Saudi Arabia, under Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, has shattered records in 2024 with a staggering 303 executions—its highest annual toll in history. This grim milestone lays bare the contradiction between the kingdom’s claims of progressive reform and its relentless use of the death penalty. State media reported the executions of three more individuals on Tuesday, adding to the tally of victims who paid with their lives for crimes ranging from drug smuggling to political dissent.
This year’s executions reflect a chilling acceleration, with over 200 individuals put to death in September alone. The surge, marked by the execution of 103 individuals for drug-related offenses and 45 for terrorism charges, highlights the kingdom’s punitive obsession. Critics argue these executions serve as tools of repression, often targeting marginalized groups and political opponents, undermining claims of justice.
A System Weaponized Against the Vulnerable
The numbers reveal a disturbing pattern: women and foreign nationals are disproportionately affected. According to the European Saudi Organisation for Human Rights (ESOHR), seven women have been executed this year, three of whom were migrant workers from Africa. The record-breaking number of foreign nationals executed—113, a nearly threefold increase from 2023—reflects systemic discrimination against non-Saudis. These individuals, often lured to Saudi Arabia as cheap labor, find themselves ensnared in a judicial system that critics say lacks transparency and fairness.
Rights organizations, including Amnesty International, have condemned the kingdom’s death penalty practices as violations of international norms. The United Nations has reiterated that executing individuals for drug crimes contravenes global human rights standards, yet Saudi Arabia resumed such executions in 2022 after a brief moratorium. Since then, the kingdom’s death machine has operated at unprecedented speed, a grim testament to the government’s disdain for international accountability.
Read More: Bangladesh Calls Out India Over Double Standards on Minority Rights
The Politics of Fear and Suppression
Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s so-called reforms—marketed to the West as transformative—are increasingly exposed as a smokescreen for repression. Behind the façade of modernization, including loosening social restrictions and opening the kingdom to foreign investments, lies a brutal reality: dissent is silenced through fear, and lives are extinguished to maintain authoritarian control.
Human rights defenders have accused the regime of weaponizing the death penalty against political opponents and critics, branding them as terrorists under the kingdom’s broad and vague anti-terrorism laws. “These executions confirm the falsity of the reformist image that bin Salman has meticulously curated for years,” said Duaa Dhainy, a senior researcher at ESOHR.
Bin Salman’s rhetoric, such as his 2022 statement to The Atlantic claiming the death penalty was reserved for “extreme cases,” stands in stark contrast to the data. Of the 303 executions this year, only a fraction involved murder charges. The vast majority were related to non-violent crimes, including drug offenses. This glaring contradiction underscores the political motives behind the kingdom’s punitive system.
Global Silence Enables Saudi Brutality
Despite widespread international condemnation, including protests from human rights organizations like Reprieve and Amnesty International, the global response to Saudi Arabia’s execution spree remains muted. The kingdom’s oil wealth and geopolitical influence have effectively insulated it from meaningful consequences.
The Biden administration, which vowed to prioritize human rights in its foreign policy, has largely refrained from directly addressing Saudi Arabia’s human rights abuses. European nations, similarly, have opted for diplomatic engagement rather than public criticism, prioritizing trade deals and arms sales over human lives.
By failing to hold Saudi Arabia accountable, the international community enables the kingdom’s violent repression. The silence is especially deafening given the kingdom’s execution of political prisoners, including those arrested for participating in protests or expressing dissenting views.
The Illusion of Progress
Under King Salman and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Saudi Arabia has executed more than 1,000 individuals since 2015. The kingdom’s record-breaking executions in 2024 starkly contrast with its efforts to project a modern, reformist image. From hosting international sporting events to inviting foreign investors, Saudi Arabia has worked tirelessly to distract the world from its egregious human rights abuses.
These contradictions have not gone unnoticed. “This grim milestone shows the Saudi authorities’ flagrant disregard for the right to life and contradicts their own pledges to limit the use of the death penalty,” said Lina al-Hathloul, head of communications for ALQST, a London-based human rights organization.
The question remains: How long can Saudi Arabia sustain this duality? While the regime continues to buy international complicity with oil deals and investment opportunities, the growing chorus of dissent from human rights organizations underscores the unsustainable nature of its brutal policies.
Saudi Arabia’s execution spree is not merely a domestic issue; it is a stark reminder of how authoritarian regimes exploit global apathy to perpetuate their brutality. The kingdom’s record-high executions in 2024 expose the hypocrisy of its reform narrative and highlight the urgent need for international accountability. The victims—many of them marginalized and voiceless—serve as a sobering testament to the cost of Saudi Arabia’s unchecked power.