32 human rights groups have urged Saudi Arabia to declare an official moratorium on executions and take steps towards fully abolishing the death penalty.
In a joint statement issued Tuesday, the groups cited “a systematic pattern of violations” in detention and trial processes, and expressed alarm over what they described as a surge in executions, with 154 already this year.
“We are gravely fearful for the lives of hundreds of prisoners threatened with imminent execution in Saudi Arabia for non-lethal drug offenses, including scores of Egyptian, Ethiopian and Somali nationals,” the groups said.
Those sentenced to death are “living in a state of terror amid a dramatic surge in executions for such offenses in recent months,” the statement continued, noting that Saudi Arabia has executed 98 people for drug-related offenses so far in 2025, according to data from the Saudi Press Agency.
Currently, 37 Ethiopian and 27 Somali men on death row in Najran Prison, southwestern Saudi Arabia, for drug-related offenses. Since January, authorities have executed 19 Somali and seven Ethiopian nationals for “smuggling hashish.” In June alone, 12 Somali and three Ethiopian nationals were executed. “Hundreds more are believed to be held in the same prison awaiting sentencing, many of them having been detained for years,” the statement added.
Similarly, at least 26 Egyptian men are detained in Tabuk Prison, facing execution for drug-related crimes. Three Egyptians have already been executed this year, including Mahmoud Mohamed Khamis and Farhat Abu al-Saud, who were executed on May 24 and 25, respectively. Other detainees were reportedly told they would be executed after Eid al-Adha, which ended on June 10.
On the same day, UN Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, Morris Tidball-Binz, called on Saudi authorities to halt the executions, calling the death sentences a “violation of international law.” He added that “violations of fair trial guarantees leading to the imposition of the death penalty render such sentences arbitrary and unlawful.”
The organizations raised concerns that some foreign nationals may be victims of human trafficking, coerced or deceived into transporting illicit substances under threat or false promises. Most, they noted, had not been allowed to defend their innocence in court.
The groups also denounced the lack of transparency in Saudi Arabia’s legal system, citing documents and testimonies that show detainees are routinely denied consular support, legal representation, or access to court files. Defendants, they added, are often subjected to torture or mistreatment, with confessions obtained under duress.
Amnesty International also reported a significant increase in executions during the first four months of 2025. Between January and April, 88 people were executed, 52 of whom were convicted of drug-related offenses. In contrast, 46 people were executed during the same period in 2024, none for drug crimes.
As of June 17, 2025, Saudi authorities have executed 154 people this year, according to official reports.
Between 2010 and 2021, Saudi Arabia executed nearly three times as many foreign nationals for drug-related offenses than Saudi citizens. The UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination raised concerns about this disparity as early as 2018.
In conclusion, the organizations called on Saudi Arabia to commute death sentences for all individuals convicted of crimes that do not meet the “most serious crimes” threshold under international law, and to declare an official moratorium on executions as a step toward fully abolishing the death penalty for all crimes.
Signatories to the statement include rights groups from Egypt, Somalia, the Gulf, and Europe.
