Saudi Arabia has executed five Ethiopian nationals convicted of drug-related offences, bringing the number of Ethiopians executed on similar charges this year to at least 17.
The executions were carried out on July 27. According to the European Saudi Organization for Human Rights, Saudi authorities had executed at least 116 people in 2026 by that date.
Human Rights Watch said at least 79 other Ethiopian nationals remain at risk of execution on similar charges and called on Saudi Arabia to halt further executions and review the cases.
The organisation alleged that some of the defendants faced brief court hearings without adequate legal representation or interpretation. It also claimed that several had been required to sign Arabic-language documents they did not understand and were not given a meaningful opportunity to challenge the evidence against them.
According to Human Rights Watch, the five men were from Ethiopia’s conflict-affected Tigray region and had travelled through Yemen before attempting to enter Saudi Arabia in search of work. The organisation claimed they had been recruited for what they believed was employment and were later arrested while carrying packages containing hashish across the Saudi border.
Human Rights Watch said the men spent more than three years in detention before being sentenced to death.
The organisation urged the Ethiopian government to increase diplomatic engagement and provide consular support to its citizens facing execution.
Saudi authorities maintain that those executed and currently on death row were convicted of serious drug-smuggling and trafficking offences under the Kingdom’s laws, with sentences imposed through the Saudi judicial process.
