Saudi Arabia executed 330 people this year, the highest number in decades, despite de facto ruler Mohammed bin Salman’s claim in 2022 that the death penalty had been eliminated except in cases of murder under his vision of a new kingdom opened.
The country is spending billions to transform its reputation for strict religious restrictions and human rights abuses into that of a tourism and entertainment hub under the Vision 2030 plan launched by the crown prince, also known as MbS.
The latest number of executions, compiled from execution announcements by human rights NGO Reprieve and verified by Reuters, is a big jump from the total of 172 last year and 196 in 2022. Reprieve said it was the highest never recorded.
“This reform is based on a house of cards built on a record number of executions,” said Jeed Basyouni, who works with Reprieve.
Saudi Arabia denies allegations of human rights abuses and says its actions are aimed at protecting national security.
More than 150 people were executed for non-lethal crimes this year, according to the count, which human rights groups say is contrary to international law.
Those executions were primarily linked to alleged drug smuggling amid a flood of amphetamine-like Captagon from Syria during the rule of ousted President Bashar al-Assad. They also included people accused of non-lethal terrorism, a charge that human rights groups say is often used against those who have participated in anti-government protests.
The total includes more than 100 foreign nationals from the Middle East, Africa and Asia.
Saudi Arabia executed 330 people this year, the highest number in decades (File image of the execution of a drug trafficker in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia in 1985)
Mohammed bin Salman (pictured) told The Atlantic in a 2022 interview that Saudi Arabia had eliminated the death penalty except in cases of murder.
The Saudi government communications office did not respond to detailed questions from Reuters about the execution figures.
After seizing power in a palace coup in 2017, MbS faced international censure for cracking down on dissent and for the murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi at the kingdom’s consulate in Istanbul in 2018.
Saudi Arabia has maintained that Khashoggi’s murder was carried out by a rebel group, although MbS has said he bears ultimate responsibility because it occurred under his supervision.
Western governments largely shunned the kingdom following Khashoggi’s death. US President Joe Biden, during his run for office in 2020, said he would make Saudi Arabia a “pariah”, but in 2022 he visited the kingdom and fist-bumped MbS.
Human rights groups have accused the country of sentencing minors to death and using torture to extract confessions.
For decades, Saudi Arabia carried out weekly executions by beheading with a sword in a public square; Now that same area is dominated by cafes and restaurants with almost no sign of its bloody past.
“Repression is increasing, but it is not visible,” said Dana Ahmed, Amnesty International MENA researcher.
Relatives of people sentenced to death, who did not want to share their names for security reasons, told Reuters they faced difficulties with the Saudi legal system.
A relative of a foreign national arrested on drug charges said he had simply been fishing near the coast and had no lawyer or representative in Saudi Arabia.
A relative of another accused said they had not heard any evidence against him despite attending criminal court sessions for more than three years.
Reuters could not independently verify the accounts.
MbS told the Atlantic in a 2022 interview that Saudi Arabia had eliminated the death penalty except in cases of murder, which he said he could not change since, according to the Quran, it is punishable by death.