Saudi authorities last week decapitated a Yemeni citizen and then crucified his headless body. A Saudi court had convicted Mohammed Rashad Khairi Hussain of sodomizing and murdering Pakistani national Pashteh Sayed Khan. Both are crimes punishable by death in Saudi Arabia.
The public execution, conducted in the southern city of Jizan, brings to 28 the number of beheadings carried out in the kingdom so far this year. Last year Saudi Arabia executed between 69 and 76 people, based on various Western tallies. The country is governed by a legal code grounded in Islamic law. It allows for execution for apostasy, blasphemy, homosexuality, idolatry, rape, murder, armed robbery, drug trafficking, prostitution, sexual misconduct, and a range of other offenses.
Most executions are by beheading, but Saudi officials also conduct executions by firing squad and stoning.
A decade ago, Riyadh’s chief executioner gave a rare, candid interview to the kingdom’s English-language Arab News. Muhammad Saad al-Beshi said he is “proud to do God’s work” and does not “lose sleep” over his job, which often requires him to behead several people in a day.
“It doesn’t matter to me: two, four, 10 – as long as I’m doing God’s will, it doesn’t matter how many people I execute,” he said. “People are amazed how fast it can separate the head from the body.”
A spate of recent executions – many carried out without due process – have sparked international outcries. In 2011 a Sudanese migrant worker was beheaded for “sorcery,” and early this year a Sri Lankan maid suffered the same punishment for allegedly murdering a child in her care (the maid attributed the infant’s death to him having choked on food). Some 45 foreign maids are reported to currently sit on the country’s death row.
The English-language Saudi Gazette this weekend reported on another case likely to trigger criticism of the Saudi criminal justice system. A court has ordered an eye-for-an-eye punishment – that a twenty-something Saudi be paralyzed for life for allegedly stabbing and paralyzing his best friend at the age of 14. Ali al-Khawahir had been imprisoned for a decade as he struggled to raise the more than $266,600 needed to avoid the sentence. Reports indicate that a court has now ordered that the sentence be carried out.
A recent Gallup poll of American adults found that 58 percent of respondents hold an unfavorable view of Saudi Arabia, compared to just 36 percent who view the country favorably. Israel – a Western-style democracy whose government jails convicted criminals rather than crucifying, beheading, or paralyzing them – was viewed favorably by 66 percent of Americans and unfavorably by only 29 percent. Foreign policy experts have emphasized that the special U.S.-Israeli relationship is grounded in shared interests and shared values. Among the latter are an emphasis on due process and a strong sociopolitical resistance to beheading, crucifying, or paralyzing convicted criminals.
This video reportedly shows a Saudi man executed last year for “witchcraft.” [Trigger warning for graphic content]