Saudi authorities executed two more individuals on Monday, bringing the total to 17 executions over just three days, according to state media reports.
The rapid pace signals a sharp escalation in the country’s use of capital punishment and raises concerns that Saudi Arabia may surpass its previous annual execution record.
Two Saudis were executed for “terrorist crimes”, the official Saudi Press Agency said, after 15 people, mostly foreigners, were put to death for drug offences on Saturday and Sunday.
It is the quickest pace of capital punishment since March 2022, when 81 people were executed in a single day for terrorism-related offences, sparking widespread condemnation.
Thirteen of those put to death on Saturday and Sunday were convicted of smuggling hashish, and another for smuggling cocaine.
Saudi Arabia, one of the world’s most prolific users of the death penalty, has carried out 239 executions so far this year.
The conservative country is on course to outstrip last year’s 338 — the highest since public records first documented the cases in the early 1990s.
This year’s executions include 161 for drug offences and 136 foreigners, according to an AFP tally of official data.
Jeed Basyouni of the Reprieve rights group last week signalled a “significant rise in executions for hashish-related drug offences, with foreign nationals making up most of these executions”.
“This is particularly concerning given the global trend toward decriminalising the possession and use of hashish,” she revealed.
Analysts link the spike to the kingdom’s “war on drugs” launched in 2023, with many of those first arrested now being executed following legal proceedings.
Saudi Arabia reinstated the death penalty for drug-related crimes in late 2022, ending a nearly three-year moratorium on such executions. According to a report on Channel, this marked a shift in the kingdom’s penal policy, particularly amid growing global movements against capital punishment for non-violent offences.
Officials argue that executions are only carried out after a thorough legal process in which the accused have exhausted all appeals. They maintain that the death penalty plays a crucial role in upholding national security and deterring the spread of narcotics within the country.
However, human rights organisations contend that this renewed reliance on executions directly contradicts the kingdom’s attempts to present itself as progressive and reform-minded. They argue that such actions threaten to undercut Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s Vision 2030, which aims to attract tourism, investment, and global partnerships through a more open and modern image.
