Saudi Arabia executes man over crimes allegedly committed as a child
Saudi Arabia has executed a man convicted of offences allegedly committed when he was a child, according to Human Rights Watch (HRW).
Hassan Zaki al-Faraj, who was executed on Saturday, was convicted of offences allegedly committed when he was 14 years old, including "meeting and developing friendships with other detained and wanted individuals".
“The execution of Hassan al-Faraj is unconscionable compounded by alleged torture-tainted evidence and a well-documented record of unfair trials,” said Joey Shea, HRW’s senior Saudi Arabia researcher.
“With the Supreme Court’s recent decision, Yousef al-Manasif is also at serious risk of execution,” she added.
Faraj was arrested in 2017 and sentenced to death by Saudi Arabia’s Specialised Criminal Court in 2022, according to HRW.
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His lawyers have said that he had been tortured and forced to sign a confession used in the case. HRW also reported that he was held in solitary confinement.
Yousef al-Manasif, who was convicted over alleged offences committed when he was 15 and 16, is also at risk of execution after the Supreme Court reportedly upheld his sentence, according to the European Saudi Organisation for Human Rights (ESOHR).
Manasif was arrested in April 2017. He was accused of participating in protests against the Saudi authorities’ treatment of the country’s Shia minority and attending funeral processions in 2011 and 2012, when he was 15 and 16.
A 2024 opinion adopted by the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention found that the detention of Faraj, Manasif and three other men - Jawad Qureiris, Abdullah al-Derazi and Jalal al-Labbad - was arbitrary and that their proceedings involved serious fair-trial violations.
It said their detention violated several provisions of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and called for their immediate release and compensation.
Saudi Arabia’s government disputed the allegations, saying the claims were unfounded and that the country’s laws and procedures complied with international human rights standards.
The UN working group’s report said Manasif alleged that he had been physically and psychologically tortured in detention and coerced into signing confessions later used against him.
Another defendant, Ali al-Mabyook, was sentenced to death over alleged offences that included attending funeral processions before he turned 18, according to HRW and court documents.
Coerced confessions
His case has also drawn concern from rights groups over the use of counterterrorism legislation and allegations of coerced confessions.
Qureiris was sentenced to death in 2022 over alleged offences that included acts committed as a minor, according to the UN working group.
The group’s opinion said he had alleged that he was tortured and held in solitary confinement for 270 days to force a confession.
Saudi authorities executed Ali al-Subaiti on 9 April 2026, according to the Saudi Press Agency.
HRW said he had been sentenced to death over alleged offences that included participating in a demonstration when he was 12.
Saudi Arabia’s 2018 Juvenile Law and a 2020 executive order introduced protections against imposing the death penalty for certain offences committed by people under 18.
HRW has argued that the protections do not adequately cover defendants prosecuted under the kingdom’s counterterrorism legislation, leaving some people convicted over alleged childhood offences at risk of execution.
“Saudi Arabia’s execution spree, particularly for offences by children, shows no signs of slowing down in 2026,” Shea said.
“This underscores the urgent need for the international community to press the Saudi government to immediately halt executions and abolish the death penalty once and for all.”
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