Saudi Arabia Executes 17 in 3 Days — Most for Drug Offenses, Many Foreigners

Saudi Arabia has kicked off August with a chilling pace of executions — 17 people were put to death in just three days, state media confirmed on Monday. Most of them weren’t Saudi citizens, and most were killed for drug offenses, drawing sharp criticism from human rights groups, CBS News reports.

On Monday, two Saudi nationals were executed for what officials described as “terrorist crimes.” But over the weekend, 15 others — mostly foreigners — were executed, including 13 convicted of smuggling hashish and one for smuggling cocaine.

This is the fastest execution rate the country has seen since March 2022, when 81 people were executed in a single day, shocking the world and triggering global backlash. That mass execution was linked to terrorism charges, but this time, it’s drugs — and lots of them — taking people to the gallows.

Saudi Arabia, long known for its heavy use of the death penalty, has already carried out 239 executions this year, according to a tally by AFP. That’s more than halfway to last year’s record of 345, and we’re only in August.

 “This is a truly horrifying trend,” said Kristine Beckerle of Amnesty International. “Foreign nationals are being put to death at a startling rate for crimes that should never carry the death penalty.”

In fact, 136 of this year’s executions were foreign nationals, and 161 were drug-related, according to rights groups.

The surge appears tied to Saudi Arabia’s ongoing “war on drugs,” launched last year. Many of the people executed over the weekend were arrested months ago and have now reached the end of their legal appeals, activists say.

Rights groups are particularly concerned that so many people were executed over hashish-related charges, at a time when much of the world is moving toward decriminalizing cannabis.

Jeed Basyouni of Reprieve noted the troubling contradiction:

“While countries around the world are rethinking their drug policies, Saudi Arabia is doubling down — and foreign nationals are paying with their lives.”

Saudi officials insist they only carry out executions after all legal avenues are exhausted and that the death penalty serves as a deterrent. But many observers say the kingdom’s use of capital punishment stands in sharp contrast to its push for a more progressive image under Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s Vision 2030 agenda.

Vision 2030 is pitched as a bold plan to modernize Saudi Arabia’s economy and open up its society — think concerts, tourism, and social media influencers. But behind that glossy PR campaign is a justice system still defined by public executions and harsh crackdowns.

In June alone, Saudi Arabia executed 46 people, most of them foreigners, including 37 for drug offenses, according to Amnesty. That’s an average of more than one drug execution a day.

Despite global criticism and promises of reform, the kingdom seems to be heading in the opposite direction when it comes to capital punishment — especially for those caught up in its zero-tolerance drug laws.