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Saudi Arabia executed at least 108 people during the first six months of 2026, including 59 foreign nationals from 17 countries, among them Bangladesh, according to the European Saudi Organisation for Human Rights (ESOHR).
The executions reflect the kingdom’s continued use of capital punishment at a high rate, with drug-related offences accounting for the largest share of cases, the human rights organisation said.
The figures do not include two Bangladeshi nationals whose death sentences were recently carried out for allegedly committing an “immoral act” at a mosque in the holy city of Makkah. The number of Bangladeshis executed during the first half of the year could not be established.
Of the 108 executions recorded between January and June, 59 involved foreign nationals, accounting for about 54 per cent of the total. The remaining 49 were Saudi citizens, representing around 46 per cent.
The nationalities of those executed included citizens of Bangladesh, Ethiopia, Pakistan, Sudan, Yemen, Syria, Jordan, Somalia, Egypt, Nigeria, Benin, Iraq, Kuwait, Kenya, Uganda and Afghanistan, in addition to Saudi Arabia.
ESOHR, an independent, non-profit human rights organisation based in Berlin, said Saudi Arabia had continued to rank among the world’s leading executioners in recent years and remained a major contributor to the global use of capital punishment.
The total number of executions carried out under King Salman bin Abdulaziz and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman reached 2,000 by the end of the first half of 2026, marking a record compared with previous Saudi reigns, according to the organisation.
Drug offences accounted for 71 of the 108 executions recorded in the first six months, or about 65.7 per cent. Murder cases accounted for 25 executions, around 23 per cent, while nine people were executed in political and security-related cases and three in other cases.
Of the 71 executions for drug-related offences, 49 involved foreign nationals, representing about 45.3 per cent of all executions during the period. Ethiopians, Pakistanis, Sudanese and Yemenis were among the most represented nationalities in these cases.
Overall, 83 of the 108 executions, or 76.8 per cent, were carried out for offences not involving murder, the organisation said.
It added that 84 executions, or 77.7 per cent, were carried out under the ta’zir system, which allows judges discretionary authority in sentencing.
ESOHR also highlighted a lack of transparency surrounding capital punishment in the kingdom. It said it and other relevant organisations had been unable to obtain or document information in advance about 91 of the 108 cases, representing 84.2 per cent of the total.
Saudi Arabia also carried out executions in political and security-related cases involving defendants sentenced by the Specialised Criminal Court, the organisation said.
One prominent case was the execution of Saud al-Faraj in June. The United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention had previously considered his detention arbitrary and unlawful, according to ESOHR.
On 9 April, Saudi authorities also executed Ali al-Subaiti, who had been accused, among other things, of participating in protests when he was just 12 years old.
ESOHR said at least five people remained at risk of execution for alleged offences committed during childhood. The UN working group had declared the detention of some of them arbitrary and called for their release, but Saudi authorities had taken no action to protect their lives or implement the recommendations, it said.
Another 49 people faced the risk of execution over allegations relating to peaceful expression, according to the organisation. They included Sheikh Salman al-Awda and Sheikh Hassan al-Maliki, against whom prosecutors have been seeking the death penalty since 2018. Their legal proceedings remain unresolved.
The organisation also documented large numbers of prisoners facing execution in Saudi jails. They included 58 Ethiopians at Khamis Mushait Prison, five Ethiopians and five Somalis at Najran Prison, and eight Egyptians at Tabuk Prison.
ESOHR reported widespread human rights concerns in the cases, including the absence of professional interpreters, lack of legal assistance, defendants’ inability to understand judicial proceedings and the denial of effective opportunities to defend themselves.
Prisoners interviewed by the organisation said they lived under constant fear of execution. They described how, in recent months, death-row inmates had been isolated from others for short periods, cut off from the outside world and then suddenly taken away for execution.
ESOHR said the figures for the first half of 2026 showed that Saudi Arabia continued to carry out executions at a rapid pace despite international obligations and publicly stated legal commitments, including those under the Convention against Torture and the Convention on the Rights of the Child.
The organisation said international criticism had continued to grow over concerns about unfair trials, torture, discrimination and a lack of transparency, yet Saudi Arabia remained among the countries carrying out the highest number of executions worldwide.
