Saudi Arabia is violating international law in its insistence that drug and other non-fatal charges are among the most serious crimes for which death sentences can be imposed, two United Nations special rapporteurs have asserted.
In a letter sent to the Saudi government on December 3, 2024, Special Rapporteur on the death penalty Maurice Tidball Baines and Special Rapporteur on torture Alice Gail Edwards detailed the cases of people sentenced to death for drug offenses in Saudi Arabia.
The letter included the cases of: Islam Mohammed Ahmed Abdel Aziz al-Sayed, Ahmed Ali Younis Qaid, Ahmed Gharib Sami, Saeed Suleiman Sabah, Rami Jamal Shafiq al-Najjar, Ahmed Zeinhom Mohammed Omar, Abdel Fattah Kamal Abdel Fattah, Mohammed Kamel Salah Kamel, Ashraf Mohammed Obaid, Osama Abdel Hamid Mohammed, Abdel Rahim Ibrahim, Omar Ahmed Ibrahim al-Sharif, Mohammed Ahmed Saad, Isam al-Shatli Ahmed, Salem Faraj al-Arabi, Adnan al-Sharida.
The letter referred to information received by the Special Rapporteurs on the cases of thirty-four (34) individuals sentenced to death in Tabuk and Al Jawf prisons for drug-related offenses, in accordance with Article 37(1) of the Narcotics and Psychotropic Substances Control Law, which imposes the death penalty for a wide range of offenses including smuggling, receiving drugs from traffickers, promoting and participating in such acts, among others.
Harami Jamal Shafiq al-Najjar and Ahmed Zeinhom Mohamed Omar (Tabuk Prison) According to the information conveyed by the rapporteurs, on February 11, 2017, security forces in Saudi Arabia arrested al-Najjar and Omar at al-Drees gas station in Riyadh. They were both in the car together at the time of the arrest, with al-Najjar driving and Omar in the front seat. During the trial, state witnesses from the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) claimed that they saw Omar get out of the car and head to a suspected drug dealer to buy smuggled drugs, believed to be tramadol tablets and amphetamines, while al-Najjar tried to flee. After searching both people, authorities did not find any of the suspected drugs. Accordingly, authorities searched Mr. Al-Najjar's home and found 8 grams of cannabis. Both were charged with possession and trafficking of two types of drugs. In addition, Al-Najjar was charged with possession of drugs with intent to use, attempting to evade arrest, and running over a police car during arrest.
Adnan al-Sharida (Al-Jouf Prison) Adnan Al-Sharida is a 60-year-old Jordanian citizen facing imminent execution for drug-related offenses in Al-Jouf Prison. He was arrested on February 7, 2017, charged with drug-related charges and sentenced to death on December 4, 2017. After an appeal, the Supreme Court confirmed the death sentence on February 28, 2019. Al-Sharida has been imprisoned for more than seven years and suffers from severe medical frailty after undergoing heart surgery and a cardiac arrest that left him paralyzed. His health condition is severely deteriorating, including weight loss, impaired speech and severe signs of dementia. Despite this condition, al-Sharida does not appear to be receiving medical care in prison.
The letter noted that in November 2022, Saudi Arabia ended an 11-month unofficial moratorium on the death penalty in drug cases, and as of December 2, 2024, Saudi Arabia had reportedly carried out 304 executions. Of these, 104 (34%) were executed on drug-related charges, of which 79 (76%) were foreigners.
The rapporteurs considered that sentences for drug-related crimes often affect vulnerable individuals from impoverished backgrounds, who are smuggled, coerced, threatened or deceived by criminal organizations to carry out drug trafficking. In addition, executions are carried out without notice to families or legal representatives. After executions, families are not informed of the whereabouts of their loved ones' bodies, and their requests for the return of the bodies are systematically denied.
The rapporteurs expressed grave concern for the lives of Egyptian detainees threatened with imminent death, as well as concern over the lack of medical care for Adnan al-Sharida. They emphasized that the duty to protect the lives of detained individuals includes the provision of necessary medical care and regular monitoring of their state of health.
“The refusal to inform convicted persons and their families of the date and time of execution is a flagrant violation of human rights. Such practices are inhumane and degrading and jeopardize the procedural safeguards surrounding the right to life,” and that ”persons sentenced to death, their families, and their lawyers must have access to reliable and timely information about proceedings and the timing of appeals, pardons, and executions.” In addition, the letter emphasized that “secret executions violate the rights of convicts and their families to prepare for death, and that secrecy and refusal to hand over bodies to families are particularly cruel aspects of the death penalty.”
The rapporteurs asserted that the lack of transparency in the execution of the death penalty violates article 9 of the United Nations Safeguards guaranteeing protection of the rights of those facing the death penalty, which states that “when the death penalty is applied, it must be carried out so as to cause the least possible suffering.” These safeguards, which were unanimously affirmed by the Economic and Social Council, constitute customary international law that all countries applying the death penalty must abide by.
The letter argued that the information received contravenes Articles 3, 5, 9, and 10 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights on the right to life, the prohibition of torture, the prohibition of arbitrary detention, and the right to a fair trial, the provisions of the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, to which Saudi Arabia acceded in 1997, and Articles 5, 8, 13, 14, 16, and 20 of the Arab Charter on Human Rights. They emphasized that the individual cases brought to their attention give rise to a presumption of discriminatory application of the death penalty for drug offenses to foreigners.
The rapporteurs expressed serious concern about the high numbers of executions in 2024, and regretted to see Saudi Arabia's failure to reduce the scope of the death penalty, especially the suspension of the implementation of the decision announced by the official Human Rights Commission in January 2021 to halt executions for drug offenses.
The letter concluded by requesting additional information about the cases mentioned, and the legal and procedural safeguards that have been provided to them, including their rights to access a lawyer, access to consular assistance, their right to be presumed innocent, and their right to a meaningful defense.
The letter also asked Saudi Arabia to provide detailed information on the extent to which the implementation of the death penalty in drug cases, given the alleged violations in the trials, is consistent with international human rights law, including the UN safeguards to protect the rights of those facing the death penalty
ESOHR notes that days after the letter was sent to the Saudi government, on December 27, Jordanian detainee Adnan al-Sharaideh died in prison due to his health condition, while his family was denied the right to say goodbye and bury him.
Although Saudi Arabia responded to the letter, the continued execution of 59 since the beginning of 2025 shows the lack of any serious intention to abide by international laws and comply with the demands made by the special rapporteurs on the death penalty in general and for drug offenses in particular.