Saudi Arabia has executed five Ethiopian nationals convicted of smuggling hashish into the kingdom, the Interior Ministry said on Thursday, taking the number of people put to death in the country this year to 205, according to an AFP tally of official announcements.
The five were put to death in Asir, a province in southwestern Saudi Arabia on the Red Sea coast, the ministry said in a statement published by the official Saudi Press Agency. It was the third such announcement involving Ethiopian nationals in recent months: five Ethiopians were executed on a single day in June, and another five in July.
With Thursday's executions, 32 Ethiopian nationals have been put to death in Saudi Arabia this year — more than any other foreign national group — and rights groups warn that dozens more face the same fate.
What happened
The Interior Ministry said the five men had been convicted of "participating in smuggling hashish into the kingdom". The statement, carried by the Saudi Press Agency on Thursday 5 November, did not name the five men or give details of their trials or appeals.
The five were executed in Asir, a mountainous province bordering Yemen that has long been a transit point on the smuggling routes running north from the Horn of Africa.
A toll still climbing
The 205 executions recorded so far in 2026 put the kingdom on course for another year of exceptionally high use of the death penalty. Saudi Arabia put a record 356 people to death last year — the highest annual figure in the kingdom's history, according to Amnesty International, which recorded at least 356 executions in 2025, more than double the 122 recorded in 2024.
| Year | Executions recorded | Source |
|---|---|---|
| 2024 | 122 | Amnesty International |
| 2025 | 356 | Amnesty International |
| 2026 (to 5 November) | 205 | AFP tally of official announcements |
Drug offences account for a large share of the total. Between 1 January and 22 June 2026, Saudi Arabia carried out 96 executions, of which 61 were for drug-related offences, according to Amnesty International. Of those executed for drug offences in that period, 39 were foreign nationals and 22 were Saudi nationals.
Amnesty International says that between January 2014 and June 2026 the Saudi authorities executed 2,084 people, and that foreign nationals accounted for 75 percent of drug-related executions in 2024 and 78 percent in 2025.
"It is halfway through the year, and Saudi Arabia has executed nearly 100 people, a grim milestone exposing the authorities' unconscionable and unlawful use of the death penalty."
— Dana Ahmed, Middle East Researcher at Amnesty International, speaking in June 2026
Why Ethiopians are the largest foreign group
Thousands of Ethiopians work in low-skilled jobs in Saudi Arabia, and many reach the kingdom through the perilous "Eastern Route" from the Horn of Africa via Yemen — a journey that exposes migrants to smugglers, traffickers and, rights groups say, recruitment into drug-running.
Human Rights Watch warned in July that at least 79 Ethiopians faced an imminent risk of execution over similar drug-related charges. Amnesty International reported separately that at least 63 Ethiopian nationals held in a single ward of the Khamis Mushait detention facility in south-western Saudi Arabia may be at imminent risk of execution solely for drug-related offences.
Amnesty says foreign nationals "have borne the brunt" of Saudi Arabia's use of the death penalty for drug offences, "frequently after grossly unfair trials". The organisation recorded that Ethiopians were the largest foreign group among those executed for drug offences in the first half of 2026, with seven put to death in that period, alongside seven Pakistanis, five Sudanese, four Jordanians and three Syrians.
Context: Saudi Arabia is one of the world's leading executioners. According to Amnesty International, it was the third country that carried out the most executions between 2022 and 2025, behind China and Iran. The kingdom applies the death penalty for a wide range of offences, including murder, terrorism and drug trafficking — and, unlike most countries that retain capital punishment, it continues to execute people for non-lethal drug offences, which Amnesty says should never be punished by death under international law.
What is not yet known: the Saudi Interior Ministry's statement did not name the five men, and no details of their trials, appeals or legal representation have been made public. Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International have repeatedly raised concerns about the fairness of trials in drug cases involving foreign nationals, but the specifics of these five cases have not been independently verified.
Frequently asked questions
How is the figure of 205 executions counted?
The figure comes from an AFP tally based on official announcements by the Saudi Interior Ministry, as published by the Saudi Press Agency. It counts every execution the ministry has announced in 2026, including Thursday's five.
Why are so many of those executed foreign nationals?
Foreign nationals — above all Ethiopians — make up a large share of those executed for drug offences. Rights groups say migrants are disproportionately caught up in drug-smuggling networks along the Eastern Route, and are often tried without adequate legal representation or translation. Amnesty International recorded that foreign nationals accounted for 78 percent of drug-related executions in 2025.
What do rights groups want to happen?
Amnesty International has called on Saudi Arabia to "immediately establish a moratorium on the use of this cruel and irreversible punishment as a first critical step towards abolition". Human Rights Watch has urged the kingdom to halt executions for non-lethal drug offences and to commute the sentences of those on death row for such charges.
Could the 2026 total pass last year's record?
At 205 with nearly two months of the year remaining, the total is already well over half of 2025's record 356. Whether it passes that mark will depend on the pace of executions through November and December.
Key takeaways
- Five Ethiopian nationals were executed in Asir province on Thursday 5 November for smuggling hashish, the Interior Ministry said.
- Saudi Arabia's execution total for 2026 now stands at 205, according to an AFP tally of official announcements.
- Thirty-two Ethiopians have been executed this year — the largest foreign national group — after five were put to death in June and five more in July.
- Rights groups warn dozens more Ethiopians face imminent execution: Human Rights Watch cites at least 79 at risk, and Amnesty points to 63 held in a single detention ward.
- Saudi Arabia recorded 356 executions in 2025, a record high and more than double the 122 recorded in 2024.
What to watch next
Whether the pace of executions through the rest of the year takes the 2026 total past last year's record of 356 — and whether the cases of the Ethiopians whom rights groups say face imminent execution draw a public response from Addis Ababa or from international bodies. Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch are expected to update their tallies as further announcements are made, and any statement from the Ethiopian government on the fate of its nationals in Saudi custody will be a key development to follow.
