Saudi Arabia has executed a man for crimes he was alleged to have committed when he was just 14 years old, despite having formally ended the death penalty for crimes committed by minors in 2020.

Hassan Zaki al-Faraj, 29, was executed without notice on 17 October for taking part in protests over the kingdom’s treatment of its Shia majority when he was just a child.

He was executed alongside four other men from the Eastern Province convicted in the same case – and human rights groups warn that more youth “offenders” are still waiting on death row.

While in custody, Faraj was subjected to “severe acts of torture”, held in solitary confinement for long periods, and denied communication with the outside world, according to MENA Rights Group.

His execution comes despite the regime, which has spent billions trying to transform its reputation for rights abuses in recent years, scrapping the death penalty for crimes committed by minors in 2020.

Jeed Basyouni, head of MENA death penalty projects at Reprieve , a…