Saudi Arabia: Over 200 Executions in Nine Months: NGOs Condemn Escalating Use of the Death Penalty in Saudi Arabia

The undersigned organizations are horrified by the soaring number of executions in Saudi Arabia. According to data from the Saudi Press Agency, the authorities executed at least 200 individuals in the first nine months of 2024 alone, more than the number of executions for any whole year in the past three decades. This shows the Saudi authorities’ flagrant disregard for the right to life and contradicts their own pledges to limit use of the death penalty. During their Universal Periodic Review (UPR) this year, the authorities accepted only one of the 22 recommendations relating to the use of the death penalty, showcasing their lack of commitment to meaningful reform.