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 7, 2000Saudi ArabiaDEATH PENALTY
Mohammed Akram Bakhsh, a Pakistani man, was publicly...
Mohammed Akram Bakhsh, a Pakistani man, was publicly beheaded for killing a fellow national
- MAY 3, 2000Saudi ArabiaDEATH PENALTY
Milha Bin-Abdallah Bin-Mid'ath al-Qahtani was beheaded...
Milha Bin-Abdallah Bin-Mid'ath al-Qahtani was beheaded in Arar for murdering his wife
- MAY 1, 2000Saudi ArabiaDEATH PENALTY
Amir Layla Huran al-Ruwayli was executed for drug smuggling
Amir Layla Huran al-Ruwayli was executed for drug smuggling
- APRIL 28, 2000Saudi ArabiaDEATH PENALTY
Muhammad Al-Barqawi, a Sudanese man found guilty of...
Muhammad Al-Barqawi, a Sudanese man found guilty of committing sodomy and other crimes, was executed in Makkah
- APRIL 28, 2000Saudi ArabiaDEATH PENALTY
Koliyil Kunhi Muhammad Abdul Razaq, an Indian, was...
Koliyil Kunhi Muhammad Abdul Razaq, an Indian, was executed in Shaqraa for murdering an elderly Saudi citizen, Abdul Aziz Al-Yousuf
- APRIL 24, 2000Saudi ArabiaDEATH PENALTY
Himmat Bin-Sa'id Himmat Harun, a Sudanese national,...
Himmat Bin-Sa'id Himmat Harun, a Sudanese national, was executed in Riyad after being found guilty of murdering a fellow Sudanese national by striking him on the head with a hatchet
- APRIL 23, 2000Saudi ArabiaDEATH PENALTY
An Ethiopian man was executed in Mecca after he was...
An Ethiopian man was executed in Mecca after he was convicted of stabbing a Sudanese man to death
- APRIL 14, 2000Saudi ArabiaDEATH PENALTY
Diab al-Shamrani , who was convicted of shooting his...
Diab al-Shamrani , who was convicted of shooting his wife dead while she slept, was beheaded in public in Mecca
- APRIL 14, 2000Saudi ArabiaDEATH PENALTY
A Pakistani man who killed and robbed another man,...
A Pakistani man who killed and robbed another man, was executed in the city of Medina
- APRIL 12, 2000Saudi ArabiaDEATH PENALTY
Muhammad Al-Marwani, a Yemeni man who was convicted...
Muhammad Al-Marwani, a Yemeni man who was convicted of raping several young girls and stealing their jewellery, was executed in Riyadh
- APRIL 11, 2000Saudi ArabiaDEATH PENALTY
A Filipino who was convicted of murder, robbery and...
A Filipino who was convicted of murder, robbery and having illicit sex with an Indonesian maid, was executed
- APRIL 3, 2000Saudi ArabiaDEATH PENALTY
Fah bin Ali bin Rajeh, a Yemeni man convicted of kidnapping...
Fah bin Ali bin Rajeh, a Yemeni man convicted of kidnapping and raping a young boy, was executed
- MARCH 31, 2000Saudi ArabiaDEATH PENALTY
Khalaf bin Saleh al-Jawfi, who was convicted of murdering...
Khalaf bin Saleh al-Jawfi, who was convicted of murdering his father, was executed in the northern city of Arar
- MARCH 24, 2000Saudi ArabiaDEATH PENALTY
Khaled Fadghoush and Mansour Ali Ahmad were beheaded...
Khaled Fadghoush and Mansour Ali Ahmad were beheaded for kidnapping a seven-year-old girl
- MARCH 1, 2000Saudi ArabiaDEATH PENALTY
Abdullah ibn Saeed Al-Saeed was beheaded after being...
Abdullah ibn Saeed Al-Saeed was beheaded after being found guilty of raping a five-year-old boy
- MARCH 1, 2000Saudi ArabiaDEATH PENALTY
Sami Manie Al-Shamlan, who was sentenced to be beheaded...
Sami Manie Al-Shamlan, who was sentenced to be beheaded for killing Ali Al-Khaldi, was spared the death sentence after he received a pardon
- MARCH 1, 2000Saudi ArabiaDEATH PENALTY
Ali ibn Ali Abu Nieb, a Saudi national, was executed...
Ali ibn Ali Abu Nieb, a Saudi national, was executed after being found guilty of raping a man after taking drugs
- FEBRUARY 28, 2000Saudi ArabiaDEATH PENALTY
Mansur ibn Jabir Bin Yahya Hazzazi was beheaded in Riyadh
Mansur ibn Jabir Bin Yahya Hazzazi was beheaded in Riyadh
- FEBRUARY 28, 2000Saudi ArabiaDEATH PENALTY
A Sudanese man, Hasan Bin Awad al-Zubayr, was beheaded...
A Sudanese man, Hasan Bin Awad al-Zubayr, was beheaded in Riyadh
- FEBRUARY 23, 2000Saudi ArabiaDEATH PENALTY
Ubaid Bin Saud Bin Mishri Al-Beshi, a policeman, was...
Ubaid Bin Saud Bin Mishri Al-Beshi, a policeman, was sentenced to death and beheaded in Al-Dammam
- FEBRUARY 22, 2000Saudi ArabiaDEATH PENALTY
Two men, Sanad ibn Abdullah Khulaif and Atef ibn Mishwah...
Two men, Sanad ibn Abdullah Khulaif and Atef ibn Mishwah Hamdan, were executed in Medina after being convicted of kidnapping and raping a girl
- FEBRUARY 22, 2000Saudi ArabiaDEATH PENALTY
Faiza bint Hamoud Al-Joufi, a Saudi woman, was beheaded...
Faiza bint Hamoud Al-Joufi, a Saudi woman, was beheaded for killing her husband, Ibrahim ibn Salama Al-Dakheelullah, in Arar
- FEBRUARY 18, 2000Saudi ArabiaDEATH PENALTY
Saqr ibn Muhamad ibn Marzouk Al-Otaibi was executed...
Saqr ibn Muhamad ibn Marzouk Al-Otaibi was executed in Taif after being convicted of shooting to death his wife, Masbouba bint Daheem ibn Marzouk Al-Otaibi, her father, Daheem ibn Marzouk and her mother, Haya bint Lafa Al-Mutairi
- FEBRUARY 4, 2000Saudi ArabiaDEATH PENALTY
A man was beheaded for shooting dead another Saudi...
A man was beheaded for shooting dead another Saudi man after a dispute
- JANUARY 26, 2000Saudi ArabiaDEATH PENALTY
Amash ibn Mohsen Al-Qahtani was executed in Riyadh...
Amash ibn Mohsen Al-Qahtani was executed in Riyadh after he was found guilty of shooting and killing Saleh ibn Muhammad Al-Otaibi, another Saudi man
- JANUARY 1, 2000Saudi ArabiaDEATH PENALTY
Saudi Arabia has one of the highest rates of executions...
Saudi Arabia has one of the highest rates of executions in the world in both absolute numbers and per capita, accounting for more than 1,000 lives over the last 20 years
- DECEMBER 4, 1999Saudi ArabiaDEATH PENALTY
On December 4, Saudi Arabia beheaded a Pakistani man...
On December 4, Saudi Arabia beheaded a Pakistani man for stabbing to death an Afghani man following an argument
- DECEMBER 1, 1999Saudi ArabiaDEATH PENALTY
On December 1, a campaign was promoted to raise the...
On December 1, a campaign was promoted to raise the sum of R 5 million ($1
- NOVEMBER 10, 1999Saudi ArabiaDEATH PENALTY
On November 10, Saudi Arabia beheaded a Saudi man for...
On November 10, Saudi Arabia beheaded a Saudi man for shooting dead a compatriot after an argument
- OCTOBER 25, 1999Saudi ArabiaDEATH PENALTY
On October 25, Aro Lando Loudinez, a Filipino man convicted...
On October 25, Aro Lando Loudinez, a Filipino man convicted of stabbing a taxi driver and robbing him, was executed