Last month UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon [official website] condemned [JURIST report] leaders of the Syrian government and violent protesters for the continuous bloodshed within the country. Approximately 44 people were killed [Al Jazeera report] before Christmas in two suicide car bomb attacks in Damascus. The Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) [official website] has since linked the attacks to anti-government protests, while protesters and their supporters have suggested that the state planted attacks to coincide with an Arab League visit. Ban's press release pleaded that both groups resist violence. The UN Security Council [official website] echoed Ban's sentiments the same day, declaring [UN News Centre report] that the recent car bombings were acts of terrorism. The UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights [official website] reports that more than 5,000 people have died since anti-government protests began last March.

Saudi Arabia has been criticized for its capital punishment practices in the past. In July Amnesty International (AI) [advocacy website] called for a halt to executions [JURIST report] in Saudi Arabia, claiming there is often a lack of basic procedural due process. AI cited the increase in capital punishment over 2011 as cause for concern. In 2008 AI released a report finding that Saudi Arabia executed more people per capita than any other nation [JURIST reports]. According to that report, at least 1,252 people were put to death in 24 countries, with Saudi Arabia, China, Iran, Pakistan and the US accounting for the vast majority of the executions. In July of that year, Human Rights Watch (HRW) [advocacy website] released a report criticizing a lack of legal protections [JURIST report] for the 1.5 million migrant domestic workers in Saudi Arabia. Among other proposed reforms, HRW called on the Saudi government to amend the 2005 Labor Law to cover migrant workers.