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“Over the last two weeks executions have been taking place almost daily in Saudi Arabia after the authorities ended a 21-month unofficial moratorium on the use of the death penalty for drug-related offences,” Throssell said.
“Since 10 November, 17 men have been executed for what are termed drug and contraband offences – the latest three executions on Monday. Those executed to date are four Syrians, three Pakistanis, three Jordanians, and seven Saudis,” she added.
“As executions are only confirmed after they take place in Saudi Arabia, we do not have any information as to how many people may be on death row. However, according to some reports we have received, a Jordanian man, Hussein abo al-Kheir, may be at risk of imminent execution,” the spokesperson said.
Throssell said al-Kheir’s case had previously been taken up by the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, which found that his detention was arbitrary because it lacked a legal basis and there were grave concerns relating to his right to a fair trial.
“We urge the Saudi Government to halt al-Kheir’s reported imminent execution and to comply with the Working Group’s opinion by quashing his death sentence, releasing him immediately and unconditionally, and by ensuring that he receives medical care, compensation and other reparations,” she stated.
The resumption of executions for drug-related offences in Saudi Arabia is a deeply regrettable step, all the more so coming just days after a wide majority of States in the UN General Assembly called for a moratorium on the death penalty worldwide.
“Imposing the death penalty for drug offences is incompatible with international norms and standards,” she stated.
The UN Human Rights Office calls on the Saudi authorities to adopt a formal moratorium on executions for drug-related offences, to commute death sentences for drug-related offences, and to ensure the right to a fair trial for all defendants, including those charged with such offences, in line with its international obligations.
For more information and media requests, please contact:
In Geneva:
Liz Throssell – + 41 22 917 9296 / elizabeth.throssell@un.org or
Marta Hurtado – + 41 22 917 9466 / marta.hurtadogomez@un.org or
Jeremy Laurence – +41 22 917 9383 / jeremy.laurence@un.org
In Nairobi:
Seif Magango – +254 788 343 897 / seif.magango@un.org
Tag and share - Twitter: @UNHumanRights and Facebook: unitednationshumanrights
- Exterior shot: Alley of flags Palais des Nations
- Interior shot: wide shot Briefing room podium
- UN Human Rights spokesperson spokesperson Elizabeth Throssell (OHCHR): “Over the last two weeks executions have been taking place almost daily in Saudi Arabia after the authorities ended a 21-month unofficial moratorium on the use of the death penalty for drug-related offences.”
- Cut Away: Briefing room podium
- UN Human Rights spokesperson spokesperson Elizabeth Throssell (OHCHR): “Since 10 November, 17 men have been executed for what are termed drug and contraband offences – the latest three executions on Monday. Those executed to date are four Syrians, three Pakistanis, three Jordanians, and seven Saudis.”
- Cut Away: Briefing room journalist
- UN Human Rights spokesperson spokesperson Elizabeth Throssell (OHCHR): “As executions are only confirmed after they take place in Saudi Arabia, we do not have any information as to how many people may be on death row. However, according to some reports we have received, a Jordanian man, Hussein abo al-Kheir, may be at risk of imminent execution.”
- Cut Away: Briefing room participants
- UN Human Rights spokesperson spokesperson Elizabeth Throssell (OHCHR): “We urge the Saudi Government to halt al-Kheir’s reported imminent execution and to comply with the Working Group’s opinion by quashing his death sentence, releasing him immediately and unconditionally, and by ensuring that he receives medical care, compensation and other reparations.”
- Cut Away: Briefing room podium
- UN Human Rights spokesperson spokesperson Elizabeth Throssell (OHCHR): “Imposing the death penalty for drug offences is incompatible with international norms and standards.”
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New data showing that rivers were at their lowest level for decades last year provides further evidence that the climate crisis is real and countries must act immediately to protect themselves from the increasing threat to communities and livelihoods, the UN World Meteorological Organization (WMO) said on Thursday.
The key findings from WMO’s State of Global Water Resources 2025 report covering the hydrological cycle and extreme events in the five-year period to last year:
- 2025 was one of driest years for river discharge in 35 years
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- Asia and Africa are regions most affected by water-related disasters
- Water data availability has improved, but gaps remain in hard-hit areas
Highlighting the long-term decline in the Earth’s freshwater storage and glacier melt, WMO Secretary-General Celeste Saulo explained that the planet’s water reserves used to act as a planetary “savings account” that absorbed the occasional dry season, avoiding a water crisis. “One of the central stories of the 2025 report is what is happening to that savings account? And the simple answer is that we are depleting it,” she told journalists in Geneva.
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Glaciers disappearing
In 2025, for the fourth consecutive year, every major glaciated region on Earth lost ice mass, leading to short-term hazards including floods and long-term water insecurity, according to WMO.
Responding to a question about whether the changing global water cycle might have contributed to the deadly Nepal-China flooding disaster, Ms. Saulo explained that melting ice and rock was just one factor in the chain of events that ultimately sent a massive and deadly wall of water and debris downstream on 26 August, killing at least 1,367 people.
“You asked if it could happen again? Absolutely; the problem in this region is that there’s 63,700 glaciers at the last count,” she told a Press Conference in Geneva. “Even if you’re looking with remote sensing with satellites at these glaciers, you might see some faults, you might see some slight shifting, that does not mean necessarily catastrophic collapse. So, in order to plan for this, it’s very, very difficult. But the international community is looking very hard at ways in which we can bring people together to solve some of these monitoring issues.”
Data indicates that glaciers shrank between 2023 and 2025 with cumulative losses of 1,400 gigatonnes of water – or about one third of annual fresh water needs.
Every major glacier region on Earth lost ice for the fourth consecutive year.
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Some regions with smaller glaciers such as Central Europe, the Caucasus, the western Canada and the United States may already have reached “peak water”, Mr. Jenkinson warned.
“After this point, the glacier gives less meltwater each year simply because there is less ice left to melt. That matters for every community downstream that relies on water during hot, dry summers,” he explained.
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Mr. Jenkinson said governments need to prepare for “moving baselines” as historical patterns become less reliable.
“The situation 30 years ago is not where we are today,” he said. Countries, he added, need to prepare “for those changes that have really already arrived”.
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