It’s “murderous madness”: 198 people executed in Saudi Arabia
In 2024, Saudi Arabia broke a sad record. In over thirty years, it has never executed so many people.
198 people in total. A calculation made by AFP based on official media. In 2023, after Iran and China, Saudi Arabia is the country that has executed the most prisoners in the world, indicates Midi Libre, who repeated the count of Amnesty International.
On Saturday, Amnesty International denounced the Saudi authorities, accusing them of "engaging in murderous madness". Its Secretary General, Agnes Callamard, believes that Riyadh (capital of Saudi Arabia) shows a real and frightening "contempt for human life while leading a meaningless campaign to restore its image". She also urges the Gulf monarchy to "immediately establish a moratorium on executions and order that those sentenced to death be retried in accordance with international standards, without resorting to the death penalty".
Jeed Basyouni, the Middle East director of the NGO Reprieve, which fights against the death penalty, says that this record clearly demonstrates that "Saudi Arabia has given up on pretending to reform its use of the death penalty". Before concluding with a cause and effect link: while the West has reduced the pressure, Riyadh feels "free to behave as it wishes".
Based on the AFP count, Saudi Arabia executed 52 people convicted of drug cases and 32 for terrorism in 2024. While the figures prior to 1990 are unclear, the largest mass execution dates back to March 2022, when 81 people were put to death in a single day, points out Libre. Riyadh must put forward that the death penalty would be absolutely essential to the “maintenance of public order”, this one being applied only on condition that the “accused have exhausted all appeals”.
(MH with AsD - Source: Midi Libre - Illustration: Unsplash)