Saudi Arabia: The highest number of recorded executions for women and foreign nationals
Monday, January 13, 2025 9:50 AM

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.

Compiled from: Katherine Hearst, “Saudi executions double in 2024 as more women and foreigners put to death,” Middle East Eye, Jan. 6, 2025.