Saudi Arabia Carries 95th Execution. Amnesty International Says Could Cross 100 In First Half Of 2016

Saudi Arabia carried out Monday the 95th execution of the year and the human right watchdog Amnesty International has warned the figure may cross 100 in the first half of 2016.

The latest was a Nigerian man Fahd Houssawi. Found guilty of strangling a policeman, he was executed in the western city of Taif. He was beaten to death.

For past two years the executions in the country have surged dramatically and the trend shows no sign of slowing.

Deputy Middle East and North Africa director at Amnesty International, James Lynch, said the Saudi Arabian authorities should end such reliance on cruel and inhuman punishment. The country must establish and follow an official moratorium immediately on executions.

Earlier this year in January about a half ton people was put to death on a single day for terrorism offences.

Most of the Saudi Arabia executions are linked to murder and drug trafficking.

One of the executions was of Shia cleric Nimr al-Nimr and it prompted Iranian protesters to toch diplomatic missions of the country.

Nephew of Ali al-Nimr is also on death row. Amnesty International claim the 21-year-old was sentenced based on confessions allegedly extracted through torture.

In 2015 a total of 158 people were executed. The figure was 76 percent more compared to that of 2014.