Saudi Arabia has executed more than 100 foreigners in 2024, according to an AFP tally. The most recent execution, reported on November 16 in Najran, involved a Yemeni man convicted of drug smuggling. This brings the total number of foreign executions to 101 so far this year, nearly triple the numbers for 2023 and 2022, when 34 foreigners were executed each year.
The European-Saudi Organisation for Human Rights (ESOHR) described 2024’s figures as a record, with Taha al-Hajji, the group’s legal director, stating that Saudi Arabia has never executed 100 foreigners in a single year.
In 2023, Saudi Arabia ranked third globally for executions, following China and Iran, according to Amnesty International. This year, the kingdom’s execution total surged to 274 as of November, surpassing its previous record of 196 executions in 2022.
Among the foreigners executed this year, 21 were from Pakistan, 20 from Yemen, 14 from Syria, 10 from Nigeria, and several others from countries including Egypt, Jordan, Ethiopia, Sudan, India, and Afghanistan. The majority of these executions have been drug-related since Saudi Arabia lifted its moratorium on drug offender executions in 2022.
Diplomats and human rights activists have raised concerns about the fairness of trials for foreign defendants, who often lack access to legal documents and are vulnerable to exploitation by major drug traffickers. “Foreigners are the most vulnerable group,” said Hajji, noting that many are subjected to significant legal and procedural violations from arrest to execution.
