Despite Ethiopia’s recent announcement that Saudi Arabia had granted royal pardons to more than 1,600 Ethiopian nationals detained in the kingdom, Amnesty International has warned that at least 63 Ethiopians remain at imminent risk of execution for drug-related offences, highlighting the sharply contrasting realities facing Ethiopian migrants in Saudi Arabia.
In a statement released on June 23, Amnesty said Saudi Arabia had executed 96 people between 1 January and 22 June 2026, including 61 for drug-related offences. Of those executed for drug-related crimes, 39 were foreign nationals, among them seven Ethiopians, the rights group said.
Amnesty warned that the execution of the seven Ethiopians has heightened fears for at least 63 other Ethiopian nationals being held in a single ward at Khamis Mushait Prison, who “may be at imminent risk of execution solely for drug-related offences.”
“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,” said Dana Ahmed, Amnesty International’s Middle East Researcher.
“Foreign nationals have borne the brunt of Saudi Arabia’s ruthless use of the death penalty for drug-related offences, frequently after grossly unfair trials. The Saudi authorities should immediately halt all executions and establish an official moratorium on the death penalty,” she added.
The warning comes just days after Ethiopia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced that 1,665 Ethiopian citizens facing legal proceedings in Saudi Arabia had been granted a royal amnesty following more than two years of diplomatic engagement by Ethiopia’s embassy in Riyadh and consulate in Jeddah.
On June 24, the ministry said the first group of 340 Ethiopian returnees had arrived in Addis Ababa, with State Minister of Foreign Affairs Ambassador Berhanu Tsegaye describing the pardons as the result of sustained diplomatic efforts under the government’s “citizen-centred diplomacy” policy.
While the government hailed the repatriation as a major diplomatic achievement, Amnesty’s latest warning underscores that dozens of Ethiopians remain on death row, facing a markedly different outcome from those granted clemency.
According to Amnesty, Saudi Arabia resumed executions for drug-related offences in late 2022 after ending an unofficial moratorium. Since then, the kingdom has significantly increased its use of capital punishment, executing 356 people in 2025, more than double the 122 executions recorded in 2024.
The organisation said international human rights law restricts the use of the death penalty to the “most serious crimes,” generally understood to involve intentional killing, and that drug-related offences do not meet that threshold.
Amnesty called on Saudi Arabia to immediately halt executions, commute all death sentences imposed for drug-related offences, and establish a formal moratorium on the death penalty as a first step toward its abolition.
Concern over Ethiopians facing the death penalty in Saudi Arabia has grown steadily over the past year as executions for drug-related offences increased following the kingdom’s decision to resume capital punishment for such crimes in late 2022.
Human rights organisations have repeatedly raised alarm over the growing number of foreign nationals, including Ethiopians, sentenced to death, arguing that many were convicted after proceedings that failed to meet international fair trial standards and that drug-related offences should never carry the death penalty under international law.
In May 2026, the Ethiopian Catholic Bishops’ Conference publicly appealed to Saudi Arabia to halt the executions of Ethiopian nationals, warning that dozens of Ethiopians were believed to be on death row. The bishops urged King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud to exercise clemency and called on the Ethiopian government to intensify diplomatic efforts to save the lives of its citizens.
Responding to the appeal, Ethiopia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said it was already engaging Saudi authorities through diplomatic channels on the welfare of Ethiopian migrants and the legal status of citizens facing criminal proceedings. The ministry said Ethiopian diplomatic missions in Riyadh and Jeddah were providing consular assistance while pursuing discussions aimed at securing legal remedies and humanitarian considerations for affected nationals.
Those efforts culminated in June 2026, when the Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced that 1,665 Ethiopian nationals had been granted royal pardons after more than two years of negotiations. On June 24, the first group of 340 returnees arrived in Addis Abeba, with State Minister of Foreign Affairs Berhanu Tsegaye describing the repatriation as the result of persistent diplomatic engagement by Ethiopia’s embassy in Riyadh and consulate in Jeddah.
However, just a day after the government celebrated the mass pardons, Amnesty International warned that at least 63 Ethiopians held at Khamis Mushait Prison remained at imminent risk of execution for drug-related offences. The organisation said the execution earlier this year of seven Ethiopian nationals underscored the urgency of the situation, calling on Saudi Arabia to immediately halt executions and commute all death sentences imposed for drug-related crimes.
The latest warning highlights the divergent outcomes facing Ethiopian nationals in Saudi Arabia: while sustained diplomacy has secured the release of hundreds of detainees, dozens of others continue to face capital punishment, prompting renewed calls for intensified diplomatic engagement and international intervention.
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