Families of those executed in Saudi Arabia received the bodies of their relatives to bury them
- Author, Hana Zeratsyon
- Position, BBC News Tigrinya
- Author, Swaminathan Natarajan
- Position, Global Journalism, BBC World Service
- Published
- Reading time: 9 Minutes
"We carried out all the mourning procedures to help the families find solace and accept that their loved ones had died. But personally, I do not think I will be able to find that comfort," says Kinfe Aregawi, father of Kibrom.
"This will be a burden of sorrow and regret that I will carry for my whole life," he says.
Kibrom Kinfe Aregawi was one of the five Ethiopian citizens sentenced to death this June after being found guilty of smuggling drugs to Saudi Arabia. The country is often mentioned among nations that carry out the most death sentences globally, China and Iran only.
For many Christians of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church, religious burials are an important part of farewell ceremonies for the deceased. Usually, the body is tied with a special cloth before being placed in a wooden coffin for burial.
However, this was not possible in Kibrom's burial, who died at the age of 25, as the remains of his body were not returned to his family.
Saudi Arabia carried out death sentences against 116 people in the one-year period up to July 27, according to the human rights organization Human Rights Watch (HRW).
"The return of the deceased's body is not just a matter of administration. The effects of the sentence continue to disturb the family even after the sentence has been carried out," says Duaa Dhainy, the lead researcher of the European and Saudi Arabian Human Rights Organization (ESOHR).
Dhainy, who is also a legal advisor at the Reprieve MENA organization, says that many families continue to suffer because they lack the opportunity to say goodbye and bury their loved ones according to their customs and beliefs.
Nazila Ghanea, a Special Rapporteur of the United Nations on freedom of religion and belief, has said that the action allegedly taken by Saudi Arabia to deny the return of bodies of those who have been sentenced to death to their families is "a form of torture and persecution".
According to the families concerned, these five Ethiopian citizens were sentenced to death on June 23 in Khamis Mushait prison, in the Asir region of southern Saudi Arabia, without being given prior information about the implementation of their sentences.
The families also say that they have not yet been given the personal belongings or death certificates of their loved ones, which has added sorrow and questions about what happened.
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Kibrom Kinfe Aregawi first traveled to Saudi Arabia in 2020 with his father, Kinfe Aregawi - without legal entry permits to the country. The two were arrested and held for 15 months before being returned to Ethiopia.
However, the security situation caused by internal conflict in Ethiopia persuaded Kibrom to try the journey to Saudi Arabia again. He crossed the Shamu Sea in an overloaded boat before continuing the journey on foot through Yemen.
According to his family, Kibrom was arrested again by Saudi officials in 2023 while crossing the border and was later charged with smuggling narcotics. His father says that after three months in prison, his son was found guilty and sentenced to death.
Three years later while in prison, the sentence was carried out in June of this year.
"He never even got a chance to speak to us," Kinfe said with tears in his eyes. "I was informed about his death through social media," he told the BBC.
Kinfe believes that his son was not guilty and was wrongly convicted.
"There is no evidence that shows my son was involved in the illegal smuggling of drugs," he says.
"No one gave me his death certificate, nor did they return his personal belongings, let alone his body. I remain mourning in silence. What else should I do?" he adds.
On the same day and in the same prison, Tsigabu Gebremariam was also executed after being found guilty of the same offense.
The 26-year-old young man was the first child of a family of eight from the rural areas of Central Tigray, Ethiopia.
His father, Hagos Gebremeskel, says that Tsigabu left home after completing 18 years to seek a way to escape the difficult living conditions and the effects of internal conflict.
"There are not many job opportunities for young people in our area. He went to Saudi Arabia to help his family," Hagos tells the BBC.
Tsigabu was found guilty of smuggling drugs and served three and a half years in prison. The last time he communicated with his family was in February of this year.
"He told us he would return home soon and marry," says his father.
His mother, Letechristos Gebretsadik, had already started looking for a suitable suitor for her son. Instead, she says, she found herself preparing mourning activities.
"All my other children are girls. He was the only boy in the family," she says.
"His sisters had great hope that he would return home soon. They were already preparing for his wedding and even preparing for the wedding songs. The sorrow they have is now greater than mine."
For that family, the dreams of seeing Tsigabu return home to start a new life have turned into grief, along with the memories of their last conversations and the hopes that were not fulfilled.
After receiving information about Tsigabu Gebremariam's execution from relatives in Saudi Arabia, his family, who are members of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church, performed commemorative services and special prayers in their local church.
"I want to know why his body was not returned home," says Letechristos Gebretsadik, who has already completed a 40-day mourning period according to the customs of his community.
"This situation increases the pain of our grief and breaks our hearts."
Tsigabu's parents ask Saudi Arabia to provide evidence showing the crime their son was alleged to have committed. They also question whether he might have been used or deceived by others during his journey.
Last year's report by Amnesty International Human Rights organization found that approximately 75 percent of those sentenced to death for drug-related offenses in Saudi Arabia were foreigners.
Duaa Dhainy, a researcher at the European and Saudi Arabian Human Rights Organization (ESOHR), says that migrants and people in difficult circumstances are often victims of criminal networks that exploit their vulnerabilities.
"In some cases of Ethiopian citizens, the detainees explained that they were induced to carry burdens by being promised assistance to cross the border," he says.
"In the cases of Pakistani citizens, we found people forced to ingest prohibited drugs, sometimes by threats and sometimes by promises of employment."
The number of death sentences carried out in Saudi Arabia has exceeded 2,000 since King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud came to power in 2015, according to estimates by the European Human Rights Organization in Saudi Arabia (ESOHR). The organization explains that nearly 42 percent of those convicted are foreigners.
ESOHR also estimates that Saudi Arabia carried out 356 death sentences in 2025, the highest number ever recorded in one year.
Although Saudi Arabian laws allow the authorities to return the bodies of those sentenced at the expense of the nationality of the respective country, human rights activist Taha al-Hajji Dhainy says that this situation is rare in practice.
"We do not know of any case where the body of a migrant worker sentenced to death was returned to his family. Even in the cases we have followed involving Saudi Arabian citizens, the situation seems to be the same," he says.
According to him, several families have previously launched campaigns to demand the return of the bodies of their loved ones who were sentenced to death, including Turkish and Jordanian citizens, but these efforts have not borne fruit.
"The death certificate given to one Jordanian family had very little information. There was no information about where the body was buried or the circumstances of the death," he says.
The non-return of bodies of those sentenced to death increases the pain for many families, who, in addition to losing their loved ones, are left without the opportunity to perform burials according to their religious customs, traditions, and beliefs. For some of them, this situation leaves unanswered questions and makes the mourning process more difficult.
The BBC requested opinions from the Saudi government through the Ministry of Interior, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and its embassy in London, but received no response before publishing this information.
Saudi authorities have taken a strict stance against crimes related to drugs, stating that this action is important for protecting community safety.
In the information released in June following the execution of the death sentence against one Saudi citizen found guilty of drug-related offenses, the Ministry of Interior quoted verses from the Quran that speak about the punishment for those who cause what is called "injustice in the world".
The Ministry stated that the government is committed to "protecting the safety of the citizens and residents from the drug epidemic" and implementing stricter punishments against those involved in the trade and smuggling of these drugs. It explained that this stance is based on the severe harm caused by drugs, including the deaths of innocent people and their effects on society.
The BBC also requested comments from the Ethiopian embassy in Saudi Arabia.
Saudi Arabia has not made clear the number of prisoners awaiting execution. However, human rights activists believe that this number could reach hundreds of people.
Joey Shea, a researcher from the Middle East and North Africa unit at Human Rights Watch (HRW), says that the lack of transparent implementation of death sentences raises concerns about the rights of prisoners and their families.
"The implementation of death sentences in secret or without providing sufficient information in advance deprives prisoners and their families of time to prepare for the event," he says.
For the families of Ethiopians who were sentenced, the pain is not only related to losing their loved ones but also to the lack of complete information about their final days, where they were buried, and the possibility of giving them burials that are in line with their religious customs and beliefs.
Praying for a miracle
The secrecy surrounding the implementation of death sentences in Saudi Arabia not only affects the families of prisoners but also those awaiting the execution of their sentences.
One prisoner, whose name and prison was not disclosed for security reasons by the BBC, has described the fear he lives every day.
He was arrested in 2023 for smuggling drugs. He says he admitted the offense, was sentenced to death, but still has hope for forgiveness.
This year, he said he has witnessed 15 of his fellow prisoners being executed.
"When all the guards open the door, we wonder who will follow," he tells the BBC.
He says he is still waiting for a miracle that can prevent his sentence from being carried out. But if he is executed, he has only one request.
"I am afraid that my parents will not even get a chance to see my body," he says.
He wishes for the remains of his body to be returned home so that his family can have a chance to say goodbye and bury him with final honors.
His statement reflects the state of fear and anxiety that grips prisoners awaiting execution along with their families, who often lack certain information about the fate of their loved ones.