Although international law does not prohibit the death penalty for certain crimes, it is considered a violation of human rights by some countries. On Saturday, Saudi Arabia beheaded 81 prisoners who were convicted of, what it says, various terrorism-related crimes. Those executed included convicts linked to the militant Islamic State (IS) group, or Al Qaeda, Yemen’s Houthi rebel forces or other terrorist organisations. The Saudi Press Agency reported that the convicts had been plotting against the Kingdom’s officials and citizens through various means. In reports published by watchdogs such as the European Saudi Organization for Human Rights, the crimes committed by the convicts were nowhere near as heinous as they are being portrayed and that they did not amount to receive such punishment. According to the watchdog, most of those beheaded had been part of human rights demonstrations in the kingdom. Moreover, most of the prisoners were from the Shia minority of Saudi Arabia, which has been at odds with the government for a long time. There has been an uproar on social media regarding the beheading of Shias in Saudi Arabia as they are often targetted by the Sunni majority population and government of the Kingdom. It is speculated that this may be one of the reasons for which Iran and Saudi Arabia have once again suspended talks that were mediated by the Iraqi foreign minister.
With Prince Muhammad bin Salman trying to liberalize many policies of Saudi Arabia in order to enhance the soft image of the oil-rich state, such measures do not give a good impression. It also shows that the country is not actually abandoning its conservative policies and is only putting up a facade. Although the de facto ruler claimed that he is trying to change the penalties in different cases so that some of the offences get the sentence of life in prison instead of death, but the death penalty will not be eradicated completely as it is a part of the holy scripture. The official statement regarding the executions stated that the criminals were guilty of crimes against the Kingdom in many capacities, including planning to join terrorist groups and organizations, being a part of one or smuggling weapons among other things. However, what is most alarming is that many of those executed were Shia and terrorist groups mentioned are those adhering to a radical Sunni ideology. Therefore, the reasoning given by the Saudi government seems flawed. Even though the scripture allows the death penalty and, in some places, gives an order to behead criminals for certain crimes, there are multiple facets that must be adhered to before giving a death sentence. It seems as if Saudi Arabia awards it to anyone who is a dissident.
