Since King Salman and his son, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS) came to power in January 2015, Saudi Arabia has executed at least 2,000 people.
Prior to 2015, Saudi authorities executed an average of 71 people per year. In 2025 the current regime executed at least 356 people. In 2024 it executed at least 345. The rate of execution has increased fivefold under MBS.
Middle East Eye reported on this, quoting Reprieve’s Jeed Basyouni:
“Mohammed bin Salman uses the death penalty as a tool of political control,” she said. “The skyrocketing of executions over the past two years demonstrates Saudi Arabia’s pattern of utilising periods of international crisis as cover for human rights violations.”
“The distance between MBS’s public narrative of reform and modernisation, and the reality of death sentences meted out to child defendants, vulnerable migrants and political protesters, is wider than ever. Two thousand executions, including at least 17 child defendants, is a frightening milestone, and this number will continue to rise while the world looks away.”
