Saudi Arabia: UN experts voice alarm at executions of foreign nationals

GENEVA  – UN human rights experts* have expressed alarm after three Egyptian nationals were executed in Saudi Arabia on 3 December and called on the Saudi Government to immediately stop the imminent execution of another three, of Egyptian and Jordanian nationalities.

The three still due to be executed are Rami Gamal Shafik al-Najjar and Ahmed Zeinhom Omar, from Egypt, and Adnan al-Shraydah, from Jordan.

The two Egyptians, who are part of 28 Egyptians currently on death row in Tabouk prison, were reportedly moved to an execution cell on 27 November 2024 and have been made to witness other inmates being taken away for execution as they await their turn. Jordanian Adnan Al-Shraydah, 60, suffers from serious health problems and is allegedly not receiving adequate medical care in prison.

“Saudi Arabia seems to have lifted a previously announced unofficial moratorium, in 2021, on the use of death penalty for drug-related offences in the country, and executions of foreign nationals appear to be increasingly taking place without prior notification to death row inmates, their families, or their legal representatives,” said the experts.

“Foreign nationals are often in a situation of vulnerability, and need specific measures be taken to ensure they have access to their legal safeguards from the moment of arrest, during interrogations, and throughout judicial proceedings, including access to consular assistance,” the experts said.

The experts expressed concern about the apparent discriminatory application of the death penalty against foreign nationals, who so far constitute 75 per cent of all executions for drug crimes in Saudi Arabia in 2024. The executed individuals are part of the 33 Egyptian nationals who have been sentenced to death for drug-related crimes in trials that apparently fall short of the international standards of fairness and due process.

"The execution of sentenced persons whose guilt has not been established beyond reasonable doubt constitutes an arbitrary deprivation of life," the experts said.

With 304 executions in Saudi Arabia so far this year, the experts urged the authorities to conduct a review of judicial decisions against individuals currently on death row with a view to commuting their sentences, in compliance with fair trial requirements and the principles of proportionality, fairness, and justice in sentencing. They also called the Saudi Government to adopt without delay the necessary legislative measures to abolish the imposition of the death penalty for crimes that do not involve intentional killing. “In any case, there is no evidence of that the death penalty is effective in deterring crime,” they said.

The experts have previously expressed their concerns about these cases directly to the Government of Saudi Arabia and requested the authorities to provide information on provisional measures it has taken to protect the right to life of these foreign nationals.