Saudi Arabia advertises for executioners

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia, May 19 (UPI) -- Saudi Arabia is in need of eight new executioners, its civil service ministry has announced.

The help-wanted postings online cite only the qualification of "carrying out the death sentence according to Islamic Shariah after it was ordered by a legal ruling," noting no specific skill sets or educational accomplishment. It added executions are a "religious function."

Executions in Saudi Arabia are generally done by public beheading with a sword as punishment for murder, rape, drug smuggling or arms dealing. The law also allows, in some cases, for thieves to have their hands amputated, but that punishment is rarely carried out, Saudi lawyers note.

Although human rights organizations are critical of the punishment, the government is quick to point out executions in Saudi Arabia occur after exhaustive legal procedures that bear no comparison to justice as meted out by the Islamic State or other insurgent groups.

"When we do it in Saudi Arabia, we do it as a decision made by a court," Maj. Gen. Mansour al-Turki of the Saudi Interior Ministry told NBC News. "The killing is a decision. I mean it is not based on arbitrary choices."

The Saudi government has performed 85 executions thus far in 2015, a number which has increased in recent years. Amnesty International reported the Saudi government performed 79 executions in 2013.