Saudi Arabia advertises for eight new executioners as beheading rate soars

[harrybarracuda]

Saudi Arabia is advertising for eight new executioners, recruiting extra staff to carry out an increasing number of death sentences, usually done by public beheading.

No special qualifications are needed for the jobs whose main role is “executing a judgment of death” but also involve performing amputations on those convicted of lesser offences, the advert, posted on the civil service jobs portal, said.

The Islamic kingdom is in the top five countries in the world for putting people to death, rights groups say. It ranked third in 2014, after China and Iran, and ahead of Iraq and the United States, according to Amnesty International figures.

A man beheaded on Sunday was the 85th person this year whose execution was recorded by the official Saudi Press Agency, compared to 88 in the whole of 2014, according to Human Rights Watch (HRW). Amnesty said there were at least 90 executions last year.

Most were executed for murder, but 38 had committed drugs offences, HRW said. About half were Saudi and the others were from Pakistan, Yemen, Syria, Jordan, India, Indonesia, Burma, Chad, Eritrea the Philippines and Sudan.

Saudi authorities have not said why the number of executions has increased so rapidly, but diplomats have speculated it may be because more judges have been appointed, allowing a backlog of appeal cases to be heard.

Political analysts say it might also reflect a tough response by the judiciary to regional turbulence.

A downloadable pdf application form for the executioner jobs, available on the website carrying Monday’s date, said the jobs were classified as “religious functionaries” and that they would be at the lower end of the civil service pay scale.

Saudi Arabia advertises for eight new executioners as beheading rate soars | World news | The Guardian

[DrB0b]

I'm sure this is already on another thread. Let me predict what will now happen. In fairly short order those who support the death penalty in their own country will appear here to denounce the death penalty in KSA as Muslim savagery. Those same people will not mention the fact that it was murderers and drug dealers who were executed (again something they would support in their own countries) but will instead make references to witches and adulterers.

Oh yes, almost forgot, as I know I will almost immediately be accused of not condemning the death penalty in KSA; I'm against the death penalty in KSA and condemn it totally, I'm against the death penalty everywhere else too and totally condemn its use anywhere.

The Islamic kingdom is in the top five countries in the world for putting people to death, rights groups say. It ranked third in 2014, after China and Iran, and ahead of Iraq and the United States, according to Amnesty International figures.

Hmm, China, Iran, KSA, Iraq, USA. Keeping some good company there, guys. I suppose that a sword is at least a quick method of killing, got to be better than slowly torturing people to death with sub-standard, black-market, inappropriate drugs or tying them up and cooking them to death.

[Neverna]

A civil service job. I suppose that rules out foreigners applying for the jobs.

[harrybarracuda]

I'm sure this is already on another thread. Let me predict what will now happen. In fairly short order those who support the death penalty in their own country will appear here to denounce the death penalty in KSA as Muslim savagery. Those same people will not mention the fact that it was murderers and drug dealers who were executed (again something they would support in their own countries) but will instead make references to witches and adulterers.

Oh yes, almost forgot, as I know I will almost immediately be accused of not condemning the death penalty in KSA; I'm against the death penalty in KSA and condemn it totally, I'm against the death penalty everywhere else too and totally condemn its use anywhere.

The Islamic kingdom is in the top five countries in the world for putting people to death, rights groups say. It ranked third in 2014, after China and Iran, and ahead of Iraq and the United States, according to Amnesty International figures.

Hmm, China, Iran, KSA, Iraq, USA. Keeping some good company there, guys. I suppose that a sword is at least a quick method of killing, got to be better than slowly torturing people to death with sub-standard, black-market, inappropriate drugs or tying them up and cooking them to death.

Funnily enough I read an interview a few years back in the Saudi Gazette, with the soon to be retired executioner in Riyadh.

He basically explained that if it was for murder, like a man killing his wife for adultery, he would sharpen the sword keenly, because it was something that could be explained because of the anger in the heat of the moment.

But when it came to drug dealers who were "poisoning our children", apparently he wasn't so sympathetic and didn't bother, so it took more than one swipe to actually behead them!