Security
Parents Unable to Bury Children Executed in Saudi Arabia
BBC · 2 weeks ago · Read the Full Story on BBC
AI SUMMARY
Families of Ethiopians executed for drug offenses in Saudi Arabia struggle with grief after authorities refuse to return their loved ones' bodies for proper burials.
- Five Ethiopians, including Kibirom Kinfe Aregawi and Tsagabu Gebremariam, were executed in Saudi Arabia on June 16 after being convicted of drug smuggling.
- Families received no prior warning of the executions, nor were they provided with death certificates, personal belongings, or the bodies of the deceased.
- Human rights organizations and UN special rapporteurs have criticized Saudi Arabia's practice of withholding bodies, describing it as torture and an extension of punishment to bereaved families.
- Amnesty International reports that 75 percent of individuals executed for drug-related crimes in Saudi Arabia are foreign nationals, with vulnerable migrants often targeted by criminal networks.
- Saudi Arabia ranks among the world's leading countries in executions, having executed over 2,000 people since King Salman took the throne in 2015.
- Neither the Saudi government nor the Ethiopian Embassy in Saudi Arabia responded to requests for comment regarding the executions and the withholding of bodies.
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