Dozens of Ethiopians await beheading on Saudi death row
Trials without lawyers or interpreters ended in minutes, kingdom executed a record 356 people last year
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‘I don’t know if I will still be alive tomorrow’: Dozens of Ethiopians ask the world for help from Saudi Arabia’s death row
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A 24-year-old Ethiopian identified as Dawit Tesfay has spent the past eight months in the Saudi detention center of Khamis Mushait awaiting execution by beheading. He was sentenced for a drug-related offense after a trial that, by his account, lasted a few minutes — with no lawyer present and no interpreter. Human Rights Watch counts at least 76 Ethiopian citizens facing imminent execution in the kingdom.
The pattern, documented by Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International, runs to type: extremely brief proceedings, sometimes a single hearing, no defense counsel, no interpretation, and in some cases documents in Arabic that the defendants could not read. Amnesty recorded 96 executions in Saudi Arabia between January 1 and June 22 this year; 61 were for drug offenses, and 39 of those put to death were foreign nationals. Human Rights Watch documented at least 20 Ethiopians executed for drug trafficking between January and August, the last three on July 31.
The executions resumed in 2022 after years of de facto moratorium for drug crimes, and the totals have set records since: 345 people executed in 2024, at least 356 in 2025 — the highest annual figure since modern records began, according to Human Rights Watch. Most of the condemned Ethiopians come from Tigray, where regional authorities are demanding repatriation or, at minimum, fair trials. "We are asking for legal counsel, fair trials, respect for due process, and respect for the rights of migrants," said Haish Subagadis, former head of the Tigray Youth Affairs Bureau. "In addition, we are calling for repatriation, release, and a review of the cases, one by one."
Inside Khamis Mushait, a 34-year-old Tigrayan identified as Adam Berhe has been waiting three years. "They come suddenly, call someone so they come out, and they take them away to decapitate them," he told El País. "Just last week they decapitated eight people in this prison. We live in fear." Both men were sentenced to death for transporting hashish, and Berhe acknowledges that he knew what he was carrying and agreed to do it. Saudi Arabia maintains that executions take place only after sentences have passed through various stages of judicial review.
When Tesfay arrived on his wing eight months ago, it held 68 men awaiting beheading. Today it holds 55.