WASHINGTON: Recent executions in Saudi Arabia have led to calls from UN agencies and human rights groups for abolition of death penalty in the oil-rich Arab kingdom.

Rights activists were particularly concerned with the Saudi decision to resume executions for drug-related offences, calling it “a deeply regrettable step”.

They noted that executions on drug and other charges resumed just days after a wide majority of States in the UN General Assembly called for a moratorium on the death penalty worldwide.

A spokesperson for the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) said that imposing the death penalty for drug offences was “incompatible with international norms and standards”.

There were three Pakistanis among the 17 executed in Saudi Arabia since Nov 10, all on drug charges.

The last of three was Gulzar Khan, son of Mannat Khan, whose execution was confirmed by OHCHR on Nov 22. He was arrested for smuggling heroin.

Elizabeth Throssell, an OHCHR spokesperson, noted that executions had been taking place almost daily in Saudi Arabia since early this month when Saudi authorities ended a 21-month unofficial moratorium on the use of the death penalty for drug-related offences.

Those executed to date included four Syrians, three Jordanians, and seven Saudis, besides three Pakistanis.

As executions were only confirmed after they took place in Saudi Arabia, the Office did not have any information as to how many people were on death row.

Although Pakistan never protests such executions, Amnesty International (AI) reacted strongly to these executions, calling them a “callous attack on right to life”.

Noting that the execution of these Pakistani nationals for drug-related crimes were the first since the country’s Human Rights Commission announced a moratorium on the use of the death penalty for drug-related crimes in January 2021.

Diana Semaan, AI’s Acting Deputy Director for the Middle East and North Africa said: “This striking escalation in the country’s use of the death penalty reveals the true face the Saudi authorities are hiding behind the so-called progressive reforms agenda they are presenting to the world.”

Published in Dawn, November 29th, 2022