RIYADH (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia executes convicted criminals at a rate of more than two a week and almost half of them are foreigners from poor countries, Amnesty International said on Tuesday.
Saudi Arabia regularly executes murderers, rapists and drug traffickers, usually by public beheading, but judges sometimes give the death sentence to armed robbers and people accused of "sorcery" or desecrating the Koran.
The number of death sentences carried out last year shot up to 158, the London-based rights group said, from 36 the year before. Saudi media have talked about a wave of crime by organised gangs, blaming poor Asian labourers.
"The Saudi Arabian government's continuing high use of the death penalty runs counter to the growing international trend towards abolition," Amnesty said.
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"The process by which the death penalty is imposed and carried out is harsh, largely secretive and grossly unfair. Judges, all men, have wide discretion and can hand down death sentences for vaguely worded and non-violent offences."
A Saudi official spokesman was not immediately available to comment.
The report says that poor Asian and African nationals form a disproportionately high percentage of executions because they do not understand Arabic and have no access to influential figures who are able to intercede on their behalf.
Saudi Arabia's legal system allows victim's families to forgive convicted murderers. In 2004, a son of Interior Minister Nayef bin Abdelaziz was spared at the last minute when the family of a Saudi he murdered in a dispute pardoned him.
A Reuters survey of those executed over the past two years shows a significant percentage of those beheaded are Saudi nationals, often from remote tribal regions.
Saudi authorities reject criticism of the death penalty and beheading, saying it is a humane method sanctioned in Islam and that its application of Islamic Sharia law ensures justice for all residents of the country. Convicts are drugged beforehand.
More than 7 million of a population of around 25 million are foreigners, mainly blue-collar workers from Africa and Asia.
(Reporting by Andrew Hammond; Editing by Giles Elgood)
