Human Rights Watch alert on the fate of at least 65 Ethiopian migrants currently detained in Saudi Arabia and sentenced to death for drug-related offenses. According to the organization, these detainees risk imminent execution, in a context of an increase in the use of capital punishment in the kingdom. The NGO claims that Saudi authorities have already executed three Ethiopian nationals on April 21, accused of hashish trafficking.
“Saudi Arabia is prepared to execute foreign migrants for non-violent offenses following trials that failed to respect basic procedural guarantees”denounces Nadia Hardman, senior researcher at Human Rights Watch, referring to “a profound disregard for the lives and rights of these people”.
An alarming situation in prisons
Human Rights Watch reports that the detainees concerned are reportedly kept in harsh detention conditions and isolated from consular assistance. Some claim to have learned of the execution of fellow prisoners without prior official notification.
Saudi authorities have carried out a record number of executions in recent years, with 345 executions in 2024 and 356 in 2025 according to data cited by Human Rights Watch. The organization emphasizes that drug-related offenses represent a majority of recent executions. In total, more than 2,000 executions have been recorded since 2015 in the kingdom.
Human Rights Watch calls on Saudi Arabia’s international partners to urgently intervene and calls for the immediate suspension of death sentences targeting Ethiopian migrants. The organization also urges the Saudi authorities to abolish the death penalty or, failing that, to establish a moratorium on executions, in particular for drug offenses, which international law does not consider to be among the “most serious” crimes.
