Saudi Arabia has reached a grim milestone in 2024, executing over 300 individuals, as confirmed by an AFP tally. On Tuesday, December 3, four more executions were carried out, bringing the total to 303 for the year, the highest number ever recorded in the kingdom.
According to the Saudi Press Agency, three of the individuals were convicted of drug smuggling, while the fourth was executed for murder. This brings the total number of executions in the kingdom to an all-time high, surpassing the previous record of 196 executions in 2022, according to Amnesty International.
The surge in executions follows a steady pace, with 200 executions carried out by the end of September. The rapid increase in recent months has drawn international concern, with human rights groups condemning the rise in state-sanctioned killings.
In 2023, Saudi Arabia was among the top three countries in terms of executions, following China and Iran, Amnesty International reported. The country's use of the death penalty has continued to attract scrutiny from global watchdogs, especially as the kingdom's legal and judicial processes are seen as opaque and politicized.
Taha al-Hajji, legal director at the European Saudi Organisation for Human Rights (ESOHR), expressed shock at the "rocket speed" of executions in 2024, calling it "incomprehensible and inexplicable."
In addition to its high execution rates, Saudi Arabia has faced criticism for its crackdown on free speech. Recently, the country sentenced artist Mohammed al-Hazza to over 20 years in prison for political cartoons that were deemed offensive to the leadership. His conviction is part of a wider pattern of repression under Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s leadership, where numerous individuals have been imprisoned for expressing dissent on social media.
Human rights organizations, such as Amnesty International and ALQST, have highlighted the growing trend of political imprisonment, with many convicted on charges related to terrorism and free expression. Samer Alshumrani, operations manager at Sanad, described the case of al-Hazza as emblematic of the suppression of freedom of expression in the kingdom, which has extended even to artists.
This escalation in human rights abuses comes just weeks after Saudi Arabia was denied a seat on the United Nations Human Rights Council in October, further underscoring the international community's growing concerns over the country’s record on human rights.
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