The annual report of the High Commissioner for Human Rights and the Secretary-General of the United Nations on the death penalty stated that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia remains among the most prominent countries that practice widespread human rights violations about this punishment.
The report presented at the 54th session of the Human Rights Council in Geneva (September 11 - October 6, 2023) analyzed the relationship between Article 6 and Article 14 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights with a focus on the right to seek pardon or commutation of sentences and the right to review the penalty.
The report explained that despite significant progress towards abolishing the death penalty, an increasing number of people have been executed worldwide, including for drug-related offenses. It noted that 883 executions were recorded in 20 countries in 2022, representing a 53 percent increase from 2021, and the highest number of executions recorded in the past five years
The report affirmed that the sharp increase in executions is primarily attributed to prevailing practices in the Middle East and North Africa region, where executions increased by 59%. Executions in the Middle East accounted for 93% of all known executions worldwide in 2022, with Saudi Arabia carrying out 22% of them.
The report noted that in November 2022, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) reported that executions were carried out almost daily in Saudi Arabia over a two-week period, following Saudi Arabia's informal suspension of the death penalty for 21 months for drug-related crimes. It mentioned that between November 10 and 22, 2022, Saudi Arabia executed 17 people on drug charges."
The report relied on information provided by organizations, including the European Saudi Organization for Human Rights. It noted that the process of seeking clemency in Saudi Arabia is opaque and lacks transparency. It pointed out that in February 2021, the Saudi Human Rights Commission told the Human Rights Council that any juvenile offender who had committed a crime would have their death sentence commuted to a maximum of 10 years in prison, according to a royal decree. However, in June 2021, Saudi Arabia executed a juvenile offender on charges that occurred when he was a minor.
The report concluded with several findings and recommendations. The UN Secretary-General expressed concern about the increasing use of the death penalty by some countries despite global progress towards its abolition. He urged countries that still apply it to refrain from using it in cases that do not involve intentional killing, such as drug-related crimes
He emphasized the importance of ensuring the right to seek pardon and sentence reduction through effective and non-discriminatory procedures. He also called on them to guarantee the right of every individual sentenced to death to have their case reviewed by a higher court and to give special attention to conducting a full investigation and examining allegations that the sentence was based on evidence obtained through torture or ill-treatment.
The Secretary-General urged states to comply with transparency requirements regarding the imposition and application of the death penalty and to provide comprehensive, accurate, systematically classified, and public data on death sentences, including pardon, sentence reduction, and appeals.