On October 20th 2025, Abulallah al-Derazi was executed by the Saudi Arabian government. Al-Derazi was convicted on terrorism charges and sentenced to death in 2018, on the basis of a torture tainted confession. He was arrested in 2018, for having participated in protests in al-Qatif against the government’s unfair treatment of the Shia minority in 2014, when he was just seventeen years old.
Al-Derazi was not given a free and fair trial, as he was denied legal representation during his pretrial detention, held unjustly in solitary confinement and was tortured by authorities in order to obtain a false confession. Furthermore, when al-Derazi notified the court of the torture he endured, there was no investigation carried out into his claims. Additionally, the authorities did not notify his family of his arrest, leaving them oblivious of his whereabouts for three months.
Al-Derazi’s arbitrary detention and inhumane execution is a clear example of the Saudi government’s oppression of the Shia minority. The Shia minority make up only 10-12% of the population in Saudi Arabia, yet 42% of all terror related executions between January 2024 and June 2025 were from the Shia community. This is evidence of how peaceful dissent is treated as terrorism in Saudi Arabia, with an already discriminated group suffering from heightened political persecution.
This is the 300th execution carried out in Saudi Arabia since the beginning of 2025. Saudi Arabia is ruthlessly using the death penalty to repress a minority group and those who speak out against the government’s human rights violations. In August 2025, authorities executed Jalal al-Labbad, who also stood up for Shia rights, and was prosecuted on terrorism charges, after obtaining a torture induced confession. Al-Labbad was just fifteen when he committed this alleged ‘crime’.
The death penalty is an inhumane punishment, and should absolutely not be used for punishing those defending their human rights – this is a violation of international law. Moreover, the death penalty should never, in any circumstances, be given to those who committed offences as a child. This is illegal under international law, and prohibited by the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Children, to which Saudi Arabia is a party. Capital punishment should only be given to adults for the most serious crimes, as stated in International Human Rights Law and the Arab Charter on Human Rights, which is ratified by Saudi Arabia.
In January 2021, due to the drop in oil prices caused by the pandemic, and in order to lure international investment, Saudi Arabia’s Human Rights Commission announced that it would eradicate the death penalty for crimes committed by a minor, and replace it with a maximum prison sentence of ten years. This was a major step in the country respecting International Human Rights Law, however the announcement was never followed up by an official policy change. By June of 2021, Mustafa Hashem al-Arwish was executed for alleged ‘crimes’ he committed as a minor. This reversal in policy shows Saudi Arabia’s complete disregard for the right to life, it is empty rhetoric and undermines OHCHR, International Human Rights Law and the Arab Charter.
Currently, there are seven people on death row in Saudi Arabia for alleged ‘offences’ committed as a child. They are Yousef al-Manasif, Ali al-Mabiouq, Jawad Qureiris, Ali al-Subaiti, Hassan al-Faraj, Mahdi al-Mohsen and Abdullah al-Huwati. It would be illegal and inhumane for Saudi Arabia to execute any of these individuals.
ADHRB demands that the Saudi government revokes the death penalty for these cases, as they are illegal under international law. The United Nations states that executing persons convicted of offences committed as a child is a violation of international law and an arbitrary deprivation of life. Saudi Arabia must immediately halt any and all executions of minors and be held accountable under international law.
