Saudi Arabia executes Philippines national for murder as kingdom sets grim record

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Louise Thomas

Editor

Saudi Arabia has put to death a Filipino national convicted of murder, extending a record for executions even as it seeks to secure a seat on the UN Human Rights Council.

The country has executed as many as 199 people until September 2024, the most in a year, human rights groups said this week. At least 32 people were executed in September alone and 80 altogether in July and August. This year’s executions broke the previous record of 196 killings in 2022, according to the nonprofit group Reprieve.

The Filipino was arrested for murder in 2020 and awarded the death penalty last year, a Philippine official said. The execution was carried out last Saturday, the department of foreign affairs said on Tuesday, without providing further details.

Philippine president Ferdinand Marcos Jr said the execution was "very unfortunate" and promised to help the executed person's family.

The foreign office said Manila exhausted all remedies to save the person, including providing legal assistance and sending a presidential letter of appeal to the Saudi king.

The victim's family refused to accept "blood money", a financial settlement to secure forgiveness for the convict, it added.

Mr Marcos said his government “appealed to the better nature, I guess, of our friends in Saudi Arabia, perhaps, to have another look and they did”.

"Unfortunately, the law there is very strict and, apparently, the conviction has stood and one of ours has been taken away.”

Saudi Arabia has drawn criticism from human rights groups for its method of serving capital punishment such as beheadings and mass executions.

In the past Saudi Arabian authorities publicly pinned the bodies and severed heads of executed people on poles as a warning.

"Saudi authorities have ramped up executions while routinely failing to abide by international fair trial standards and safeguards for defendants," rights group Amnesty International said in a statement.

The Saudi Human Rights Commission declared in 2020 that the country would not execute people convicted of minor crimes.

In 2022, however, the Saudi authorities carried out the first executions for drug offences in nearly three years, reversing a moratorium on the death penalty for such crimes. This year, the country has executed 53 people for drug-related offences.

Rights groups have urged the UN to reject Saudi Arabia's bid for a seat on the Human Rights Council for alleged rights violations.

UN member states will vote on 9 October to pick 18 new members of the Human Rights Council. They will serve for three years beginning January 2025.

"Governments that commit crimes against humanity or similar atrocities and ensure impunity for those responsible shouldn’t be rewarded with seats on the UN’s top human rights body," said Louis Charbonneau, UN director at Human Rights Watch.