Entries tagged with “European Saudi Organisation for Human Rights”
Policy Issues
Human Rights
,International
,Juveniles
,Oct 29, 2020
Human Rights Organizations: Saudi Arabia’s Claims to Have Banned the Death Penalty for Juveniles are Belied by the Kingdom’s Actual Practices
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia continues to use the death penalty against people accused of crimes committed as juveniles, despite a royal decree claiming to ban that practice, human rights organizations and defense lawyers have…
Policy Issues
Human Rights
,International
,Dec 05, 2022
Saudi Arabia Reneges on Pledge to End Death Penalty for Drug Crimes; Execution Spree Draws Condemnation from UN and Human Rights NGOs
The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and a coalition of more than 30 non-governmental organizations have condemned the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for a series of executions for drug crimes carried out in violation of international law. Human rights organizations reported that Saudi authorities executed 20 men in November for drug offenses — 12 of them foreign nationals — after suddenly lifting a moratorium on executions for defendants convicted of…
Policy Issues
Human Rights
,International
,Religion
,Mar 16, 2022
Saudi Arabian Mass Execution of 81 People Draws Condemnation from U.N. High Commissioner, Rights Activists
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia executed 81 people on March 12, 2022, the largest mass execution in the modern history of the country, eliciting outrage from United Nations and non-governmental human rights…
Policy Issues
International
,Juveniles
,Apr 14, 2020
World Death Penalty News — Report: Saudi Arabia Carries Out 800th Execution Under King Salman
NEWS (4/14/20) — Saudi Arabia: The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has carried out its 800th execution under the five-year reign of King Salman bin Abdulaziz, according to reports by the human rights groups European-Saudi Organisation for Human Rights (ESOHR) and Reprieve. The groups say the execution rate is nearly double the rate in the five years preceding Salman’s assumption of leadership in the Kingdom in 2015. From 2009 to 2014, Saudi Arabia carried out a total of 423…
Policy Issues
Human Rights
,International
,Mar 06, 2024
Worldwide Wednesday International Roundup: Afghanistan, China, Iran, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, United States, Vietnam, Yemen, and Zimbabwe
In the aftermath of Idaho’s failed execution of Thomas Creech and Texas’ execution of Ivan Cantu on February 28, the European Union released a statement expressing its regret and reiterating its unequivocal opposition to the death penalty.. “[The death penalty] is a violation of the right to life and fails to act as a deterrent to crime. It represents the ultimate punishment that makes miscarriages of justice irreversible,” said the statement. “[W]e are concerned by the fact that the number…
Policy Issues
Human Rights
,International
,Apr 03, 2024
Worldwide Wednesday International Roundup: Afghanistan, Democratic Republic of the Congo, India, Iran, Nigeria, Pakistan, Russia, Saudi Arabia, and United States
Georgia’s execution of Willie Pye – the state’s first in more than four years – garnered criticism from the European Union. “Although the European Union and its 27 Member States oppose capital punishment in all circumstances, we are especially concerned about the scheduled execution of Mr. Pye given his intellectual disability and issues regarding the quality of his legal representation,” said the EU’s letter to the state’s Board of Pardons and Parole in support of Mr. Pye’s clemency…
Policy Issues
Human Rights
,International
,Methods of Execution
,Feb 07, 2024
Worldwide Wednesday International Roundup: China, Ghana, Iran, Japan, Saudi Arabia, United States, Vietnam, and Zimbabwe
The January 25, 2024 execution of Kenneth Smith in the state of Alabama with nitrogen gas received widespread international condemnation. The European Union reiterated its commitment to abolishing the death penalty and called the execution method a “particularly cruel and unusual punishment.” The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, stated: “I deeply regret the execution of Kenneth Eugene Smith in Alabama despite serious concerns that this novel and untested method of…
Policy Issues
Human Rights
,International
,Jan 24, 2024
Worldwide Wednesday International Roundup: China, Indonesia, Iran, Israel, Japan, Pakistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Taiwan, and Yemen
The University of Oxford Death Penalty Research Unit, in collaboration with several human rights nonprofits, recently launched a database of foreign nationals sentenced to death or executed from January 1, 2016 to December 31, 2021 in Asia and the Middle East. They found that Saudi Arabia leads the Middle East in sentencing foreign nationals to death (385 people) and drug-trafficking (283), closely followed by murder (257), are the top crimes for which foreign nationals in the region are…
Policy Issues
Human Rights
,International
,Jun 05, 2024
Worldwide Wednesday International Roundup: China, Iran, Malaysia, Nigeria, Saudi Arabia, and Zimbabwe
On May 7, 2024, Harm Reduction International (HRI) released a special global overview report on the use of the death penalty for drug offenses, which is a violation of international law because drug offenses do not meet the “most serious” crimes threshold. HRI found that by the end of 2023, there were 34 countries which still retained the death penalty for drug-related offenses; Pakistan was the only country to recently eliminate the death penalty for such offenses – the first country in more…
Policy Issues
Human Rights
,International
,May 01, 2024
Worldwide Wednesday International Roundup: Democratic Republic of the Congo, Iran, Japan, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Taiwan, Uganda, United States, Vietnam, and Zimbabwe
Missouri’s April 9th execution of Brian Dorsey, despite widespread support for his clemency, once again garnered condemnation from the European Union, which described it as a “inhuman and degrading practice.” The EU’s statement highlighted the lack of the death penalty as a deterrent and the irreversibility of the punishment, noting that 197 death-sentenced prisoners have been exonerated. “The EU continues to call for the universal abolition of the death penalty and for States, that maintain…