Saudi Arabia
Death penalty and prisoners' rights · Archive since 1999
Data card
- Legal status
- Retentionist
- Executions recorded in 2026
- 9
- Executions recorded in 2025
- 41
- First news item in the archive
- JANUARY 1, 1999 · Executions are carried out in public with a sword
- News items in the archive
- 1,878
Source: Hands Off Cain database, updated to 2026.
Saudi Arabia is classified as Retentionist in the Hands Off Cain database, updated to 2026. In 2026 the association recorded 9 executions in the country, against 41 the year before. The archive holds 1,878 news items on Saudi Arabia, from 1999 to today.
In Saudi Arabia the death penalty applies to murder, drug offences, terrorism and certain offences under sharia law. The usual method is beheading, in some cases carried out in public. Executions are often announced in groups by the official press agency and a significant share of them involve foreign nationals.
The system of diya, the compensation a victim's family may accept in place of an execution, leaves some sentences reversible until the last moment. The archive gathers official announcements, individual cases and the campaigns to stop them.
Latest news
- MAY 9, 2003Saudi ArabiaDEATH PENALTY
Kioual Man Limbou, a Nepalese man convicted of murder,...
Kioual Man Limbou, a Nepalese man convicted of murder, was publicly beheaded by sword in Saudi Arabia
- MAY 4, 2003Saudi ArabiaDEATH PENALTY
Abdul Rahman bin Hanash al-Shihri was publicly beheaded...
Abdul Rahman bin Hanash al-Shihri was publicly beheaded in Riyadh for shooting dead a male relative in a dispute
- APRIL 24, 2003Saudi ArabiaDEATH PENALTY
Saudi Arabia voted against the resolution on the death...
Saudi Arabia voted against the resolution on the death penalty approved by the UN Commission on Human Rights, in Geneva
- APRIL 21, 2003Saudi ArabiaDEATH PENALTY
Myan Gul Jan Khan, a Pakistani sentenced to death for...
Myan Gul Jan Khan, a Pakistani sentenced to death for drug trafficking, was publicly executed in a square in Riyadh, the Saudi Arabian capital, declared the Saudi Interior Ministry
- APRIL 13, 2003Saudi ArabiaDEATH PENALTY
Salem Hussein Hasan al-Salami, an Iraqi convicted of...
Salem Hussein Hasan al-Salami, an Iraqi convicted of smuggling hashish, was publicly beheaded by sword in the northern Saudi city of Arar
- MARCH 29, 2003Saudi ArabiaDEATH PENALTY
A Saudi man was beheaded after he was convicted of...
A Saudi man was beheaded after he was convicted of murdering a compatriot, the Saudi Interior Ministry said in a statement
- MARCH 1, 2003Saudi ArabiaDEATH PENALTY
James Sampson, father of William Sampson, a Canadian...
James Sampson, father of William Sampson, a Canadian facing a death sentence in Saudi Arabia arrived in the kingdom to meet his son
- FEBRUARY 19, 2003Saudi ArabiaDEATH PENALTY
Women confront death with "nerves of steel" while men...
Women confront death with "nerves of steel" while men often collapse with fear, Saudi Arabia's most senior executioner was reported as saying
- FEBRUARY 3, 2003Saudi ArabiaDEATH PENALTY
Saudi Arabia reportedly sentenced a Yemeni national...
Saudi Arabia reportedly sentenced a Yemeni national to death for insulting the religion of his roommate
- JANUARY 30, 2003Saudi ArabiaDEATH PENALTY
In a resolution the European Parliament called for...
In a resolution the European Parliament called for the United States, Iran, China, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Congo and others to introduce a moratorium on executions "with a view to completely abolishing the death penalty
- JANUARY 21, 2003Saudi ArabiaDEATH PENALTY
The Department of Foreign Affairs in the Philippines...
The Department of Foreign Affairs in the Philippines stated that there were nineteen Filipino nationals awaiting execution in Saudi Arabian prisons
- JANUARY 8, 2003Saudi ArabiaDEATH PENALTY
Saud bin Jebran bin Qalet al-Shahrani, convicted of...
Saud bin Jebran bin Qalet al-Shahrani, convicted of murdering his wife and mother-in-law was beheaded by sword in the southwestern province of Assir
- JANUARY 8, 2003Saudi ArabiaDEATH PENALTY
The executive committee of the Spanish Federation of...
The executive committee of the Spanish Federation of Islamic Religious Entities (Federación Española de Entidades Religiosas Islámicas - FEERI) formally requested Saudi Arabia to abolish death-by-stoning
- JANUARY 1, 2003Saudi ArabiaDEATH PENALTY
Saudi Arabia follows a strict interpretation of Islamic...
Saudi Arabia follows a strict interpretation of Islamic Sharia law
- JANUARY 1, 2003Saudi ArabiaDEATH PENALTY
Many of the announced Saudi executions are for murder...
Many of the announced Saudi executions are for murder and rape, but a wide range of violent and non-violent crimes are also punished by decapitation, including: armed robbery; drug-trafficking; witchcraft; adultery; sodomy; same-sex relations; highway r
- JANUARY 1, 2003Saudi ArabiaDEATH PENALTY
Executions take place in public in the conservative...
Executions take place in public in the conservative kingdom, and by beheading
- JANUARY 1, 2003Saudi ArabiaDEATH PENALTY
In 2002, Saudi Arabia allowed for the first time access...
In 2002, Saudi Arabia allowed for the first time access to a UN Special Rapporteur on the independence of judiciary
- JANUARY 1, 2003Saudi ArabiaDEATH PENALTY
In 2002, Hands Off Cain counted 49 executions, including...
In 2002, Hands Off Cain counted 49 executions, including at least one woman
- DECEMBER 17, 2002Saudi ArabiaDEATH PENALTY
Three Saudi men were beheaded in public with a sword...
Three Saudi men were beheaded in public with a sword after being found guilty of an armed robbery
- DECEMBER 13, 2002Saudi ArabiaDEATH PENALTY
Badr bin Ghazi al-Utaibi was publicly beheaded for murder
Badr bin Ghazi al-Utaibi was publicly beheaded for murder
- DECEMBER 4, 2002Saudi ArabiaDEATH PENALTY
Saudi King Fahd commuted the death sentences of 17...
Saudi King Fahd commuted the death sentences of 17 Saudis convicted of rioting, ordering them to instead serve 10 years in jail, the Interior Ministry said
- NOVEMBER 1, 2002Saudi ArabiaDEATH PENALTY
Saudi Arabia beheaded two Saudi men convicted of murder,...
Saudi Arabia beheaded two Saudi men convicted of murder, the official Saudi Press Agency reported
- OCTOBER 28, 2002Saudi ArabiaDEATH PENALTY
Saudi Arabia executed a Palestinian man, identified...
Saudi Arabia executed a Palestinian man, identified as Emad al-Deeb, who burnt his father to death after an argument, the Interior Ministry said
- OCTOBER 28, 2002Saudi ArabiaDEATH PENALTY
UN's special rapporteur of the Commission on the independence...
UN's special rapporteur of the Commission on the independence of judges and lawyers Dato'Param Cumaraswamy has expressed appreciation for facilitating his mission, and said the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia had shown utmost cooperation with him, as well as expr
- OCTOBER 28, 2002Saudi ArabiaDEATH PENALTY
UN's special rapporteur of the Commission on the independence...
UN's special rapporteur of the Commission on the independence of judges and lawyers Dato'Param Cumaraswamy has expressed appreciation for facilitating his mission, and said the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia had shown utmost cooperation with him, as well as expr
- OCTOBER 22, 2002Saudi ArabiaDEATH PENALTY
A special UN human rights envoy on an unprecedented...
A special UN human rights envoy on an unprecedented visit to Saudi Arabia held talks with the kingdom's Islamic affairs minister and a top judiciary official
- OCTOBER 22, 2002Saudi ArabiaDEATH PENALTY
A special UN human rights envoy on an unprecedented...
A special UN human rights envoy on an unprecedented visit to Saudi Arabia held talks with the kingdom's Islamic affairs minister and a top judiciary official
- OCTOBER 21, 2002Saudi ArabiaDEATH PENALTY
A Saudi man and a woman were beheaded for murdering...
A Saudi man and a woman were beheaded for murdering a Saudi man and stealing his money and car, the Interior Ministry said
- OCTOBER 21, 2002Saudi ArabiaDEATH PENALTY
The United Nations' special human rights envoy Dato...
The United Nations' special human rights envoy Dato Param Coomarasawamy arrived in Saudi Arabia on an unprecedented visit
- OCTOBER 21, 2002Saudi ArabiaDEATH PENALTY
The United Nations' special human rights envoy Dato...
The United Nations' special human rights envoy Dato Param Coomarasawamy arrived in Saudi Arabia on an unprecedented visit