Islamic Forum Urges Int’l Bodies to Address Mass Execution in Saudi Arabia
In a statement on Sunday, Hojat-ol-Islam Hamid Shahriari wrote he was deeply saddened by the news of the execution of cultural and political figures in Saudi Arabia based on false accusations.
Condemning the heinous crime, he said the Forum considers the execution of people without the presence of a just trial as a violation of human rights. These measures will further widen social and religious divides in the country, he added.
“We call on international and human rights organizations to carry out their duty towards this crime,” Shahriari stressed, also expressing condolences to the bereaved families, Islamic Ummah, and Muslim scholars around the world.
Saudi Arabia executed as many as 81 prisoners over “terror-related offenses” on Saturday.
The largest mass execution carried out by the highly-conservative Arab kingdom in recent memory unleashed a strong wave of condemnation from an array of Islamic and Saudi opposition groups, which said most of those executed had been jailed only for exercising their right to free expression of opinion.
The 2022 executions exceeded the total number of Saudi Arabia’s punishments by death throughout last year.
The kingdom’s last mass execution occurred in early January 2016, when Saudi authorities executed 47 people, including prominent Shia cleric Sheikh Nimr Baqir al-Nimr, who had vociferously called for democracy in the kingdom and advocated anti-regime protests. Nimr had been arrested in Qatif, Eastern Province, in 2012.
Since 2015, Saudi Arabia has reportedly executed more than 900 prisoners at an increasing rate. In 2019 alone, Saudi Arabia set a record number of executions after authorities executed 184 people, despite a general decrease in the number of executions around the world.
In April 2020, Reprieve, a UK-based non-profit organization, said Saudi Arabia had carried out its 800th execution. The report added that executions had almost doubled in only five years in comparison with the 423 executions conducted in Saudi Arabia from 2009 through 2014.
Eastern Province, which is largely populated by the Shia minority, has been the scene of peaceful demonstrations since February 2011. Protesters have been demanding reforms, freedom of expression, the release of political prisoners, and an end to economic and religious discrimination against the oil-rich region. The protests have met with a heavy-handed crackdown by the regime.
Over the past years, Riyadh has also redefined its anti-terrorism laws to target activism.
