A few days after the announcement of the abolition of the flogging, Saudi Arabia removed the death penalty for crimes committed by minors, said a Saudi official on Sunday.
The ultra-conservative kingdom is regularly accused of human rights violations by international NGOs. According to the royal decree, released by Awad Al-Awad, the head of the Human Rights Commission, a government agency, the death penalty is lifted for those convicted of crimes committed when they were minors.
Record number of executions in the country in 2019
A prison sentence not exceeding 10 years in a juvenile detention center will replace the death penalty, he said. The decree should spare at least six men from the Shiite Muslim community, a minority in the Sunni kingdom, who had been sentenced to death for participating in anti-government protests when they were under the age of 18.
"This is an important day for Saudi Arabia," said Awad Al-Awad. “This decree helps us to establish a more modern penal code. In a report on the world's death penalty released this week, Amnesty International said that "Saudi Arabia executed a record number of people in 2019, despite a general drop in executions worldwide." "The Saudi authorities killed 184 people last year, the highest number Amnesty has ever recorded in a single year in the country," she said.
Saudi Arabia singled out by human rights NGOs
Homicide, rape, armed robbery, drug trafficking, armed robbery, witchcraft, adultery, sodomy, homosexuality and apostasy are punishable by death in the kingdom , which follows a rigorous version of Islam. On Friday, the Human Rights Commission announced that the Supreme Court had decided to "eliminate flogging as a potential penalty".
Since Mohammed bin Salman became crown prince in 2017, Saudi Arabia has been singled out for criticism by human rights organizations. The economic and social openness promoted by Prince Mohammed was accompanied by increased repression against discordant voices, within the royal family as well as among intellectuals and activists.
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