Three Church of England bishops sitting in the House of Lords have warned that dozens of Ethiopian Christians face execution in a Saudi prison under conditions they say involve trafficking, torture, and denial of basic legal and religious rights—and have appealed directly to Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to halt the killings and bring the Kingdom’s practice into line with its own stated policies.
In a letter dated 24 July 2026 on House of Lords stationery, the Rt. Rev. Dr Guli Francis‑Dehqani, Bishop of Chelmsford, the Rt. Rev. Christopher Chessun, Bishop of Southwark, and the Rt. Rev. Philip Mounstephen, Bishop of Winchester write as Lords Spiritual of the United Kingdom Parliament to the Crown Prince in his role as Prime Minister. Copies are sent to HRH Prince Abdullah bin Khalid bin Sultan bin Abdulaziz, the Saudi ambassador in London; the Rt. Hon. Ed Miliband MP, Foreign Secretary; and H.E. Biruk Mekonnen, Ethiopia’s ambassador to the Court of St James’s.
The bishops state that they understand at least 58 Ethiopian nationals to be under sentence of death in Khamis Mushait Prison in south‑western Saudi Arabia. Many of these men, they report, fled conflict and instability in Ethiopia and appear to have been recruited by traffickers to carry goods across the Saudi–Yemeni border without knowing their contents. None, they say, had adequate legal representation; several allege torture and pressure to sign Arabic documents they could not read; and interpretation during legal proceedings “was in many cases wholly inadequate.”
Most of the prisoners are identified as Ethiopian Orthodox Christians. According to the letter, some report that Saudi police removed the crosses they wore around their necks and physically assaulted them during transfers to court, and that the open expression of Christian belief has been discouraged or prohibited in prison and in court, with prisoners expected not to display Christian symbols or refer to their faith in legal proceedings. The bishops describe this treatment as incompatible with the fundamental right to freedom of religion recognised under international law and ask that this right be upheld in these cases.
The bishops say Ethiopian consular officials met prisoners on death row in Khamis Mushait in mid‑June and received direct assurances from Saudi officials that executions would be suspended and sentences reviewed. “Despite those assurances,” they write, five Ethiopian nationals were executed on 23 June. Fellow detainees report that several of the men were told they were being taken to court or for procedural hearings relating to their cases, only to be executed hours later. Families were not notified in advance and have received no information about the whereabouts of their remains; in some cases, other prisoners were left to inform relatives.
The bishops urge the Crown Prince to investigate how these executions occurred while a review was said to be underway and to ensure that no further executions take place while the cases remain under consideration.
The letter grounds its appeal in Saudi Arabia’s goal to abolish the death penalty except in cases where one person kills another or threatens the lives of many, and that the Kingdom reaffirmed at its 2024 Universal Periodic Review that capital punishment is reserved for the “most serious crimes.” The men in Khamis Mushait, however, were convicted of non‑lethal drug offences, and their continued presence on death row is described as “inconsistent with those commitments.”]
They also recall the Crown Prince’s 2018 visit to Lambeth Palace, when he met the then Archbishop of Canterbury, the Most Rev. Justin Welby, and was reported by Lambeth to have made “a strong commitment to promote the flourishing of those of different faith traditions, and to interfaith dialogue within the Kingdom and beyond.” “We welcomed those commitments then,” the bishops write, “and we hold them up now, not as a reproach, but as an expression of our confidence in your resolve to honour them.” They add: “We recognise and respect the Kingdom’s sovereignty over its legal processes. We do not write to lecture, but to appeal … We cannot in conscience remain silent.
The bishops ask the Crown Prince to take five specific steps:
Order an immediate moratorium on all executions of Ethiopian nationals currently held in Khamis Mushait Prison.
Commute the death sentences of all those convicted solely of non‑lethal drug offences.
Order a full, independent and transparent review of all cases, with access to adequate legal representation and properly qualified interpretation.
Ensure that the right to religious expression and the right to dignity are upheld for all prisoners, regardless of faith or nationality.
Ensure that the families of those already executed are informed of the whereabouts of their relatives’ remains, in accordance with international humanitarian standards.
The House of Lords letter stands within a broader pattern of international concern over Saudi Arabia’s use of the death penalty in drug cases involving foreign nationals. Human Rights Watch and other advocacy groups report that foreign migrants, including Ethiopians, have been executed for non‑lethal drug offences in 2025–26, and that dozens more remain at imminent risk of execution. Media investigations have highlighted allegations of trafficking, brief collective hearings by video link, lack of defence counsel and interpreters, and pressure on detainees to sign untranslated documents.
Church leaders from other traditions have also spoken into the situation. Bishop Tesfaselassie Medhin of the Catholic Eparchy of Adigrat has appealed for international intervention to secure clemency for Ethiopians on Saudi death row. Across Anglican and Episcopal churches, opposition to capital punishment has frequently been voiced in synodical resolutions and pastoral letters; The Episcopal Church in the United States, for example, formally opposed the death penalty in 1958 and has since urged governments to limit or end its use.
In this context, the appeal from the three bishops adds the voice of the Church of England’s Lords Spiritual to ongoing diplomatic and ecclesial efforts around Ethiopian prisoners in Saudi Arabia, inviting the Crown Prince to bring practice in Khamis Mushait Prison into alignment with the Kingdom’s declared policy on capital punishment and its public commitments to protect religious diversity.