The Government of Saudi Arabia must immediately halt the reportedly imminent execution of 26 Egyptian nationals sentenced to death for drug-related offences, in violation of international law, an UN expert said today.
“The Government’s claim that applying the death penalty for offences such as smuggling, receiving and distributing narcotic substances under the Narcotics and Psychotropic Substances Act complies with international law is incompatible with its legal obligations under International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights,” said Morris Tidball-Binz, the Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions.
“The right not to be arbitrarily deprived of life is a fundamental tenet of international law, from which no derogation is permitted,” Tidball-Binz said.
The 26 Egyptian nationals, currently held on death row in Tabouk prison, have reportedly been informed that their executions will take place shortly after the Eid al-Adha holidays. This follows the execution of two other Egyptians from the same group, carried out on 24 and 25 May respectively, without prior notification to their families.
UN experts previously raised these cases with the Government of Saudi Arabia in a formal communication, to which the Government responded.
“The death penalty for drug-related offences fails to meet the threshold of the ‘most serious crimes, and lacks conclusive evidence of serving as an effective deterrent,” the expert said.
According to court documents reviewed by the expert, some of the Egyptian prisoners were denied legal representation, while others were convicted based on self-incriminating statements which they later retracted in court, claiming that they were made under coercion.
“The right to effective legal representation must be ensured at all stages of criminal proceedings – during interrogations, preliminary hearings, trial, and appeal – and constitutes an effective safeguard against torture and other forms of ill-treatment,” the expert said. “Violations of fair trial guarantees leading to the imposition of the death penalty render such sentences arbitrary and unlawful,” he added.
Since the beginning of 2025, Saudi Arabia has reportedly executed 141 individuals, approximately 68 of whom were foreign nationals. The vast majority were reportedly executed for non-lethal drug offences, in clear violation of international law.
Imposing death sentences and carrying out executions for such offences significantly increases the number of people worldwide subjected to punishments fundamentally incompatible with human rights norms, and amounting to arbitrary deprivation of life.
“I urgently call on the Government of Saudi Arabia to halt the planned executions of the 26 Egyptian nationals, to abolish the death penalty for drug-related offences, and to ensure that its drug control policies fully comply with its international human rights obligations, notably the right to life,” the expert said.
Distributed by APO Group on behalf of United Nations: Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR).
