GENEVA: he 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.

“The resumption of executions for drug-related offences in Saudi Arabia is a deeply regrettable step,” Throssell said.

It comes shortly after most countries called at the UN General Assembly for a moratorium on the death penalty worldwide.

“Imposing the death penalty for drug offences is incompatible with international norms and standards,” Throssell said.

She urged Saudi authorities “to adopt a formal moratorium on executions for drug-related offences, to commute death sentences for drug-related offences and to ensure the right to a fair trial for all defendants.”

It remains unclear how many people are on death row in Saudi Arabia, since executions are only confirmed after they take place.

But Throssell pointed to reports that a Jordanian man, Hussein Abo al-Kheir, “may be at risk of imminent execution.”

Abo al-Kheir’s case has previously been raised by the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, which determined there was no legal basis for his detention.

Throssell called for his immediate and unconditional release, urging him to be given “medical care, compensation and other reparations.”

Abo al-Kheir was sentenced on drug-related charges.