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.