Some 200 Ethiopians sentenced to death in Saudi Arabia

By Roberto Paglialonga

Over 200 people of Ethiopian origin, many of them young, are reportedly at risk of being executed in the coming days in Saudi Arabia.

This was reported last week by the online newspaper Addis Standard, citing data from the Tigray Youth Office.

Human Rights Watch, an organization working in the field of human rights protection, could not directly verify this number but reported 65 Ethiopian migrants, all already convicted of crimes related to drug trafficking and possession, currently imprisoned at Khamis Mushait prison.

Three other death sentences were reportedly carried out on April 21.

Ethiopians fleeing the Tigray war

HRW managed to contact sources familiar with the situation of three of these detainees, who stated that they are refugees. They reportedly fled during the bloody conflict in the Tigray region (northern Ethiopia) that occurred between 2020 and 2022, where the humanitarian situation remains dire today.

According to the sources, they took the notorious and dangerous “eastern route,” passing through Djibouti and Yemen, before reaching their destination and being arrested between 2023 and 2024 by Saudi police in the Abha region, where they were working.

The substance they were found in possession of is khat—a plant banned in Saudi Arabia, which has extremely harsh drug laws. Khat is a shrub native to East Africa, whose leaves, when chewed, produce stimulant effects similar to amphetamines.

The appeal of the Catholic eparch of Ethiopia

On May 5, the Bishop of the Catholic Eparchy of Adigrat, Tesfaselassie Medhin, made a heartfelt appeal to several international organizations and humanitarian agencies defending human dignity, seeking protection for the lives of the 200 prisoners.

As the Shepherd of the Catholic Eparchy of Adigrat, he said, “I lift my voice not only as a religious leader, but as a witness to the profound value of every human soul, created in the image and likeness of the Almighty,” he began in his message, because “our faith teaches us that life is a gift from the Creator: sacred, inviolable, and deserving of protection from conception until its natural end.” 

Justice tempered by mercy

The Eparch, while recognizing the sovereignty of nations and the need to uphold the rule of law, emphasized that “justice is more effective when tempered by mercy.”

In fact, “the execution of these 200 people would represent an irreparable loss of human lives and a heartbreaking blow to the families left behind in Ethiopia, many of whom already suffer the hardships of poverty and displacement.”

Opening a dialogue with Saudi authorities

Therefore, Bishop Medhin added, “we fervently ask” the responsible international organizations “to initiate an urgent high-level dialogue with the authorities of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to obtain the suspension of the executions and the commutation of these death sentences.”

Finally, he stressed the importance of “promoting alternatives to the death penalty that allow for rehabilitation, repentance, and the possibility of redemption.”

These people, he concluded, “are children, parents, and siblings. Their lives have intrinsic value that transcends any wrongdoing.” Efforts should therefore focus on fostering a ‘civilization of love’ and mercy.

Pope Leo: The death penalty is inadmissible

On April 24, on the 15th anniversary of the abolition of the death penalty in the US state of Illinois, United States, in a video message to DePaul University in Chicago, Pope Leo reaffirmed the Church’s stance against capital punishment.

It is possible, he reiterated, “that the common good can be safeguarded and the requirements of justice can be met without recourse to capital punishment.”

He reminded that the Catholic Church “has consistently taught that each human life, from the moment of conception until natural death, is sacred and deserves to be protected.”

Citing paragraph 2267 of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, in the “new edition” approved by Pope Francis in 2018, Leo XIV stated that “the dignity of the person is not lost even after the commission of very serious crimes:” offenders always have the possibility of redemption.

“Consequently,” the revision states, “the Church teaches, in the light of the Gospel, that ‘the death penalty is inadmissible because it is an attack on the inviolability and dignity of the person,’ and she works with determination for its abolition worldwide.”

The day before, April 23, during his flight back from Africa, answering journalists’ questions, Pope Leo declared that he condemns “all actions that are unjust,” adding: “I condemn the taking of people’s lives. I condemn capital punishment. I believe that human life is to be respected and that all people – from conception to natural death – their lives should be respected and protected.”