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Saudi Executions Spur Internal Debate

The execution of seven men by firing squad last week has ignited debate within the conservative kingdom on its approach to capital punishment, Ahmed al-Omran writes.
People enter and leave Riyadh's general court October 20, 2008. A Saudi court began formal legal proceedings on Monday against around 70 militant suspects ahead of the first trials of al Qaeda sympathisers who waged a campaign of violence in the U.S.-allied monarchy.      REUTERS/Fahad Shadeed (SAUDI ARABIA) - RTX9QIH

Saudi Arabia executed seven men on March 13 despite appeals from their families and international organizations to the king for clemency. The men were convicted of theft, looting and armed robbery, and were executed in the southwestern region of Asir by a firing squad — a first in the conservative kingdom, which traditionally has beheaded convicts sentenced to death.

United Nations independent experts on extrajudicial executions, torture, and arbitrary detention expressed outrage at the execution. The U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navi Pillay, strongly condemned the executions, saying “they clearly violate international safeguards in the use of the death penalty.” Amnesty International called it “nothing but an act of sheer brutality.”

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