Pakistanis Top Saudi Arabia’s List of Drug Offense Executions

Disturbing fresh data from Amnesty International, AP, and other human rights monitors reveal that a majority of those facing capital punishment in Saudi Arabia for drug-related offenses in recent years have been Pakistanis. Most of these individuals appear to be migrant workers ensnared in legal and diplomatic vulnerabilities due to unfair trials, poor consular support, and allegations of torture.

• 75% of these were foreign nationals—Pakistani citizens among the largest groups 

• 180 executions in just the first half of 2025, an overwhelming spike since the moratorium ended 

• Pakistanis alone account for ~155 of the 597 total drug-related executions (2014-mid-2025) 

• In 2024, there were 122 drug-related executions, with 118 more in the first half of 2025

• A 2021 moratorium on drug-related executions brought a brief pause

• Moratorium officially reversed late 2022; executions resumed with renewed intensity 

• 122 drug-related executions in 2024 and 118 in the first half of 2025—averaging nearly one per day 

• By May 2025, 111 executions had been reported, with 68 involving drug offenses and 41 foreign victims

• Executions deemed “ta’zīr” (judge’s discretion) for smuggling nonviolent drugs

• Trials conducted in Arabic, with no translators

• Confessions reportedly coerced or obtained under duress

• Insufficient legal counsel, especially for foreign nationals 

• Many defenders allege torture during interrogation, and no post-confession review or investigation 

• Pakistanis form the largest expatriate group in KSA—over 1.8 million

• Over 12,000 Pakistanis are currently detained; around 1,700 have been executed since 2010

• Many are blue-collar workers, vulnerable to exploitation: some were coerced into trafficking, with little awareness of legal risks or protections 

“I was forced at gunpoint to swallow heroin capsules by recruiters... they threatened my family if I refused,” said a Pakistani detainee later acquitted of death sentence 

• Families are often notified moments before execution, or learn via news media

• Emotional trauma high: one mother described being told by prison officials just hours before the beheading

Amnesty International condemned the surge:

• Called executions “horrifying”

• Criticised the lack of fair trials, torture allegations, and consular neglect

• Appeal made to halt executions for nonviolent drug offenses, entirely

Human Rights Watch and partners branded this a violation of international norms:

• Drug offenses do not meet “most serious crime” threshold under international law

• Executions are seen as part of a broader crackdown used to silence dissent or enforce control

Pakistanis have become the most affected foreign nationals facing drug-related executions in Saudi Arabia due to systemic vulnerabilities, coercion, and diplomatic gaps. With hundreds executed since the moratorium lifted, the issue raises urgent legal, moral, and international human rights questions. Immediate reforms—fair trials, consular support, repatriation agreements, and a permanent abolition moratorium—are essential to end this alarming trend.