Amnesty International on April 24 expressed deep concern over a dramatic increase in executions for drug-related offenses in Saudi Arabia, stressing the fear and uncertainty faced by dozens of men currently on death row. The organization reported that Saudi authorities have executed at least 88 individuals since January, 42 for drug-related crimes, which is almost double the executions for that same period in 2024, none for drug-related crimes. Just this week, in one day on April 22, the Saudi Press Agency announced the execution of three people: two Saudi nationals for “promoting hashish,” and one Pakistani national for “trafficking heroin.”
The report indicated that some individuals have been convicted based on confessions obtained under torture or without adequate legal representation, raising serious concerns about the fairness of trials for those accused of drug offenses in the country, as well as about the integrity of the judicial process. The organization also noted that the families of these individuals have reported receiving no official information about their loved ones’ cases, leading to heightened anxiety and stress.
Amnesty called on the international community to press Saudi Arabia to adhere to its obligations under international human rights law. Central to this is Article 6 of the International Covenant on Civil & Political Rights (ICCPR), which aims to limit the application of capital punishment to only the most serious crimes. Over the past decades, the international community has increasingly moved towards the abolition of the death penalty, with the Second Optional Protocol to the ICCPR having been adopted by 90 state parties. However, Saudi Arabia has not acceded to either the ICCPR or the protocol.
The Saudi Human Rights Commission announced a moratorium on the death penalty for drug offenses in 2020, but such executions resumed in 2022.
In April 2024, a global coalition of human rights organizations sounded the alarm over the fates of young men facing execution for crimes committed when they were minors in Saudi Arabia. On April 8, Amnesty International published its annual report on the use of the death penalty, finding global executions rose dramatically in 2024, with over 40% of the executions being tied to drug charges, including in Saudi Arabia. The organization also highlighted that such drug charges disproportionately impact marginalized communities, and that they have no proven effect in deterring drug trafficking.
From JURIST, April 25. Used with permission.
Image: Grunge Love via Flickr
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Executions in Saudi Arabia hit highest number on record in 2025
Saudi authorities executed 356 people in 2025, setting a new record for the number of inmates put to death in the kingdom in a single year.
Analysts have largely attributed the increase in executions to Riyadh's "war on drugs," with some of those arrested in previous years only now being executed after legal proceedings and convictions.
Official data released by the Saudi government said 243 people were executed in drug-related cases in 2025 alone, according to a tally kept by Agence France-Presse.
The figures mark the second consecutive year in which Saudi Arabia has carried out its highest number of executions, after authorities executed 338 people in 2024.
Saudi Arabia resumed executions for drug offences at the end of 2022, after suspending the use of the death penalty in narcotics cases for about three years.
The Gulf kingdom is one of the biggest markets for fenethylline, an illicit stimulant widely known under the brand name Captagon, which was Syria's largest export under its former leader, Bashar al-Assad, according to the UN.
Since Saudi Arabia launched its "war on drugs," authorities have increased the number of police checkpoints on highways and at border crossings, where millions of pills have been confiscated and dozens of traffickers arrested.
To date, most of those who have been executed in drugs-related cases have been foreigners. (The Guardian)