Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman should be investigated further over the killing of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi, a UN report has said.
The report by UN Special Rapporteur on extra-judicial executions Agnes Callamard said there was “credible evidence” that bin Salman (pictured) and other officials may have been liable for the murder.
Callamard also described the killing as an “an act inconsistent with a core tenet of the United Nations, the protection of freedom of expression” in the report released today.
Khashoggi was killed at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on 2 October last year. His remains have still not be found.
The UN report said: “Mr Khashoggi’s killing constituted an extrajudicial killing for which the State of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is responsible.”
It later added: “The Special Rapporteur has determined that there is credible evidence, warranting further investigation of high-level Saudi officials’ individual liability, including the Crown Prince’s.
“She warns against a disproportionate emphasis on identifying who ordered the crime, pointing out that the search for justice and accountability is not singularly dependent on finding a smoking gun and the person holding it.”
The report based partly on intelligence officer recordings said the files suggested that Khashoggi “could have been injected with a sedative and then suffocated using a plastic bag”.
It said: “Sounds of movement and heavy panting could be heard in the remainder of the recordings. The sound of plastic sheets (wrapping) could also be heard.
“Turkish Intelligence concluded that these came after Mr Khashoggi’s death while the Saudi officials were dismembering his body.
“The Turkish Intelligence assessment identified the sound of a saw at 1.39pm. The Special Rapporteur and her delegation could not make out the sources of the sounds they heard.”
The Saudi regime has denied any involvement in the killing of Khashoggi, describing it as the result of a “rogue operation” of which the Crown Prince had no prior knowledge.
Callamard has previously pushed for the trials of 11 unnamed suspects in Saudi Arabia charged with Khashoggi’s murder to be held in public, adding that the investigation into the killing should meet “international legal standards”.
She has now called on the Saudi trial to be suspended over concerns about how it is being carried out “behind closed doors”.
The report today said: “The Special Rapporteur has found that both the investigations conducted by Saudi Arabia and Turkey failed to meet international standards regarding the investigation into unlawful deaths.”
It went on to say that Saudi officials had not provided any information to the UN about evidence they may have collected from the consulate between 6 and 15 October.
Callamard also claimed to find evidence “pointing to the crime scenes having been thoroughly, even forensically, cleaned” – an indication that the Saudi investigation “may amount to obstructing justice”.
Other members of the United Nations were also criticised over their inaction in response to the killing.
The Special Rapporteur said she regretted no international bodies or states came forward with offers to mediate between Turkey and Saudi Arabia to ensure proper access to the crime scene.
“Instead, it appears that other member states pondered rather only their own national and strategic interests,” Callamard said.
A Foreign and Commonwealth Office spokesperson said today: “The UK Government condemns Jamal Khashoggi’s killing in the strongest possible terms and remains clear that anyone found responsible must be held fully accountable.
“The UK Government will study the Special Rapporteur’s report, and consider its findings.”
The FCO has not disclosed what Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt said about the killing of Khashoggi during bi-lateral meetings with members of the Saudi royal family and Government officials in November last year.
UK-based charity Article 19 welcomed the report for presenting “further compelling evidence that the murder of Jamal Khashoggi was premeditated, and carried out on the orders of high level Saudi officials”.
The charity’s executive director, Thomas Hughes, said: “It is imperative that the international community responds to this report by supporting criminal investigations to the acts of Crown Prince Mohamad bin Salman and his former adviser, Saud Alqahtani, and holds the Saudi state to account for this targeted murder of a journalist.
“The UN Secretary General can and must act if states do not.”
Picture: Bandar Algaloud/Courtesy of Saudi Royal Court/Handout via Reuters
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