The United Nations has been heavily criticized for its decision to appoint Saudi Arabia as the head of a key human rights panel, particularly in light of the country's decision to sentence a Saudi teen to be crucified.

According to Newsweek, many were outraged when the U.N. announced its decision to appoint Saudi representative Faisal bin Hassan Trad as the chair of the Consultative Group, five ambassadors tasked with heading the organization's human rights councils and responsible for selecting officials to report on human rights violations worldwide.

"It is scandalous that the UN chose a country that has beheaded more people this year than ISIS to be head of a key human rights panel," said Hillel Neuer, executive director of the non-government organization UN Watch, according to their blog. "Petro-dollars and politics have trumped human rights."

Neuer also noted that Saudi Arabia has a terrible record concerning religious freedom and women's rights.

Most recently, the country has come under harsh criticism for its brutal sentencing of juvenile prisoner Ali Mohammed al-Nimr. International Business Times reports the teenager was arrested in February of 2014, accused of participating in illegal protests. He was also charged with firearms offenses though no evidence of this was found.

Several organizations have accused Saudi Arabia of using torture to force Ali to sign a document with a false confession. Ali was given no access to lawyers and the trial failed to meet international standards. The boy's family attempted to dispute the charges, but after a final appeal was dismissed it is feared that the boy will soon be put to death.

It is heavily suspected that the case against Ali is motivated by his familial relation to uncle Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr, a religious leader who is a critic of the Saudi government and has also been sentenced to crucifixion for "insulting the King," amongst other charges.