Saudi Executions Spur Internal Debate
The execution of seven men by firing squad last week has ignited debate within the conservative kingdom on its approach to capital punishment, Ahmed al-Omran writes.
Saudi Arabia executed seven men on March 13 despite appeals from their families and international organizations to the king for clemency. The men were convicted of theft, looting and armed robbery, and were executed in the southwestern region of Asir by a firing squad — a first in the conservative kingdom, which traditionally has beheaded convicts sentenced to death.
United Nations independent experts on extrajudicial executions, torture, and arbitrary detention expressed outrage at the execution. The U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navi Pillay, strongly condemned the executions, saying “they clearly violate international safeguards in the use of the death penalty.” Amnesty International called it “nothing but an act of sheer brutality.”
