While Saudi Arabia celebrates victory over Argentina in Qatar 2022, the UN denounces that 17 people have been executed in the last twelve days in the kingdom

Saudi Arabia celebrates this Tuesday the historic victory that its team achieved against Argentina in the Qatar 2022 World Cup. Sporting fervor has taken over the country, in which the regime of King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud has decreed a vacation for the company. It was not the only way to take advantage of football joy, given that the UN has denounced that – in the midst of the World Cup – the regime has reinstated the death penalty for crimes related to drug trafficking and he has already executed 17 people in just 12 days.

Since November 10, the Saudi penal administration has executed 17 men, three of them on Monday, for crimes relating to drugs and their smuggling. This was stated by the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, who urged the government led by Prime Minister Mohammed bin Salman -also crown prince- to reconsider its position.

Restoration of this type of execution occurred after the end of the year unofficial moratorium that has been extended for 21 months

Among those executed in recent weeks were four Syrians, three Pakistanis, three Jordanians and seven Saudis.

According to UN records, Saudi Arabia applied the death penalty to 144 people in 2022. Of these, 47 were executed for political reasons and 56 for murder.

“The resumption of executions for drug offenses in Saudi Arabia is a decision we deeply regret, all the more so considering it comes just days after the vast majority of countries called on the United Nations General Assembly for a global moratorium on the penalty death”. said Liz Throssell, spokeswoman for the High Commissioner, from Geneva.

The spokeswoman explained that the application of the death penalty for drug-related crimes is “incompatible” with international standards and principles.

“We call on the Saudi authorities to adopt an official moratorium on executions related to drug crimes and to ensure access to a fair trial for all, in line with international obligations,” he added.

Riyadh applied the death penalty to 69 people in 2021, after executing 27 convicts in 2020, according to an AFP count from official sources.

“While Mohammed bin Salman was with Gianni Infantino…”, the harsh criticism of an NGO

In line with the statement released by the United Nations, an NGO dedicated to defending people who suffer human rights violations sharply criticized Prime Minister Mohammed bin Salman and explicitly linked the growing violation of rights with the climate of the World Cup.

“While Mohammed bin Salman was sitting together with the president of FIFA, Gianni InfantinoIn the opening match, Hussein Abo al-Kheir was huddled in a cell, terrified the executioner would take him away. Hussein, a poor taxi driver, was tortured to force him to make a false confession about drug smuggling,” the NGO Reprieve said.

According to the entity’s account, Hussein is a poor Jordanian, father of eight children, who worked as a driver for a wealthy Saudi family. After twelve days of torture, he is locked up “in brutal conditions” and is losing his sight inside the cell.

“Last Friday, Hussein told his sister that he would be transferred to the prison sector where the executions take place”, continued Reprieve, thus joining the request for release that the High Commissioner has made in the last few hours. Nations Human Rights. “It can be done at any time,” he added.

Furthermore, he linked the end of the moratorium on executions for smuggling and drug trafficking with the latest developments in the case of Crime of Jamal KhashoggiSaudi journalist assassinated in a hotel in Turkey.

“These executions come after it was made official that Mohammed bin Salman will face no consequences for ordering the assassination of Jamal Khashoggi. While world leaders signal that the Saudi regime can kill with impunity, the the crown prince and his subordinates receive the message and act accordingly“, the entity argued.

“Kingdom’s partners must act now, to save Hussein and stop the massacre,” said Maya Foa, executive director of the nongovernmental organization.

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