‘I’m a dead man walking’: The Ethiopian migrants waiting on Saudi Arabia’s death row
Living on Death Row: Ethiopian Migrants Face Execution in Saudi Arabia
I m a dead man walking – Each morning brings uncertainty for Amanuel, who wonders whether this day might be his final one. A sudden knock at his cell door could signal that his execution is imminent—without any warning call or special meal. In Saudi Arabia, capital punishments frequently come without notice. “I’m a dead man walking,” he explains. “After my friends were executed, I don’t eat food, I don’t drink water.” Amanuel is a pseudonym used for this young prisoner who has spent several years behind bars. CNN received his testimony from within Khamis Mushait prison, located in southwestern Saudi Arabia. The network is keeping his real name confidential for his safety.
He joins approximately sixty Ethiopians who received death sentences for drug-related offenses in a single cell at Khamis Mushait, according to human rights organizations, while additional detainees remain in other cells at the facility. Maya Foa, the chief executive of Reprieve, a human rights organization, emphasized that these situations are not isolated incidents. “There is a clear pattern of Saudi authorities targeting vulnerable migrants,” she stated. “Often, their true ‘crime’ appears to have been crossing the border, in search of a better life.”
Family Members Seek International Support
CNN has also communicated with relatives of three additional men currently on death row in Saudi Arabia under comparable charges. All of them reported discovering the arrests merely weeks following their sentencing, through community networks or word of mouth, rather than through official channels from either Ethiopian or Saudi authorities. “What I’m praying for, and what I need from the world, is to put positive pressure on the Saudi government to reconsider this decision,” said Selam, a sibling of one of the detained men, who requested a pseudonym to safeguard her family. “Please, Saudi government, we beg your mercy to my brother and others in a similar situation.”
Saudi Arabia executed a total of 356 individuals last year, marking the highest figure in recent history according to government records compiled by non-governmental organizations. Among those executed, 240 had been convicted of drug offenses, with the majority being foreign nationals. Just two years earlier, in 2023, monitoring organizations documented only two such executions throughout the entire year. The current year has seen 71 people executed for non-lethal drug crimes, with Ethiopians comprising the largest group of foreign nationals.
Concerns About Due Process
Taha al-Hajji, a Saudi attorney residing abroad and serving as legal director of the European Saudi Organization for Human Rights, highlighted significant issues regarding due process within the kingdom. “Capital trials in Saudi Arabia routinely fail to meet even minimum guarantees of fairness,” he explained. “Defendants are denied legal representation and adequate interpretation, leading to migrants being convicted and sentenced to death without understanding the process – often on the basis of torture ‘confessions.'” He added, “This is not justice: it is state violence, inflicted on defenseless people.”
Amanuel’s family describes him as a fisherman, while Saudi authorities claim he smuggled drugs. He became one of hundreds executed this year. CNN previously reported in November on a comparable case at Tabuk prison in Saudi Arabia, where an Egyptian fisherman received a death sentence after being detained on drug-smuggling charges.
Amanuel fled Ethiopia’s Tigray region during the pandemic, amid the nation’s civil war, and remained stranded in Yemen for two years before eventually entering Saudi Arabia. He worked as a shepherd for three months there. When that employment concluded, his Saudi employer offered him alternative work moving goods between locations, and Amanuel did not give it much thought. “The men who offered me the work were Saudi. I trusted them,” he recalled. A few years ago, while completing a delivery, he was arrested after police discovered hashish in his vehicle. “We thought just we were carrying some normal things,” he said. Following his arrest, he endured a beating with an electrical cord and kicks to his body. Documents written in an unfamiliar language were placed before him to sign without question. No lawyer arrived, nor did anyone from the Ethiopian embassy in Riyadh. Of his three court hearings, only the final one included a translator—a brief session where the judge announced the sentence. He was informed there would be no appeal. Amanuel received a death sentence.
A Christian, Amanuel no longer wears a cross because he fears persecution and was once beaten for displaying it. “He tied my hands behind my back, beat me, and left me in the sun for three hours,” he recounted. He believes he can no longer practice his faith at all. Four of his cellmates have attempted suicide, he reports. Each time, fellow inmates intervened to save their lives. Saudi Arabia has not yet provided a response to CNN’s request for comment on these matters.
