Human Rights Organizations Urge Saudi Arabia to Halt Executions of Egyptians in Tabuk Prison
Seventeen human rights organizations condemn Saudi Arabia’s execution of prisoners on non-lethal drug charges, citing violations of international law and due process.
Watan-Seventeen Arab and regional human rights organizations have expressed deep concern over the imminent execution of dozens of prisoners in Saudi Arabia on non-lethal drug-related charges, including Egyptian citizens detained in Tabuk prison.
These individuals, the organizations noted, are facing execution after flawed judicial proceedings that violate human rights and internationally recognized legal standards, including Saudi Arabia’s obligations under the Arab Charter on Human Rights, which limits the use of the death penalty to the most serious crimes.
In a joint statement released today (Thursday), the organizations highlighted that the UN Special Rapporteur on Extrajudicial Executions and the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture had issued an urgent appeal to Saudi Arabia in December 2024.
Rights Groups Urge Saudi Arabia to Halt Executions of Egyptians
The appeal urged the kingdom to halt the executions of Egyptian nationals and ensure they receive fair trials with the goal of reducing their sentences. The UN experts emphasized that the right to life is a fundamental international legal principle that cannot be revoked.
In 2024, Saudi Arabia carried out 345 executions, doubling its previous record for the highest number of annual executions. The organizations warned that the disproportionate impact on foreign nationals is particularly concerning, especially in drug-related cases, where 75% of the 122 people executed in 2024 for non-lethal drug offenses were non-Saudis. Additionally, Saudi Arabia has continued to impose and carry out death sentences against individuals for crimes allegedly committed when they were minors.
The organizations further noted that this alarming increase in executions has continued into 2025, with 65 executions carried out in the first two months of the year, including 33 for drug-related offenses. In their latest urgent appeal, the UN rapporteurs stressed that Saudi Arabia’s continued executions reflect a systematic failure of justice and a flagrant violation of international law. They called for an immediate halt to these executions, an independent investigation into human rights violations, and a comprehensive reform of Saudi Arabia’s judicial system to align it with international human rights standards.
The organizations described a climate of constant fear among prisoners in Saudi Arabia, who witness their fellow inmates being taken to execution daily. They accused Saudi authorities of increasingly relying on vaguely defined drug-related charges to justify continued use of the death penalty. Many of those sentenced to death, they added, were arrested under unclear circumstances, denied access to legal representation, and subjected to trials lacking transparency and due process, in violation of Saudi Arabia’s commitments under the Arab Charter on Human Rights.
The statement also denounced widespread use of forced confessions extracted under torture, noting that many defendants were coerced into signing documents they did not understand or were not allowed to challenge. This, the organizations emphasized, contradicts Saudi Arabia’s obligations under the UN Convention Against Torture.
Rights Groups Condemn Saudi Executions for Non-Lethal Crimes
The organizations reiterated that international law is clear: the death penalty should be limited to the most serious crimes, defined as those involving intentional killing. Non-lethal drug offenses do not meet this threshold, making these executions a clear violation of international human rights principles.
In their joint statement, the 17 human rights organizations warned that the current wave of executions undermines previous assurances by Saudi authorities to reduce the use of capital punishment and reflects a troubling pattern of contradictions and impunity. They highlighted that in April 2018, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman told Time Magazine that Saudi Arabia was moving away from the death penalty for non-homicide crimes in favor of life imprisonment. However, this pledge was later reversed with 185 executions in 2019.
Similarly, in March 2022, Bin Salman reaffirmed his intention to restrict the death penalty to cases of intentional killing in an interview with The Atlantic. This position was reiterated in July 2024, when Saudi officials informed the UN Human Rights Council that the death penalty would be reserved for the most serious crimes, and again in October 2024, during Saudi Arabia’s participation in the 89th session of the UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women. Despite these public statements, the kingdom has continued executing individuals for a broad range of non-lethal offenses.
The organizations warned that lack of transparency allows Saudi authorities to manipulate the judicial process and conceal the true nature of these cases. They noted that the system often targets vulnerable individuals,
including foreign nationals, with the harshest punishments. They accused Saudi authorities of systematic abuse of power and blatant disregard for justice and human rights, particularly as families of the condemned remain in the dark, with little to no information about their loved ones’ cases or execution schedules.
The UN rapporteurs confirmed that the lack of transparency in death penalty cases violates UN safeguards that require a minimum level of procedural fairness and accountability.
The human rights organizations urged Saudi authorities to:
- Fulfill their commitments to restrict the use of the death penalty to the most serious crimes, in line with international law.
- End the use of vague or unsubstantiated charges to justify capital punishment.
- Conduct immediate reviews of death row cases to identify due process violations and commute sentences accordingly.
- Honor their international legal obligations, including ensuring that foreign detainees have access to consular protection.
Additionally, the organizations called on the international community to:
- Increase diplomatic pressure on Saudi Arabia to halt unfair executions and trials.
- Hold the kingdom accountable for its human rights commitments.
- Demand greater transparency and judicial oversight.
- Ensure that foreign nationals on death row receive full legal protections.
The signatories of the statement include: the Middle East Democracy Center, the Middle East and North Africa Human Rights Group, the European-Saudi Organization for Human Rights, the Sinai Foundation for Human Rights, the Law and Democracy Support Foundation, Fair Square, the Egyptian Front for Human Rights, the Egyptian Human Rights Forum, the Gulf Center for Human Rights, ALQST for Human Rights, the Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies, EgyptWide for Human Rights, Humena for Human Rights and Civic Engagement, the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights, the Egyptian Commission for Rights and Freedoms, and the Refugee Platform in Egypt.
