Rights Groups in Geneva Say Saudi Arabia Uses Death Penalty as Political Tool

Rights Groups in Geneva Say Saudi Arabia Uses Death Penalty as Political Tool
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International rights organizations have warned that Saudi Arabia’s use of the death penalty is marked by systematic fair-trial violations and is increasingly being used as a political tool.

Speakers said many death penalty cases in Saudi Arabia begin with arbitrary arrests, incommunicado detention, solitary confinement, torture, ill-treatment, and coerced confessions, followed by trials that lack basic legal safeguards.

Rights advocates also criticized the Specialized Criminal Court, saying it has been used to prosecute dissidents, human rights defenders, and peaceful activists under broad terrorism and national security charges.

Ali al-Dubaisi, director of the European Saudi Organization for Human Rights, said the rise in executions in Saudi Arabia reflects a political decision from the highest levels of authority, not isolated judicial errors. He noted that Saudi Arabia recorded a historic number of executions in 2024 and exceeded that figure again in 2025.

Rights groups said many executions do not involve intentional killing, but relate to drug cases, political charges, protests, and broad security accusations. They also raised concerns over executions of people accused of acts committed when they were minors.

The speakers said the death penalty has been used heavily against members of the Shia minority, especially in the Eastern Province, in cases linked to protests, expression, funerals, or vague terrorism charges.

The event concluded with calls for UN member states to demand an immediate halt to executions in Saudi Arabia, commute sentences that violate international law, end the death penalty for drug, political, and child-related cases, and retry cases involving torture, coerced confessions, or denial of defense rights.