Record number of executions in Saudi Arabia, says Amnesty International

BEIRUT — The number of executions in Saudi Arabia reached a record level in 2024, according to a report by Amnesty International, which condemns the increasing use of the death penalty for non-violent drug offenses.

The kingdom executed 345 people last year, the highest number ever recorded by the organization in over thirty years of monitoring. This trend continued in the first six months of 2025, during which 180 people have already been put to death, according to Amnesty, suggesting a new record may be set this year.

According to the NGO Reprieve, about two-thirds of the executions since January were for drug-related offenses that did not involve homicide, a trend also denounced by Amnesty.

Saudi authorities have not commented on this increased use of the death penalty nor answered detailed questions from the Associated Press regarding the reasons for these executions in non-violent cases.

This practice goes against the statements of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who claimed in 2022 to have limited the use of the death penalty to homicide convictions only.

"We have removed all other categories, except one, which is clearly stated in the Quran. We cannot change it, even if we wanted to," he had stated in The Atlantic magazine.