On Tuesday (November 22), a spokesperson for the United Nations Human Rights office, Elizabeth Throssell, shared that a total of 17 people have been executed by the Saudi Arabian regime in the past 12 days.
Capital punishment was handed out to the deceased convicts for drug-related offences. The recent executions have taken the total number of executions to 144 in 2022. While expressing ‘deep regret’, Elizabeth Throssell informed that those executed by the Kingdom belonged to Pakistan, Syria, Jordan, and Saudi Arabia.
As per a report by The Telegraph, the executed convicts include 3 Pakistanis, 2 Jordanians, 4 Syrians, and 3 Saudi nationals. The ethnicity and racial identity of 5 other men, executed by the State, remain unknown at this point.
🚨URGENT: While all eyes are on the World Cup, Saudi Arabia is carrying out a horrifying execution spree.
— Reprieve (@Reprieve) November 21, 2022
The Kingdom has executed 15 people convicted of drugs offences in the last 12 days, breaking a promise to end executions for non-violent crimes 🧵 pic.twitter.com/BXVGfqZk0n
Earlier on Monday (November 21), an NGO named Reprieve accused Saudi Arabia of being on an execution spree and killing 15 people in less than 2 weeks’ time.
“While all eyes are on the World Cup, Saudi Arabia is carrying out a horrifying execution spree. The Kingdom has executed 15 people convicted of drugs offences in the last 12 days, breaking a promise to end executions for non-violent crimes,” it said in a tweet.
Reprieve blamed the Joe Biden administration for the rise in executions in the Arab nation and attributed it directly to its softening stance on the Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman’s involvement in the murder of Jamal Khashoggi.
Biden went from promising to make Saudi Arabia a “pariah” to granting its Crown Prince immunity for Khashoggi’s murder.
— Reprieve US (@ReprieveUS) November 18, 2022
This is a regime that kills journalists, pro-democracy protesters & child defendants.
The failure to hold it accountable all but guarantees more bloodshed. pic.twitter.com/sZylwuIwKm
“Biden went from promising to make Saudi Arabia a “pariah” to granting its Crown Prince immunity for Khashoggi’s murder. This is a regime that kills journalists, pro-democracy protesters & child defendants,” the NGO stated.
It added, “The failure to hold it accountable all but guarantees more bloodshed.” Reportedly, the number of executions this year is higher than the combined total of the executions carried out in 2020 and 2021.
Director of Reprieve, Mata Foa, said, “Proof once again that when Saudi Arabia’s international partners signal that the regime can kill with impunity, the Crown Prince and his subordinates get the message – and act on it.”
