France, July 14 -- According to Human Rights Watch (HRW), at least 10 Ethiopians have already been executed in Saudi Arabia this year.

Fifty-eight other prisoners, most of whom have been convicted on drug trafficking charges, are being held in the Khamis Mushait detention facility, near the Yemeni border, and face the death penalty.

Several detainees told HRW they had been recruited by people smugglers to carry packages into Saudi Arabia, unaware of their contents.

The rights organisation said the men had been denied a fair trial.

"These detainees had only a handful of extremely brief collective hearings, often by video link, lasting less than 10 minutes," said HRW's Saudi Arabia researcher Joey Shea.

"They had no legal representatio...