Saudi Arabia has executed three men in the eastern region of the country, without having previously published any information on their cases.
The interior ministry released a statement on Monday confirming that Saudi nationals Hassan bin Issa al-Muhanna, Haidar bin Hassan Muwais and Mohammed bin Ibrahim Muwais had been put to death.
They were alleged to have joined a camp outside the country “in service of… terrorist organisations against the kingdom”, possessed and been trained in the use of weapons and bombs, stored arms with the intent of “violating internal security”, and smuggled wanted individuals outside the country.
“The three cases were not monitored at any of the judicial stages, as the Saudi government did not publish any official news about the arrest or their being wanted,” the European Saudi Organisation for Human Rights (ESOHR), an NGO with offices in London and Berlin, said in a statement.
The rights group condemned the decision, stating that according to international law, countries that still implement the death penalty should only use it in the most “serious cases”, namely premeditated murder.
“ESOHR’s monitoring of death sentences and executions in Saudi Arabia is the gold standard, drawing on a comprehensive list of public sources,” Jeed Basyouni, who leads the work in Middle East and North Africa for Reprieve, told Middle East Eye.
“It was not reported anywhere that these men had been arrested, tried, convicted or sentenced – the first announcement of any sort was that they had been executed.”