/cloudfront-eu-central-1.images.arcpublishing.com/prisa/X2E35IPMYZBMTPCB77F45PLXQI.jpg)
Saudi Arabia has executed 40 people between January and July 2021, more than during the entire previous year, Amnesty International (AI) denounced this Tuesday.
According to a report presented by the human rights organization, this increase is due to the end of the Saudi presidency of the G-20, which the Gulf monarchy ceded in December 2020 to Italy.
The decrease in executions registered during 2020 was due to a "public relations operation" by the Saudi authorities, according to the AI text.
"After an 85% reduction in the number of executions registered in 2020, at least 40 people have been sentenced to death from January to July 2021, more than in the entire previous year," AI indicates in the report. titled
Saudi Arabia: Suppression of Freedom of Expression Following the G20 Presidency.
Last month, the European-Saudi Organization for Human Rights (ESOHR) had already reported that Riyadh had surpassed the number of executions for all of 2020, which was 27.
More information
Lausanne Law Institute questions Saudi Arabia's 65 million donation to King Emeritus
Dictatorship and war after the truncated revolts
"As soon as the attention on Saudi Arabia was waned by the G20, the authorities resumed their ruthless persecution of those who dare to freely express their opinions or criticize the government," AI's deputy director for the Middle East and the United States said in a statement. North Africa, Lynn Maalouf.
"The brief respite in terms of repression coinciding with the Saudi presidency of the G20 summit last November indicates that the illusions of reform were nothing more than a public relations campaign," Maalouf continued.
The international organization supports this accusation in that, according to its report, the Saudi kingdom increased executions immediately after leaving the presidency of the G-20.
As soon as the witness for that charge was handed over, Saudi Arabia applied the death penalty to nine people, in the same month of December alone, Amnesty maintains.
Join EL PAÍS now to follow all the news and read without limits
Subscribe here
According to the human rights group, the death sentences were also handed down after grossly unfair trials, clouded by allegations of torture during pre-trial detention, which led to "forced confessions that the prosecution did not systematically investigate." This included the execution in June 2021 of a man for crimes he committed when he was under the age of 18, although the kingdom says it has abolished the death penalty for many crimes committed in childhood.
In February 2021, the Saudi Crown Prince, Mohamed bin Salman, promised that Saudi Arabia would adopt new laws and reform current ones to "shore up the principles of justice, enforce transparency" and "protect human rights."
However, the authorities have not yet released any information about the materialization of these reform promises, according to AI.
More repression against activists and opponents
“The long-awaited release in 2021 of prominent human rights defenders Loujain al Hathloul, Nassima al Sada and Samar Badawi was marred by restrictive measures, including a five-year travel ban and the possibility of being arrested again in any moment, since their sentences, despite having been suspended, have not been annulled ”, pointed out the organization.
In the report, Amnesty also states that repression against human rights activists and dissidents has increased.
It refers to the cases of 13 activists who were prosecuted, convicted or whose sentences were ratified after what, according to the human rights group, were manifestly unfair trials before the Specialized Criminal Court (TCE).
At least 39 people are behind bars for their activism, their work in favor of human rights or for having expressed dissent in Saudi Arabia, the organization also denounced.
