GENEVA: The United Nations denounced Saudi Arabia on Tuesday for carrying out near daily executions in recent weeks and ending a 21-month unofficial moratorium on implementing the death penalty for drug offences.

Seventeen men have been executed for drug and contraband offences since November 10, with the latest three executions taking place on Monday, the UN rights office said. “Those executed to date are four Syrians, three Pakistanis, three Jordanians, and seven Saudis,” spokeswoman Liz Throssell told reporters in Geneva.

The total number of executions in Saudi Arabia this year is 144, she said, including 47 people executed on political charges and 56 people executed for murder.

Most executions in the country are believed to be carried out by beheading, she said.—AFP