The execution on 21 August 2025 of Jalal Labbad, a Saudi youth convicted of crimes allegedly committed when he was a minor, finally destroys the authorities’ claims to have ended this violation of international human rights law, and raises grave fears for at least six other child offenders sentenced to death.
Labbad (born 3 April 1995) was convicted on a range of “terrorist” charges including joining in protests that took place when he was a child. ALQST has reviewed court documents confirming Labbad’s death sentence that show the charges against him included acts protected by the rights to freedom of expression, peaceful assembly and association, including “chanting slogans insulting the rulers of the country” at the funerals of men shot dead by security forces. These events date back to protests in 2011 and 2012, in which the teenage Labbad took part, against the treatment of Saudi Arabia's marginalised Shia community.
Labbad was arrested without a warrant on 23 February 2017 after security forces raided his family’s home in Awamiya, and his trial in the Specialised Criminal Court (SCC) began on 27 June 2019. On 31 July 2022 the court handed down a death sentence, which was upheld by the SCC Appeal Court on 4 October that year and by the Supreme Court, in secret, in 2023. His sentencing followed a grossly unfair trial that failed to meet basic standards of due process and relied almost exclusively on confessions extracted under torture. During interrogation Labbad was severely beaten with pipes, shoes and cables, had his head banged on the table until he passed out, and suffered electrocution and death threats.
The Ministry of Interior’s announcement of Labbad’s execution said he had carried out, with others, the kidnapping and killing of a judge, Mohammed al-Jirani. It did not specify Labbad’s role in this crime. The case of al-Jirani, who was abducted in December 2016 and whose body was discovered a year later, has long been shrouded in mystery, as more and more names have been gradually added to a list of suspects now totalling 22 accused. For many, like Labbad, there have been deeply flawed trials and credible allegations of torture, raising serious concerns about the legitimacy of the charges. Once again, the authorities appear to be using spurious security charges to silence peaceful dissent without adhering to due process.
Use of the death penalty against people who were under 18 years of age at the time of the crime of which they are convicted directly violates the Convention on the Rights of the Child, to which Saudi Arabia is a party. Amid international criticism, the Saudi authorities in 2020 purportedly issued a decree ending judges’ discretion to hand down death sentences to minors. The measure, however, contained loopholes whereby minors can still be executed, such as by excluding cases brought under the Counter-Terrorism Law, as in the cases of Mustafa al-Darwish, executed in 2021, and now Labbad. Saudi Arabia’s official Human Rights Commission later insisted that “no one in Saudi Arabia will be executed for a crime committed as a minor”. Labbad’s execution thus further contradicts these official claims to have ended the practice of executing child offenders.
His execution also raises grave fears for other child defendants at imminent risk of execution, especially Abdullah al-Derazi, whose death sentence has had final approval from the Supreme Court and now only needs the king's signature before it can go ahead. UN experts have repeatedly found the detention and death sentences of Labbad, al-Derazi and three other child offenders to be arbitrary, and as recently as April 2025 called for their immediate release.
Saudi Arabia’s horrific use of the death penalty has continued apace this year. At least 260 individuals have been executed so far in 2025 – a 70% increase on the same period in 2024, the year that saw the highest recorded number of executions in Saudi history: 345. The majority of executions this year (175) have been for non-lethal drug-related offences, and 29 for terrorism-related offences, which according to the vague and overly broad definition in Saudi law can include a wide range of non-lethal acts. Both these types of execution are in clear violation of international human rights law, which prohibits use of the death penalty for offences that do not meet the threshold of the “most serious crimes”.
In light of the alarming scale on which executions are being carried out in Saudi Arabia, we once again urge the authorities there to immediately establish a moratorium on executions with a view to abolishing the death penalty for all crimes. Pending full abolition of the death penalty, Saudi Arabia must immediately remove from its laws all death penalty provisions that are in breach of international human rights law, such as for crimes that do not meet the threshold of “most serious crimes”, and for crimes committed by minors.
