On this World Day Against the Death Penalty, we, the undersigned organizations, express our horror at the alarming surge in executions in Saudi Arabia. In recent years, these have included numerous foreign nationals convicted of drug-related offences, Saudi citizens sentenced for peaceful dissent, and a young man executed for an offence allegedly committed while he was still a child – all in clear violation of international human rights law. According to data from the official Saudi Press Agency, the authorities have executed at least 292 people so far in 2025, including four women. They are on course to exceed last year’s record number of 345 executions, in contradiction of their own commitments to limit the use of the death penalty.
