Every individual living in any democratic country has his/her own fundamental rights, which no one can refrain from. One such right is the ‘freedom from torture and inhumane/degrading treatment’.
The law is meant to protect the citizens from mental or physical torture, inhuman or degrading treatment or deportation or extradition and this applies to everyone, even criminals. Several reforms have been made to the criminal laws all over the world. Countries are trying to be more humane when it comes to punishment laws.
However, few countries are far away from humanity and Saudi Arabia tops the list. Following the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is again under the global spotlight.
The country’s justice system is discouraged all over the world as it allows capital punishment in the most horrific ways.
The oppressive Kingdom of mass executions
Capital punishment is a legal penalty which allows the law to publicly execute the criminals. The country executed at least 158 killings in 2015, at least 154 killings in 2016, and at least 146 killings in 2017.
The cruel kingdom of Saudi Arabia has some of the most vicious and strange punishments in the world.
Public beheadings, amputations, eye for eye vengeance and execution all are shockingly a part of the cold-blooded and barbaric justice system.
The laws are harsh even for the most trivial crime you could think of. For example, if you are caught having premarital sex, you will likely receive prison time and a number of lashings. And for people caught stealing, it is not uncommon for thieves to have their feet and/or hands chopped off.
It won’t shock you now, after knowing the laws, that the country has no written penal code, no criminal or justice procedure code. The only means of demand against the punishment is a direct appeal to the king, who decides whether the condemned lives or dies.
The Ruthless Kingdom
The rise in death sentences during recent decades resulted from a rigorous reaction by the government and the courts. Recently, a horrific mass execution was carried out by the savage regime, involving 37 men being killed including one being crucified and another having his head impaled on a spike. The criminals killed in the bloodbath were accused of being terrorists. However, in the country, even joining an anti-government protest is terrorism!
What happens in the regime, stays in the regime
The Saudi Arabian authorities are infamous to take merciless actions, including through the courts, against peaceful activists and family members of victims who contact independent human rights organizations, such as Amnesty International, or foreign diplomats and journalists.
Amnesty International, a global moment of more than 7 million people, across 150 countries campaigns against human rights abuse. For obvious reasons, the organization strongly condemns the killings.
“The country’s mass execution is a scary demonstration of the Saudi Arabian authorities’ heartless disregard for human life”, said Lynn Maalouf Middle East Research Director at Amnesty International.
“It is also yet another ghastly suggestion of how the death penalty is being used as a political tool to crush conflict from within the country’s Shi’a minority.”
The Saudi Arabian government defends such executions as a powerful tool for prevention from such crimes!
Clearly, there is not a single ray of hope.