Saudi Arabia is the nation that has the highest number of executions. Recently, this country has executed a Filipino citizen for murder. At the same time, the government wants to reserve its seat on the United Nations Human Rights Council. This wish of the Saudi officials makes people question if they truly respect human rights.
Saudi Arabia had killed more than 198 people by September 2024. This figure is the highest number ever. In September, the nation executed 32 people, and 80 more in July and August. This highest number breaks the past record of 196 executions in 2022.
Saudi Arabia’s actions do not match its words. On one side, the nation misuses the death penalty and is also making efforts to get a seat on the United Nations Human Rights Council. Furthermore, the highest number of executions highlights that the country does not care about the people’s basic rights.
In 2020, a Filipino citizen was arrested due to charges of murder. Now, last year he was sentenced to death. According to the Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs, the execution was carried out last Saturday. President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. called this incident “ very unfortunate”. He also promised the victim’s family to provide significant support.
The Philippines personally appealed to the Saudi Crown Prince, Mohammad Bin Salman. The nation also used legal assistance, but Sudi Arabia ignored the request and went ahead with the execution. This case points out the harshness of Saudi Arabia’s justice system. The nation also gets great criticism for its hard rules on the death penalty and often avoids the request for fairness.
Saudi Arabia’s harsh justice system
In this case, the lack of openness and compassion shows the country’s strict and harsh way of doing justice. This raises serious concerns about how it treats foreign nationals and its commitment to human rights standards.
The victim’s family did not accept the offer of “blood money”. It is a payment to forgive the convicted person. President Marcos said his government asked Saudi Arabia to look at the case again, but their strict laws kept the conviction, so a Filipino was killed.
The brutal method of killing this nation is the major reason for criticism that the Saudi nation faces. These methods highlight that Saudi Arabia has a lack of respect for human dignity and is also involved in different human rights violation cases.
In the past, Saudi authorities even displayed bodies and severed heads in public to intimidate others. Such actions raise serious concerns about the fairness and humanity of their justice systems. The country’s harsh legal approach, with no regard for international human rights standards, only emphasizes its oppressive rule and lack of compassion in dealing with criminal cases.
Recently, the nations have greatly increased the number of executions by following the international rules for fair trials. Many reports highlight that countries ignore human rights and execute people. In 2020, the Saudi Human Rights Commission promised to forgive the little crimes and will not execute people. But they do not fulfil this promise and don’t care about international rules. In 2022, Saudi authorities killed people for drug crimes for the first time in almost three years. This ended a temporary stop on the death penalty for these crimes. And this year, the nation has killed 53 people for the same crime.
The ongoing, increasing number of violations highlights the worrying pattern of human rights abuses in Saudi Arabia. The nation claims that it cares about human rights, but reality does not match with words. Rights groups are now against this nation and forced to UN to refuse the Saudi request to become a member of the UN Human Rights Council.
They believe that allowing Saudi Arabia to join would go against the council’s goal of promoting and protecting human rights worldwide. This situation raises serious doubts about Saudi Arabia’s commitment to respecting basic human rights.