Saudi Arabia has executed 12 people in 10 days despite the Crown Prince’s promise to cut down on such form of punishment, according to a human rights organisation.
Reprieve said the defendants, all males, were sentenced to death after being imprisoned for non-violent drug offences.
According to the non-profit organisation, which gathered data on this week’s executions, most of the defendants were beheaded with a sword.
Three of the men executed were Pakistani, four Syrian, two Jordanian and three Saudi, Reprieve said.
Another man from Jordan was reportedly transferred to a prison wing and is due to be executed on Friday, the NGO added.
The latest figures bring the total number of people executed in Saudi Arabia this year to at least 132 – which is more than the number of Saudi executions in 2020 and 2021 combined.
Executions are continuing in the Middle Eastern country, despite promises by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to reform its justice system.
In 2018, Crown Prince bin Salman said his administration was looking to “minimise” capital punishment and only execute people found guilty of murder or manslaughter.
Following the murder of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi, who was killed inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, Turkey, Saudi Arabia proposed to change the law and end the death penalty for drug and other non-violent offences.
Reprieve director Maya Foa said: “Mohammed bin Salman has repeatedly touted his vision of progress, committing to reducing executions and ending the death penalty for drug offences.
“But as a bloody year of executions draws to a close, the Saudi authorities have begun executing drug offenders again, in large numbers and in secret.”
Human rights groups fear the rapid escalation of death penalties could see the country break its grim record of 186 killings throughout the whole of 2019.
