According to the Saudi Press Agency, Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Interior announced that an execution was carried out in Riyadh today bringing the total number of executions carried out so far in 2016 to 100. In response to this news, Philip Luther Director of Amnesty International’s Middle East and North Africa Programme said:

“This is a grim watershed. With its 100^th execution this year, Saudi Arabia is speeding along in its dogged use of a cruel and inhuman punishment, mindless of justice and human rights.

“At this rate, the Kingdom’s executioners will soon match or exceed the number of people they put to death last year – which, at 158, was the highest recorded figure since 1995.

“Many of those executed have been convicted after deeply unfair trials, as a result of flaws in the justice system. The Saudi Arabian authorities must immediately establish an official moratorium on executions and abolish the death penalty once and for all.”