US EditionSaudi Arabia: Rights groups condemn new record number of executions in 2025
Saudi Arabia executed 340 people by 2025, with over two-thirds convicted of non-lethal drug offenses amid intensified anti-drug campaigns, according to AFP and Reprieve.
- On Monday, Saudi Arabia set a new annual record with 340 executions this year, AFP's tally shows, after the Ministry of Interior reported three executed in the Makkah region.
- Rights groups link the rise to a resumed anti‑narcotics campaign and stepped‑up checkpoints and seizures, noting Saudi Arabia resumed executions for drug offences at the end of 2022.
- More than half of those executed were foreign nationals, five women were among them, and 96 executions were linked solely to hashish, while families often are not informed or given remains.
- Saudi authorities defended the death penalty as necessary to maintain public order and told UN experts they `protect and uphold` human rights, while Dr Morris Tidball‑Binz called for an immediate moratorium and full safeguards.
- In recent years, only China and Iran have carried out more executions than Saudi Arabia, rights groups say, with Reprieve reporting 347 executions this year versus 345 last year, marking a second consecutive annual record.
28 Articles
28 Articles
Drug-related crimes accounted for 69% of all death sentences, with a total of 238, compared to 222 executions...
The UN strongly criticizes the draconian drug laws and the policy of the Saudi-Arab Crown Prince. In 2025 345 people were executed in the country.
Only China and Iran compete with Saudi Arabia in the number of applications of the death penalty a year, which in 2025 have been shot again as denounced by the British oenege 'Reprieve' and collects the 'BBC'. This year, despite complaints from human rights associations, the number of executions – by hanging or firing squad – has been 347, two more than the previous year, and a record number since there are records. Riyadh attributes the number …
Saudi Arabia has exceeded, for the second consecutive year, its annual record of execution, despite the harsh reactions of international human rights organizations. At least 347 people have been executed in 2025, in front of...
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