Executions being used to Silence Dissidents;over 40 civilians executed in one day on terrorism charges in January alone, says Justice Crucified: The Death Penalty in Saudi Arabia, a report released by Repreive, a human rights group based in the United Kingdom.
Saudi Arabia will have executed at least 150 people by the end of 2016, for the second year in a row, according to research by a human rights organisation.
Around 47 of those were tried in the kingdom's “specialised criminial court”, which the UK-based group Reprieve suggested is being used to silence political dissidents.
As many as 72% of those facing execution in Saudi Arabia were sentenced to death for non-violent offences, including attendance at political protests and drug related offences. 69% of those executed in the past year had been sentenced to death for non-violent offences.
Among those facing execution are prisoners who were sentenced to death as children, such as Ali Mohammed al-Nimr and Dawoud Hussain al-Marhoon. The use of torture to extract ‘confessions’ is widespread – Reprieve has identified specific cases where prisoners have been beaten to the point of suffering broken bones and teeth. Execution methods include beheading, stoning, and beheading combined with ‘crucifixion’
Of those tried for state security offences including protesting, two were confirmed to be foreign nationals and four were juveniles. Meanwhile, 81 people – including 20 foreign nationals – were executed for comitting murder, and 23 for drug trafficking.Reprieve has claimed legal norms are being ignored in Saudi courts, such the lack of a lawyer present at hearings and even the use of torture to extract confessions.
On January 2, 47 civilians were executed on terrorism charges in one day, with the majority beheaded. It was the largest mass execution carried out in Saudi Arabia since 1980.
Reprieve said 150 civilians have been executed in total this year, compared with 158 last year. The 2015 figure reflected a considerable rise in executions, up 71 from the year before.
The majority of those executed this year were arrested on drugs or terrorism offences. Several were young people under the age of 18, Reprieve alleged.
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