Saudi Arabia carried out 108 executions in the first six months of 2026. Of them, 59 were foreign nationals, including Bangladeshis, accounting for 54 percent of all executions. Drug-related offences accounted for the largest number, 71.
The figures come from a report by the European Saudi Organisation for Human Rights (ESOHR).
The report says the number of executions under King Salman bin Abdulaziz and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has reached 2,000, a record compared with previous reigns. In recent years Saudi Arabia has become one of the countries that carry out the most executions in the world.
59 foreign nationals
According to ESOHR, nationals of 17 countries were executed between January and June 2026. Of them, 49 were Saudi citizens, 46 percent of the total. The remaining 59 were foreign nationals, 54 percent of the total.
The foreigners executed include nationals of Ethiopia, Pakistan, Sudan, Yemen, Syria, Jordan, Somalia, Egypt, Nigeria, Benin, Iraq, Kuwait, Kenya, Uganda, Afghanistan and Bangladesh.
The report says 71 people were executed for drug-related offences in the first six months, about 66 percent of the total. Another 25 were executed for murder. Nine were executed in political and security cases without any murder-related charge, and three in other cases.
The report adds that 83 of the executions, or 76.8 percent, were linked to offences that did not involve intentionally killing anyone. The organisation says these sentences are not consistent with the interpretation of international law that limits the death penalty to the most serious crimes.
Of the 108 executions, 84 were carried out under ta’zir, punishments left to a judge’s discretion. That is 77.7 percent of the total.
The organisation says that before the executions it, and other organisations concerned, had no documented information on 91 of the 108 cases. It says that this being so in 84.2 percent of cases shows the lack of transparency in Saudi Arabia’s judicial process and the difficulty of gathering information about people sentenced to death.
Executions in political cases
According to the report, people convicted in political and security cases by Saudi Arabia’s Specialised Criminal Court were also executed in the first six months of 2026. Such cases made up about 8.3 percent of all executions.
A notable case was the execution of Saud al-Faraj in June 2026. The UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention had earlier described his detention as arbitrary.
On 9 April 2026, the Saudi authorities also executed Ali al-Subaiti, who was a juvenile. He had faced several charges, including taking part in protests at the age of 12.
The ESOHR report says at least five people still face execution for crimes they are alleged to have committed as children. They are Youssef al-Manasif, Jawad Qureiris, Hassan Zaki al-Faraj, Mahdi al-Mohsen and Ali al-Mabiouq.
Foreign prisoners on death row
The report also sets out where foreign nationals sentenced to death are held in Saudi prisons. The death-row ward of Khamis Mushait prison holds 58 Ethiopian nationals. Najran prison holds another five Ethiopians and five Somalis, and Tabuk prison holds eight Egyptians.
The organisation alleges a range of irregularities in these prisoners’ cases, including the absence of professional interpreters, denial of legal aid, little understanding of the judicial process and no effective chance to defend themselves.
Allegations of breaches of international law
ESOHR said the figures for the first six months of 2026 confirm that Saudi Arabia’s high rate of executions continues. The organisation alleges that executions are being carried out without due regard for the country’s international obligations and its publicly declared legal commitments. The report also cites Saudi Arabia’s obligations under the Convention against Torture and the Convention on the Rights of the Child.
In the organisation’s view, Saudi Arabia appears keen to stay among the world’s leading executioners despite growing international concern and criticism over unfair trials, torture, discrimination and a lack of transparency.
বাংলায় মূল প্রতিবেদন পড়ুন · Read the original Bengali report