Six men were executed in Saudi Arabia yesterday, bringing the total so far this year to at least 47. Of those, at least 19 were non-Saudis according to Amnesty International.

In the south-western province of Jizan, five Yemenis were executed after being convicted of murder and a series of robberies. The interior ministry reported that a sixth man was also executed for murder in the city of Abha.

In Jizan the men's decapitated bodies were put on display, hanging from a horizontal pole with their heads wrapped in bags. The executions took place in front of the University of Jizan where students are taking exams. 

The idea behind public executions is to deter others, though it's not at all clear that they do. But nowadays, as a result of the internet, it is not just the Saudi public that sees them and this reinforces international perceptions that the kingdom is barbarous.

Besides questions about the method of execution there are several other issues relating to the death penalty in Saudi Arabia:

1. Capital offences are not limited to murder but also include adultery, armed robbery, apostasy, drug smuggling, kidnapping, rape, witchcraft and sorcery.

2. There is a high risk of people being executed after a wrongful conviction. Amnesty International says:

"Authorities in Saudi Arabia routinely flout international standards for fair trial and safeguards for defendants, who are often denied representation by lawyers and not informed of the progress of legal proceedings against them. 

"They may be convicted solely on the basis of 'confessions' obtained under torture or other ill-treatment."

3. Saudi Arabia also executes people who were juveniles at the time of the offence. This is a breach of the kingdom's commitments under international law, since it is a party to the 
Convention on the Rights of the Child, which prohibits capital punishment for individuals who were under 18 at the time of the crime.

4. The number of executions appears to be increasing. Amnesty International says the total of 47 so far this year represents an increase of 18 compared to this time last year, and a rise of 29 compared to the same period in 2011. These figures may not give the full picture, however, because there are also suspicions that some executions are carried out without being officially announced.

Although Saudi Arabia justifies its policies on the basis of Islamic law (or rather, Wahhabi interpretations of it), most Arab countries have fewer executions and some have a formal or informal moratorium on use of the death penalty. For example, Tunisia has had no executions since 1991 while Algeria and Morocco have had none since 1993.

Kuwait suspended executions in 1997 but then resumed them in April this year when three men were hanged in public for murder.

The authorities in Iraq are increasingly resorting to the death penalty. In 2011, 68 executions were reported and in 2012 the number almost doubled to 129. This year's total may turn out to beeven higher.
  

Posted by Brian Whitaker
Wednesday, 22 May 2013