Death penalty should be abolished: Mass executions in Saudi Arabia and Egypt

While the world is focusing on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, other serious violations of human rights continue to take place in other parts of the world. Recently, the mass executions in Saudi Arabia and Egypt raised the concerns of human rights experts and activists. Based on their official national reports, in Egypt, seven citizens in total were executed on 8, and 10 March 2022, and Saudi Arabia executed 81 people convicted of various crimes on 12 March 2022. The latter is the biggest mass execution carried out in the modern history of the country. The recent events have reignited the debate on the urgency of death penalty abolition.

International NGOs and the UN human rights experts expressed their concerns and condemnation. The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet,  highlighted that “The death penalty is incompatible with fundamental tenets of human rights and dignity, the right to life and the prohibition of torture. Failure to provide relatives with information on the circumstances of the executions may amount to torture and ill-treatment”. Ms. Bachelet said that some of those recently executed were sentenced to death following trials that did not meet fair trial and due process guarantees. Also according to the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) and Amnesty International, the charges were the result of unfair trials -- the defendants were subjected to torture and enforced disappearance and precluded from exercising the right to an attorney, which is a fundamental human right.

According to Amnesty International, in 2020, 88% of all the world’s executions (483) took place in four states only: Iran (246), Egypt (107), Iraq (45) and Saudi Arabia (27). Saudi Arabia and Egypt keep using the counter-terrorism laws as the pretext to interfere with fundamental rights and justify exceptional measures taken by the authorities. Despite the recent promises to reform the judicial system and limit the use of the death penalty, Saudi Arabia had already executed 107 people in 2022.

In light of international human rights law and international practices, we stress the urgency and necessity for all authorities, particularly Saudi Arabia, to immediately halt executions, end the use of mass trials, and initiate legislation to abolish the death penalty for all crimes. 

Last update

7/4/2022