UN Rights Chief condemns beheading of people in Saudi Arabia; calls for halting executions

The UN human rights chief, Michelle Bachelet, on Monday, 14 March, condemned Saudi Arabia's beheading of 81 people in a single day on terrorism-related charges. Michelle Bachelet, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights urged the Saudi Arabia authorities to stop all executions and frame the country's counterterrorism laws according to international standards. The statement came after Saudi Arabia on Saturday executed 81 people who have been convicted of crimes including killings and belonging to militant groups. 

"I call on the Saudi authorities to halt all executions, immediately establish a moratorium on the use of the death penalty, and commute the death sentences against those on death row," UN Human Rights Chief Michelle Bachelet said in the statement. 

Mass execution of 81 people in Saudi Arabia

According to a United Nations statement, the mass execution surpassed the total number of mass executions that had been reportedly carried out during 2021. Bachelet stated that she knew that the people who were beheaded included 41 people who belonged to the Shiite minority and had participated in anti-government protests during 2011-2012 and had urged the authorities for greater political participation. In addition, the people who were executed on Saturday, 12 March, included seven Yemenis and one Syrian national.

“Our monitoring indicates that some of those executed were sentenced to death following trials that did not meet fair trial and due process guarantees, and for crimes that did not appear to meet the most serious crimes threshold, as required under international law,” UN Human Rights Chief Michelle Bachelet said in the statement.

Bachelet calls on authorities to return bodies to their families 

Michelle Bachelet highlighted that their monitoring had revealed that some of the people were beheaded after the court cases without offering a fair trial. She underscored that death sentences following trials that did not involve the required fair trial guarantees is not allowed under international human rights and humanitarian law and might amount to a war crime. Bachelet called on the authorities to return the bodies of those executed to their families. Bachelet in the statement highlighted that Saudi Arabia is among 38 countries that continue to implement the death penalty. The people who have been executed included those who were convicted of crimes, including killing men, women and children, AP reported citing state-run Saudi Press Agency. The place of execution was not revealed, however, some of those executed reportedly were members of Al-Qaida, the Islamic State group and people backing Yemen’s Houthi rebels.

(Inputs from AP)

Image: AP