Riyadh (Brussels Morning Newspaper) – Saudi Arabia announced on Sunday that it executed two citizens for joining a terrorist group. This group planned to attack places of worship. The two men also intended to target security facilities and personnel, according to a report from the Saudi state news agency SPA, which cited a statement from the interior ministry.
How many people has Saudi Arabia executed this year?How has Amnesty International reacted to Saudi Arabia’s executions?
Saudi Arabia has carried out a shocking number of executions for drug crimes in the past decade in the Middle East. Most of these executed individuals were foreign nationals, according to Amnesty International.
How many people has Saudi Arabia executed this year?
Saudi authorities executed 17 people in August 2025. The official Saudi Press Agency reported that two Saudis were put to death for “terrorist crimes,” while 15 others, mostly foreigners, were executed for drug offences.
This marks the fastest pace of capital punishment since March 2022, when 81 people were executed in one day for terrorism-related offences, leading to widespread condemnation. In 2016, Saudi Arabia carried out 47 executions, which was the country’s largest mass execution since 1980.
Saudi Arabia, one of the world’s biggest users of the death penalty, has carried out 242 executions this year. The conservative country is set to exceed last year’s total of 338. That number was the highest since public records began tracking cases in the early 1990s.
How has Amnesty International reacted to Saudi Arabia’s executions?
Almost 600 people have been executed in the past decade for drug-related offences, according to Amnesty International. Three-quarters of these individuals were foreign nationals from countries such as Pakistan, Syria, Yemen, Nigeria, and Egypt.
After a temporary pause on drug-related executions between 2021 and 2022, the numbers surged to record highs. There were 122 executions in 2024 and 118 so far this year, up until the end of last month.
With little international oversight of what Amnesty calls “grossly unfair trials” and a “chilling disregard for human life,” the rights organisation warned that the death toll will likely continue to rise.
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