Saudi Arabia has seen a worrying increase in the number of executions in recent years, the non-governmental organization "Amnesty International" says in a new report published today and quoted by DPA, BTA reported.
Among those executed are many foreign citizens convicted of drug-related offenses.
From January 2014 to June this year, Saudi Arabia executed 1,816 people. Almost one in three is executed for drugs.
In June this year alone, the Gulf monarchy executed 46 people, 37 of them for drug-related offenses.
"We are witnessing a truly horrifying trend, with foreign nationals being executed at an alarming rate for crimes that should not carry the death penalty. This report shows the dark and deadly reality behind the progressive image the authorities are trying to project to the world," said Christine Beckerle, Deputy Regional Director at "Amnesty International" for the Middle East and North Africa.
Saudi Arabia has reportedly executed 155 Pakistanis, 66 Syrians, 50 Jordanians, and others over the past decade.
"Amnesty International" says it recorded the highest number of executions in the Saudi kingdom in more than three decades last year, at 345.