Saudi Arabia executed 100 people in 2026 over drug trafficking — Report

Saudi authorities on Tuesday executed seven people, bringing the total number of people executed in the kingdom this year to 100, according to an AFP tally based on official announcements.

Five of those executed on Tuesday were convicted on drug trafficking charges, bringing to 65 the number of those executed over drug-related offences, 43 of them foreigners, according to the tally of interior ministry figures.

On Monday, Amnesty International condemned “a grim milestone exposing the authorities’ unconscionable and unlawful use of the death penalty”.

“Foreign nationals have borne the brunt of Saudi Arabia’s ruthless use of the death penalty for drug-related offences, frequently after grossly unfair trials,” the London-based rights group said.

“It is profoundly alarming that at least 63 Ethiopian nationals, held in a single ward of Khamis Mushait detention facility in south-west Saudi Arabia, may be at imminent risk of execution solely for drug-related offences,” it added.

Of the 100 executed this year, 48 were Saudis, 12 Ethiopians, seven Pakistanis, six Sudanese, four Yemenis and four Syrians.

In 2025, the kingdom executed 356 people, 243 of them over drug-related offences — a record figure since Amnesty began recording in 1990.

Saudi Arabia reinstated the death penalty for drug-related offences in late 2022, after having suspended it for about three years.

The kingdom has ranked third in highest number of executions in the world over the past three years, following China and Iran, according to Amnesty.

The Gulf kingdom has faced sustained criticism over its use of the death penalty, which rights groups have condemned as excessive and in marked contrast to the country’s efforts to present a modern image to the world.

Authorities in the kingdom, however, argue that the death penalty is necessary to maintain public order and is used only after all avenues for appeal have been exhausted.

AFP