal drug offences.

Among those at imminent risk are scores of Egyptian, Ethiopian, and Somali men, currently held in Saudi prisons under death sentences.

According to figures from the Saudi Press Agency, 98 people have already been executed for drug-related offences in 2025, marking a dramatic increase. Rights groups say many prisoners now live in “a state of terror,” with executions carried out without warning and amid serious due process violations.

In Najran Prison, in southwestern Saudi Arabia, at least 37 Ethiopian and 27 Somali nationals are on death row. So far this year, 19 Somalis and 7 Ethiopians have been executed, most on charges of “smuggling hashish.”

In June alone, 12 Somali men and 3 Ethiopian nationals were executed, with fears that more executions are imminent.

End extrajudicial executions 

In Tabuk Prison, in the northwest, 26 Egyptian nationals are also on death row for drug-related crimes. At least three Egyptians have been executed this year, including Mahmoud Mohamed Khamis and Farhat Abu al-Saud, executed on May 24 and 25, respectively.

Other prisoners have reportedly been told they will be executed following the Eid al-Adha holiday, which ended on June 10. On that day, the UN Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial executions called on Saudi Arabia to halt the executions and end the death penalty for drug crimes, stating that violations of fair trial guarantees make such sentences “arbitrary and unlawful.”

Human rights organisations warn that many of those on death row may be victims of human trafficking, coerced or deceived into transporting drugs under threats or false promises. Yet most were denied a fair trial, with limited or no access to legal representation, consular assistance, or appeal processes.

Court documents and testimonies reviewed by rights groups point to systematic abuses, including torture during interrogations, reliance on forced confessions, and lack of legal transparency — all in violation of both Saudi law and international human rights standards, including the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the Arab Charter on Human Rights.

Saudi authorities routinely withhold the bodies of executed prisoners and fail to notify families in advance, who often only learn of executions through the media.

The location of burial sites is typically not disclosed.

As of 17 June 2025, 154 executions have been reported this year, an 80% increase from the same period in 2024 — the year with the highest number of executions in Saudi Arabia (345). Of those executed this year, 69 were foreign nationals from 11 African and Asian countries, including Somalia (19), Pakistan (12), Ethiopia (7), and Egypt (3).

International law strictly limits the use of the death penalty to the “most serious crimes,” interpreted to mean crimes involving intentional killing. Drug offences do not meet this threshold. While Saudi Arabia observed a short-lived moratorium on drug-related executions from January 2021 to November 2022, it was never formally codified, and executions resumed at alarming rates.

Despite repeated promises from Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to reduce the use of the death penalty, including pledges made as recently as March 2022, Saudi Arabia remains among the world’s top executioners. Rights groups note that some executions are carried out in secret and not publicly reported — with 49 of the 196 executions in 2022 never formally announced by state media.

In response to the ongoing crisis, over 30 human rights organisations have issued a joint appeal urging Saudi authorities to:

• Immediately commute all death sentences for non-lethal offences;
• Establish an official moratorium on executions;
• And reform legislation to align with international human rights standards.

Signatory organisations include:

African Academy of Diplomacy (AAD), ALQST for Human Rights, Somali Journalists Syndicate (SJS), ECPM, Amnesty-associated national coalitions, DAWN, Reprieve, European Saudi Organisation for Human Rights (ESOHR), MENA Rights Group, Women’s Action for Human Rights (WAHR), among many others across Africa, the Middle East, and Europe.

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The five men – four Saudis and one Egyptian national – were tried for an attack that killed five people and injured an untold number of others in the kingdom’s east, home to most Saudi oil and most members of its Shia minority.

This brought to 68 the total number of people put to death so far by Saudi Arabia.

The terrorists were involved in attacks on security forces, warship places and also planned suicide blasts.

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However, there was good news in Sub-Saharan Africa as recorded executions dropped by 67%, from 33 in 2021 to 11 in 2022, and recorded death sentences reduced by 20%. Executions were recorded in two countries — Somalia and South Sudan. This was the lowest number of executing countries recorded by Amnesty International in the region since 2017. Notably, Sierra Leone and the Central African Republic abolished the death penalty for all crimes, while Equatorial Guinea and Zambia abolished the death penalty for ordinary crimes only.

A total of 883 people were known to have been executed across 20 countries globally, marking a rise of 53% over 2021. This spike in executions, which does not include the thousands believed to have been carried out in China last year, was led by countries in the Middle East and North Africa, where recorded figures rose from 520 in 2021 to 825 in 2022.

“It is encouraging to see that a number of countries in Sub-Saharan Africa, including Sierra Leonne and the Central African Republic, have abolished the death penalty for all crimes, condemning it to the dustbin of history, where it belongs,” said Tigere Chagutah, Amnesty International’s Interim Director for East and Southern Africa.

“While Equatorial Guinea and Zambia have abolished the death penalty for ordinary crimes only, they must follow suit and work on completely abolishing this cruel and degrading form of punishment. Countries in the region must execute justice, not people.”

Disturbingly, 90% of the world’s known executions outside China were carried out by just three countries in the Middle East and North Africa region. Recorded executions in Iran soared from 314 in 2021 to 576 in 2022; figures tripled in Saudi Arabia, from 65 in 2021 to 196 in 2022 — the highest recorded by Amnesty in 30 years — while Egypt executed 24 individuals.

In Sub-Saharan Africa, while South Sudan and Somalia were the only countries that recorded a combined total of 11+ executions in 2022, no other country recorded executions in the region, making countries that executed people one fewer compared to 2021. Recorded death sentences also decreased by 20%, from 373 in 2021 to 298 in 2022.

The use of the death penalty remained shrouded in secrecy in several countries, including China, North Korea, and Viet Nam — countries that are known to use the death penalty extensively — meaning that the true global figure is far higher. While the precise number of those killed in China is unknown, it is clear that the country remained the world’s most prolific executioner, ahead of Iran, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and the USA.

Five countries resumed executions

Executions resumed in five countries in 2022 — Afghanistan, Kuwait, Myanmar, the State of Palestine and Singapore — while an increase in executions was also recorded for Iran (314 to 576), Saudi Arabia (65 to 196), and the USA (11 to 18).

The recorded number of people executed for drug-related offences more than doubled in 2022 compared to 2021. Drug-related executions are in violation of international human rights law which states that executions should only be carried out for the ‘most serious crimes’ – crimes that involve intentional killing. These executions were recorded in China, Saudi Arabia (57), Iran (255) and Singapore (11), and amounted to 37% of total executions recorded globally by the organization. Executions for drug-related offences were likely to have been carried out in Viet Nam, yet these figures remain state secrets.

While executions were up, the total number of recorded death sentences imposed on people remained essentially the same, with a slight decrease from 2,052 in 2021 to 2,016 in 2022.

A glimmer of hope

 Against this bleak backdrop, there was a glimmer of hope as six countries abolished the death penalty either fully or partially.

Kazakhstan, Papua New Guinea, Sierra Leone and the Central African Republic abolished the death penalty for all crimes, while Equatorial Guinea and Zambia abolished the death penalty for ordinary crimes only.

As of December 2022, 112 countries had abolished the death penalty for all crimes and nine countries had abolished the death penalty for ordinary crimes only.

The positive momentum continued as Liberia and Ghana took legislative steps toward abolishing the death penalty, while the authorities of Sri Lanka and the Maldives said they would not resort to implementing death sentences. Bills to abolish the mandatory death penalty were also tabled in the Malaysian Parliament.

Somalia and South Sudan’s continued execution

“Somalia and South Sudan’s continued execution of people in the past year is bucking the trend in Sub-Sharan Africa, where countries are moving away from the death penalty by either abolishing the death penalty or becoming abolitionist in practice,” said Samira Daoud, Amnesty International’s Director for West and Central Africa.

“The death penalty violates the right to life as proclaimed in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.”

“With 125 UN member states — more than ever before — calling for a moratorium on executions, Amnesty International has never felt more hopeful that this abhorrent punishment can and will be relegated to the annals of history. But 2022’s tragic figures remind us that we can’t rest on our laurels. We will continue to campaign until the death penalty is abolished across the globe.”

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