Saudi Arabia is moving quickly toward a record number of executions in 2025, and on Monday it carried out two more executions, increasing the total to 17 in three days.
Foreign nationals convicted of narcotics charges, such as smuggling cocaine and hashish, made up the majority. Since 81 individuals were killed in a single day for terrorism-related offenses in March 2022, which sparked global outcry, this is the fastest rate of the death penalty.
With 239 executions so far this year, Saudi Arabia is on pace to surpass the 338 executions that occurred last year, 161 of which were for drug-related offenses and 136 of which were foreigners.
Amid a worldwide trend toward legalization, rights groups have expressed alarm about the rise in executions, especially for hashish charges. The “war on drugs” in Saudi Arabia in 2023 is blamed for the increase.
A “significant rise in executions for hashish-related drug offences, with foreign nationals making up the majority of these executions” was indicated last week by Jeed Basyouni of the Reprieve rights group.
“This is particularly concerning given the global trend toward decriminalising the possession and use of hashish” she told AFP.
After halting the practice for around three years, Saudi Arabia resumed executions for drug offenses near the end of 2022. It claims that executions are carried out to maintain security and discourage drug use, and that it only executes death sentences once prisoners have exhausted all their appeals.
Critics contend that the practice runs counter to the Crown Prince’s Mohammed bin Salman Vision’s 2030 reform goal, despite authorities’ insistence that death penalties are applied after thorough legal procedures and are meant to discourage crime.
