LAGOS OCTOBER 26TH (NEWSRANGERS)-A 29-year-old man in Saudi Arabia has been executed for a crime he committed when he was 14 years old, sparking backlash from international human rights organizations.
Hassan Zaki al-Faraj was executed on Saturday, Oct. 17, according to a statement from Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Interior, published by the Saudi Press Agency the same day.
Saudi authorities arrested al-Faraj in November 2017 on charges related to counterterrorism — one of which involved developing friendships with other detained individuals when he was 14 years old — according to court records obtained by Human Rights Watch (HRW).
A Saudi court sentenced al-Faraj to death in 2022, despite claims from his defense that he had been tortured and coerced into a confession, per HRW.
He was also held in solitary confinement and denied an attorney for three years, according to the organization.
Al-Faraj’s family received no advance notice of his execution, according to a press release issued by the United Nations Human Rights Office of the High Commissioner.
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“We are appalled by Saudi Arabia’s execution of al-Faraj,” UN experts said, per the release. “Executing a person for an offence committed as a child is absolutely prohibited under international law. It is an arbitrary deprivation of life.”
“Keeping a family in the dark about the execution of their loved one, and withholding his remains, inflicts profound anguish and amounts to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment,” the experts added. “We call on the authorities to immediately return al-Faraj’s body to his family and to allow an independent medico-legal examination.”
The United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention found al-Faraj’s detention arbitrary, according to a report published in December 2024. The group linked his case and subsequent conviction to his involvement in protests against Saudi Arabia’s treatment of its Shia minority, per the report.
HRW additionally noted that the Saudi Arabian government has a longstanding history of using accusations of counterterrorism to silence dissent.
“The execution of Hassan al-Faraj is unconscionable and compounded by alleged torture-tainted evidence and a well-documented record of unfair trials,” Joey Shea, a senior Saudi Arabia researcher at Human Rights Watch, said, per HRW.
The Saudi Arabian government technically ended the use of the death penalty against those who were under 18 when their alleged crime was committed based on a 2020 executive order. However, it does not apply to cases involving counterterrorism, according to HRW.
Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Press did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment.
Both the UN and HRW say there are several other men — all convicted of crimes related to counterterrorism allegedly committed when they were minors — who are currently at risk of death.
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