By executing minor Jalal Labad on August 21, 2025, Saudi Arabia has once again exposed its systematic use of capital punishment to silence dissent and eliminate perceived opposition. The killing of Jalal, who was only 17 at the time of his arrest, marks a devastating escalation in the Kingdom’s campaign of repression. According to the European Saudi Organization for Human Rights (ESOHR), it brings the number of politically motivated executions this year to 27 out of a total of 260, a staggering figure that includes 21 executions for non-lethal charges and at least six linked to allegations of “high treason” and “espionage.” But Jalal’s case is uniquely emblematic of the broader machinery of abuse that characterizes Saudi Arabia’s justice system: systemic torture, arbitrary detention, and flagrant violations of international protections for children.

Jalal Labad was arrested on February 23, 2017, after a raid on his family home in the city of Al-Awamiyah. The arrest was carried out without a warrant or prior summons. What followed was a series of brutal violations that spanned years. He was held in solitary confinement for nearly ten months, denied access to legal counsel, and tortured relentlessly to extract confessions. According to ESOHR, he was subjected to electric shocks—including to his genitals—beatings with rods and metal wires, suffocation by having his neck stomped on, and simulated drowning. He was hospitalized multiple times due to loss of consciousness, dangerously low blood pressure, and serious injuries, including severe swelling in his thigh.

More than two years after his arrest, Jalal was brought before the Specialized Criminal Court. The charges included participation in demonstrations—some dating back to when he was just 15—attending funerals of victims killed by Saudi forces, and offering medical assistance to wounded protesters. He was also accused of harboring wanted individuals and of playing a vague, undefined role in the 2016 kidnapping and killing of Judge Mohammed Al-Jirani. However, the official narrative was inconsistent: Jalal’s name was never mentioned in the press conferences held by the Ministry of Interior on the case, and his specific role was never clarified in court.

Saudi authorities have routinely used the Al-Jirani case as a pretext to suppress dissent. ESOHR has documented that at least 22 individuals have been charged in connection with it, nine of whom were killed extrajudicially. The use of vague affiliations to justify severe punishments is a recurring pattern in the Kingdom’s legal system, especially in cases involving Shia citizens or political activists.

Despite repeated warnings from international bodies, Jalal’s life was not spared. In June 2024, several UN Special Rapporteurs issued a communication to the Saudi government highlighting Jalal’s status as a minor and urging an end to the use of the death penalty in such cases. On November 15, 2024, the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention issued a legal opinion declaring his detention arbitrary and illegal under international law, and called for his immediate release. In April 2025, the same Working Group issued a public statement condemning Saudi Arabia’s continued execution of individuals who were minors at the time of their alleged offenses. Jalal’s execution went ahead nonetheless—without prior notice, transparency, or due process.

This case further undermines the credibility of Saudi Arabia’s claims of reform. The Kingdom continues to insist that its Juvenile Law and 2020 royal decree prohibit the execution of minors, but Jalal’s case proves otherwise. His is the first documented execution of a minor since the killing of Mustafa Al-Darwish in June 2021, despite Saudi Arabia’s ratification of the Convention on the Rights of the Child and the Convention Against Torture.

The execution of Jalal Labad is not an isolated case, but part of a wider structure of repression that criminalizes dissent and strips away even the most basic legal protections for vulnerable defendants. His family’s suffering spans years and generations. His brother Fadel was executed in the 2019 mass execution; his other brother Mohammed remains on death row. At least 60 more political detainees currently face the threat of execution, including several who were minors at the time of their arrest, such as Abdullah Al-Derazi, Youssef Al-Munasif, Hassan Zaki Al-Faraj, Jawad Qureiris, Mahdi Al-Mohsen, Ali Al-Sbayti, and Ali Al-Mubayouq. These cases are not aberrations, but a reflection of how the death penalty is used as a tool of intimidation and collective punishment. Far from signaling reform, Jalal’s execution reinforces the extent to which Saudi Arabia’s justice system is calibrated not for fairness, but for fear. The international community must not allow these abuses to be normalized under the cover of diplomatic partnerships and public relations campaigns.

The post Executed as a Child: The Case of Jalal Labad and Saudi Arabia’s Weaponization of the Death Penalty appeared first on Americans for Democracy & Human Rights in Bahrain.

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