Amnesty International reported on Sunday that Saudi Arabia has put to death over 198 individuals in 2024 so far, the highest toll in the country in decades.
The group found the state to have “ramped up executions while routinely failing to abide by international fair trial standards and safeguards for defendants,” with many sentenced to death in Saudi Arabia also being subject to human rights abuses and unfair trials. Despite Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s claims in 2022 that capital punishment would be abolished, except for cases requiring the death penalty under Sharia law, Saudi Arabia remains one of the leading countries in the use of the death penalty, accounting for 15 percent of all executions globally in 2022. This amounted to 196 individuals, though Amnesty International warns that potential under-reporting may mean the number is even greater.
Despite wide condemnation of the practice and an increasing number of states abolishing the death penalty, the use of capital punishment is increasing. It is estimated there were 2,428 death sentences imposed globally in 2023, marking a 20 percent increase from 2022, as well as 1,153 executions, an increase of 30 percent from 2022.
Article 6 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights permits the use of the death penalty by states but limits its use to cases involving the most serious crimes and forbids the execution of individuals under 18 years of age. Despite this, the Saudi Arabian government only announced that executions of minors under 18 would be abolished in 2020 and continues to allow the death penalty to be inflicted upon individuals who have committed non-violent offenses including apostasy, sorcery, adultery and a number of drug-related crimes.
The death penalty has come under increasing scrutiny in recent years, as many individuals who were likely wrongfully convicted have been executed. In light of these concerns, the Death Penalty Information Center has documented cases of individuals who were put to death in the US despite their potential innocence, a category which includes Marcellus Williams, who was executed in the state of Missouri on September 24 after being convicted of murder. Williams’ case sparked outrage as the physical evidence and witnesses linking Williams to the crime scene were claimed to be unreliable.
Similar concerns surrounding the death penalty’s use to execute innocent individuals is prevalent worldwide. On September 26th, a Japanese court acquitted Iwao Hakamada of murder. Hakamada spent 48 years on death row and was thought to be the longest-serving death row inmate in the world.
