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The use of capital punishment in Saudi Arabia is based on Shari'ah (or Islamic law) and is condemned internationally because of the wide range of crimes which can result in the death penalty and because it is usually carried out by public beheading. In 2011, the Saudi government reported 26 executions in the country. Amnesty International counted a minimum of 79 in 2013. Foreigners are not exempt, accounting for "almost half" of executions in 2013.〔 In fact, foreigners (especially those from the developing world) are routinely executed, mainly for drug smuggling and murder. There has not been any report of a Western national being executed in the recent history of Saudi Arabia.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=British teacher Andrew Cannon faces beheading for friend's death in Saudi Arabia - Daily Mail Online )〕 Unlike executions in most other countries that practice the death penalty, executions are not performed privately in prisons, but publicly. It is one of the last four countries to still carry out public executions and the only country to carry them out on a regular basis. ==Methods and scope== Saudi Arabia has a criminal justice system based on a hardline and literal form of Shari'ah law reflecting a particular state-sanctioned interpretation of Islam. The death penalty can be imposed for a wide range of offences including murder, rape, false prophecy, blasphemy, armed robbery, repeated drug use, apostasy, adultery, witchcraft and sorcery〔BBC News, "Pleas for condemned Saudi 'witch'", 14 February 2008 (BBC NEWS )〕 and can be carried out by beheading with a sword,〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Saudi Arabia's Beheading of a Nanny Followed Strict Procedures )〕 or more rarely by firing squad, and sometimes by stoning.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Abolish Stoning and Barbaric Punishment Worldwide! )〕 The 345 reported executions between 2007 and 2010 were all carried out by public beheading.〔U.S. State Department Annual Human Rights Reports for Saudi Arabia 2007–2010: ; ; ; 〕 The last reported execution for sorcery took place in August 2014. There were no reports of stoning between 2007 and 2010,〔 but between 1981 and 1992 there were four cases of execution by stoning reported. Crucifixion of the beheaded body is sometimes ordered.〔 For example, in 2009, the ''Saudi Gazette'' reported that "An Abha court has sentenced the leader of an armed gang to death and three-day crucifixion (public displaying of the beheaded body) and six other gang members to beheading for their role in jewelry store robberies in Asir." (This practice resembles gibbeting, in which the entire body is displayed). In 2003, Muhammad Saad al-Beshi, whom the BBC described as "Saudi Arabia's leading executioner", gave a rare interview to Arab News.〔 He described his first execution in 1998: "The criminal was tied and blindfolded. With one stroke of the sword I severed his head. It rolled metres away...People are amazed how fast (sword ) can separate the head from the body."〔 He also said that before an execution he visits the victim's family to seek forgiveness for the criminal, which can lead to the criminal's life being spared.〔 Once an execution goes ahead, his only conversation with the prisoner is to tell him or her to recite the Muslim declaration of belief, the ''Shahada''.〔 "When they get to the execution square, their strength drains away. Then I read the execution order, and at a signal I cut the prisoner's head off," he said.〔 As of 2003, executions have not been announced in advance. They can take place any day of the week, and they often generate large crowds. Photography and video of the executions is also forbidden, although there have been numerous cases of photographed and videoed executions in the spite of the law against them. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Capital punishment in Saudi Arabia」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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