(Image source from: Timesnownews.com)

Saudi Arabia executed 101 foreigners in 2024. This is the highest number of executions in one year in Saudi Arabia's history. This number is almost three times higher than the number of executions abroad in 2023 and 2022 (34 each). Human rights groups accuse Saudi Arabia of an unprecedented escalation in executions. Many of these deaths were due to drug-related crimes. Of a total of 92 drug-related executions this year, 69 cases involved foreigners. According to AFP, Taha Al-Haj, head of the legal department of the European Organization for Human Rights in Saudi Arabia (ESOHR), said: "Foreigners are the most vulnerable group." They often become victims of major drug traffickers and are vulnerable from the moment of arrest to the moment of execution Suspended for series of violations. Not subject to fear.

“Families of foreign death row inmates are rightly afraid that their loved one will be the next to be executed,” said Zeid Basshoni of the anti-death penalty group Ripley’s Eve. He called this situation an “unprecedented execution crisis.” According to AFP, the foreigners executed this year include 21 people from Pakistan, 20 people from Yemen, 14 people from Syria, 10 people from Nigeria, 9 people from Egypt, 8 people from Jordan and 7 people from Ethiopia. There were also three people from Sudan, India and Afghanistan and one each from Sri Lanka, Eritrea and the Philippines. Executions in Saudi Arabia are receiving increasing attention. International organizations such as Amnesty International rank Saudi Arabia as the third largest execution authority in the world, after China and Iran. The high number of executions this year contradicts Saudi Arabia's claims. Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman said in a 2022 interview with The Atlantic that the kingdom had abolished the death penalty. Murder cases and people that threaten many lives.