Saudi Arabia is a strict absolute monarchy and caries out very extreme punishments for disrespect of the government. Saudi Arabia's King and Prince have taken steps of reform for human rights since criticized by UN experts and groups like Human Rights Watch. This was seen when the Saudi Supreme Court recently abolished flogging and the death penalty for minors. Public flogging, being repeatedly hit with a whip, was a popular form of punishment in Saudi Arabia. The most well known case was from 2012 when a Saudi blogger wrote about free speech while insulting Islam and his punishment was 600 lashes and then a prison sentence of 10 years. Also, the elimination of the death penalty on people under the age of 18 was a great improvement since the kingdom holds one of the highest execution rates. Last year, there were 187 executions. Both flogging and the death penalty will be replaced by a maximum number of 10 years in jail. While the destruction of these two former punishments is a step in the right direction, the fact that these terms were enforced until recently shows the very repressive government present in Saudi Arabia.

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