Saudi Arabia: The highest number of recorded executions for women and foreign nationals
According to the European Saudi Organisation for Human Rights (ESOHR), Saudi Arabia executed an estimated 345 people in 2024, nearly doubling the previous year’s total. This surge includes a record number of executions of women and foreign nationals, driven by an increase in drug-related, undisclosed, and Taazir cases—discretionary judgments without specified penalties. Human rights groups attribute the rise to the Saudi government’s efforts to reduce prison overcrowding, the resumption of drug-related executions, and Western governments’ focus on economic and political ties, which has rehabilitated Saudi leaders’ global image and emboldened them.
Compiled from: Katherine Hearst, “Saudi executions double in 2024 as more women and foreigners put to death,” Middle East Eye, Jan. 6, 2025.
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