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Saudi Arabia executed a man for crimes he allegedly committed when he was just 14, although it officially abolished the death penalty for crimes committed by minors in 2020.
Hassan Zaki al Faraj, 29, was executed without warning on October 17 for participating in protests against the kingdom’s treatment of the Shiite majority when he was a child.
He was executed alongside four other men from the Eastern Province convicted in the same case – and human rights groups warn that more young “offenders” are still waiting on death row.
During his detention, Faraj was subjected to “severe acts of torture,” held in solitary confinement for long periods and deprived of communication with the outside world, according to MENA Rights Group.
His execution comes despite the regime spending billions trying to transform its reputation for human rights violations in recent years, removing the death penalty for crimes committed by minors in 2020.
Jeed Basyouni, head of MENA death penalty projects at Reprieve, a London-based human rights legal NGO, said: The Independent: “Saudi Arabia’s claim to have abolished capital punishment for crimes committed during childhood was always a lie, but they have now abandoned all pretense.”
She urged the British government to intervene now to save the life of another man who faces execution for his alleged participation in a protest as a child.
Youssef al Manasif, now 30, faces imminent execution for his alleged participation in protests against the treatment of Shiite Muslims when he was just 15, rights groups have warned.
He was arrested and charged in 2017 with numerous crimes, including participating in riotous gatherings undermining the unity and stability of the Kingdom, joining a terrorist cell, financing terrorism, selling drugs to security agents and inciting sedition.
But Reprieve, who campaigns for the abolition of the death penalty, claims he was tortured and forced to sign a false confession and did not meet his court-appointed lawyer until 2022, five years after his arrest.
Both Manasif and Faraj were sentenced to death in November 2022, more than two years after the law was changed.
“These are nights of terror for Youssef al Manasif and his family, thinking that he will be executed next,” Ms. Basyouni said.
“After seeing what happened to Jalal al-Labbad, Abdullah al-Derazi, Ali al-Subaiti and Hassan Zaki al-Faraj, is it any wonder that Youssef is terrified, fearing that the next sunrise will be his last?
“Youssef was 15 when Arab Spring protests swept his hometown of Qatif, and evidently he stayed home, only to be arrested years later for being in the wrong place at the wrong time,” she said.
“There is nothing normal about executing people who participated in protests as children. The Kingdom’s international partners must stop pretending this is a good thing and urgently intervene to prevent Youssef’s execution.
Saudi Arabia carries out most of its death sentences through beheadings and is the only country that still uses this method. The death penalty has been imposed for crimes ranging from murder to adultery, “practicing witchcraft” and blasphemy.
The kingdom officially ended the death penalty for crimes committed by minors in 2020. But rights groups say the practice continues regardless.
Ms Basyouni said the association had observed a “horrific trend” where young men were accused of taking part in protests as teenagers, tortured into making false confessions to terrorist offences, then sentenced to death and executed.
The kingdom carried out 347 executions in 2025, marking a new record for the Middle Eastern country, following a record 345 executions in 2024, according to the Saudi European Organization for Human Rights (ESOHR).
The majority of executions carried out last year were for crimes that did not meet international legal criteria for “the most serious crimes” and were mostly linked to drug offenses.
Amnesty International reported in June that Saudi authorities had already executed nearly 100 people this year.
Ms Basyouni said the UK and Saudi Arabia’s other international partners must urgently intervene to prevent the execution of Youssef al-Manasif. She pointed to a precedent where British government intervention would have allowed three accused children to be spared execution.
“A strong diplomatic intervention from the FCDO could save Youssef’s life,” she said.
In 2021, Saudi Arabia agreed to commute the death sentences of three men for crimes they allegedly committed as minors, sentencing them to 10 years in prison.
The Independent However, it was revealed in 2016 that the British government had excluded Saudi Arabia from a list of 30 countries to be challenged over their continued use of the death penalty.
Rights groups expressed concern at the time that this was aimed at preserving billions of pounds in defense contracts and security co-operation.
Joey Shea, senior Saudi researcher at Human Rights Watch, warned that al-Manasif faced “serious risk of execution” following the Supreme Court’s decision.
He added: “The execution of Hassan al-Faraj is unconscionable, compounded by alleged evidence tainted by torture and a well-documented record of unfair trials. »
The Independent has contacted the British Foreign Office and the Saudi Ministry of Justice for comment.
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