UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Warns of Unprecedented Surge in Executions in Saudi Arabia
The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights has warned that Saudi Arabia witnessed an unprecedented escalation in the use of the death penalty during 2025, raising serious concerns about respect for the right to life and due process guarantees.
According to a statement issued by the Office of the High Commissioner on 19 January 2026, Saudi Arabia carried out at least 356 executions in a single year, the highest number recorded in the country’s modern history, surpassing the previous record set in 2024.
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk described this increase as a “deeply troubling” trend, noting that approximately 78% of executions in Saudi Arabia were for crimes that do not meet the threshold of the “most serious crimes” under international law.
The High Commissioner also confirmed that at least two of those executed in Saudi Arabia had been convicted of offenses committed while they were children, constituting a grave violation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child and raising serious questions about the integrity of judicial proceedings in the Kingdom.
In this context, Sanad Human Rights Organization documented the execution of 356 individuals in 2025, including 45 executions of a political nature, most notably the execution of journalist Turki Al-Jasser.
