Saudi Arabia
Foreign Nationals and the Death Penalty
Death Penalty Overview
Amnesty International has consistently ranked
Saudi Arabia among the top ve global executing
states. In 2019, 184 executions – which are carried
out by beheading, often in public – were recorded
in the country, with the majority of the individuals
executed (84) having been convicted for drugrelated offences. The broad range of other
offences that can be punishable by death includes
murder, rape, terrorism-related offences, robbery,
apostasy and witchcraft. Depending on the nature
of the charges, the imposition of a death sentence
may be mandatory under the country’s strict Sharia
legal system. While against international law to
sentence minors to death, Saudi Arabia continues
to sentence and execute people for crimes
committed whilst they were under the age of 18.
These executions are the product of a criminal
justice system characterised by secrecy and
arbitrariness.
Sumartini Binti Galisung
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Sumartini, a 33-year-old domestic
worker from Indonesia was arrested
in 2008 on the charge of witchcraft.
Her employer’s son had gone
missing and she was accused of
making him disappear. She was in
prison for a year before being sentenced to death.
In 2011 she had her sentence commuted to 10
years plus 1000 lashes. After this period was over,
she was released. So, for over 11 years before she
was eventually released back to Indonesia.
The total number of individuals currently held
on death row is unknown, and death sentences
have frequently been carried out following trials
which did not meet international standards,
including cases in which defendants were
convicted on the basis of ‘confessions’ believed
to have been obtained under torture. In 2020,
the overall number of reported executions
dropped notably to 27 (including 9 foreign
nationals) –an 85% fall on 2019 gures.
The factors that may have in uenced this
unexpected decline include the impacts of
domestic COVID-19 lockdown measures; the
imposition of a de facto moratorium on death
sentences for ‘discretionary’ offences (including
drug-related offences); and increased scrutiny
surrounding Riyadh’s hosting of the G20
summit in November 2020.
The current Crown Prince Mohammad bin
Salman has previously stated his intention to
signi cantly restrict the use of the death
penalty, and in August 2020 government
sources indicated that a decree formally
abolishing the death penalty for drug-related
offences was imminent – however whether
these promises of reform constitute anything
more than attempts to seek positive
international publicity remains to be seen.