International

Record of executions in Saudi Arabia: more than 300 so far this year

The number of executed so far in 2024 in Saudi Arabia is 304, including seven women, an unprecedented record in the country, according to EFE this Wednesday an official of the European-Saudi Organization for Human Rights (ESOHR).

“The executed so far are 187 Saudis and 117 foreigners,” said Taha al Hajji, legal advisor to the NGO, who monitors the executions in the kingdom.

More than 100 executed for drug trafficking

The last executed were three Egyptians, precisely yesterday, who were imprisoned in Tabuk prison, where 27 other prisoners of Egyptian nationality are sentenced to death and “could be executed at any time,” the activist warned.

According to Al Hajji, the number of executions for cases related to drug trafficking so far this year is 105, that is, more than one in three executed.

In November 2022, Saudi Arabia carried out the first executions for drug-related crimes in almost three years, thus reversing a moratorium on executions for such crimes announced by the Saudi Human Rights Commission in 2021.

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Amnesty International’s complaints

Despite their repeated promises to limit the use of the death penalty, the Saudi authorities have increased executions while systematically violating international rules on fair trials and safeguards for the accused, according to Amnesty International (AI).

The authorities have also used the death penalty to silence political dissent, punishing citizens of the country’s Shiite minority who supported the “anti-government” protests between 2011 and 2013, the NGO recalled.

In 2022, Saudi Arabia executed 196 people, a year that then held the tragic record of registering the highest annual number of executions in the country in the last 30 years, according to AI.

International

Armed forces target illegal mines in Northern Ecuador with bombing raids

Ecuador’s Armed Forces carried out an operation on Monday — including airstrikes — against illegal mining in the town of Buenos Aires, in the country’s north, Defense Minister Gian Carlo Loffredo reported.

The mountainous, gold-rich area has been a hotspot for illegal mining since 2017, located in the Andean province of Imbabura.

In 2019, former president Lenín Moreno deployed around 2,400 soldiers to the region in an attempt to curb the illegal activity. “The operation began with mortar fire, followed by gunfire and bombing runs by Supertucano aircraft,” Loffredo said in a video released by the Defense Ministry.

He added that the operation would continue on Tuesday with patrols across the area to locate possible members of “irregular armed groups that may have crossed from the Colombian border.”

The Armed Forces stated on X that the intervention focused on the “complete elimination of multiple illegal mining tunnels” in the areas known as Mina Nueva and Mina Vieja.

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The operation coincided with the deployment of a military and police convoy into Imbabura, which has been the epicenter of protests against President Daniel Noboa since September 22, following his decision to scrap the diesel subsidy.

International

Caracas shuts embassy in Oslo without explanation following Machado’s Nobel win

Venezuela has announced the closure of its embassy in Norway, just days after opposition leader María Corina Machado was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. The Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the Venezuelan diplomatic mission provided no explanation for its decision on Monday.

“It is regrettable,” a ministry spokesperson said. “Despite our differences on several issues, Norway wishes to keep the dialogue with Venezuela open and will continue to work in that direction.” The ministry also emphasized that the Nobel Committee operates entirely independently from the Norwegian government.

In its announcement, the Nobel Committee stated that Machado met the criteria established by Alfred Nobel, “embodying the hope for a different future, where the fundamental rights of Venezuelans are heard.”

International

Sheinbaum: Urgent to restore access to towns cut off by heavy rains

Thousands of military personnel and civilians in Mexico worked tirelessly on Tuesday to clear roads blocked by the torrential rains of recent days, which have left more than 300 communities cut off across central and eastern regions of the country. Authorities also launched mass fumigation efforts in several affected areas to prevent the spread of dengue fever.

The official death toll remains at 64, though dozens of people are still missing. President Claudia Sheinbaumacknowledged that the government does not yet know the full situation in many of the isolated villages, which range in population from 500 to 1,000 inhabitants.

“The reopening of roads is one of the greatest urgencies,” Sheinbaum said. “It’s essential to guarantee air bridges, food supplies, clean water, and a proper census of the isolated communities so we can determine the condition of every person living there.”

Private construction companies are also assisting the effort with heavy machinery and technical support to help reopen highways and reconnect rural areas.