DUBAI: Sixty-four people currently face execution in Saudi Arabia, including nine who were minors when they were charged, a rights group said on Friday.

The report, published by the European Saudi Organisation for Human Rights (ESOHR), is the latest criticism of Saudi Arabia`s continued use of capital punishment, which critics say undermines its bid to soften its image through a sweeping `Vision 2030` social and economic reform agenda.

A total of 61 people have already been put to death in the first half of the year, ESOHR said.

A separate tally based on state media reports details 63 executions through June and 74 this month.

`This alarming rate and the Kingdom`s continuous disregard for promises, international obligations, and laws confirm that the danger to the lives of death row detainees in Saudi Arabia is increasing,` ESOHR said.

It added that the true number of those killed this year could be higher because of `secret` or `unannounced` executions.

`Saudi Arabia has also persisted in its policy of withholding the bodies of those executed, despite families` requests for them to be returned,` the group said.

`The number of bodies currently held is at least 140.`-AFP