The United Nations Office at Geneva
Multimedia Newsroom
UN independent expert Agnès Callamard today welcomed a report published earlier this week by U.S. authorities that named Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman as the person who gave the go ahead to the operation to kill or capture journalist Jamal Khashoggi. Mr. Khashoggi was assassinated in the Saudi consular offices in Istanbul, Turkey, in October 2018.
While welcoming the finding, which corroborates previous work done by her as the UN Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, Ms. Callamard said she was "disappointed" that there was no new factual evidence in the report, and that there were no plans for holding the Saudi royal accountable.
“The fact that the report named the quasi-head of a state, Mr. Mohammed bin Salman, as being responsible for the operation that killed Mr. Jamal Khashoggi, is an important demonstration as well on the part of United States to be transparent”, Ms Callamard said.
“On another level I was disappointed, and I am disappointed," she added. "First of all, factually speaking, the report provided nothing new. It is an analysis of circumstantial evidence and a judgment that is being brought forward, important but I would have expected more material evidence and presumably they exist, but they have not been declassified,” Ms. Callamard said.
The Special Rapporteur called on the U.S. government to commit to the promises of the election campaign and to put human rights, and particularly the freedom of the press, at the forefront of its agenda.
U.S. officials have announced visa restrictions affecting 76 Saudi citizens involved in harassing activists and journalists. They have so far declined to apply sanctions to the crown prince, however.
“So far, the government of the United States has not announced any actions to build on their findings and liability and responsibility on the part of the Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, " Ms. Callamard said. "It is extremely problematic in my view, if not dangerous to acknowledge someone’s culpability and then to tell that someone ‘but we don’t do anything, please proceed as if we had said nothing’. That to me is an extremely dangerous move on the part of the USA,” she added.
“What President Biden has announced during his campaign to protect the freedom of the press, to announce a new era in terms of human rights based policy, then to refuse to held to account, to sanction the man who is ultimately responsible for killing Jamal Khashoggi, that to me is extremely worrisome”, Agnes Callamard said. “I am calling on the US government to act on its public findings and to sanction Mohammed bin Salman for what he has done”.
Ms Callamard was supported by her colleague Irene Khan, the Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression.
“I am pleased that the report has been published, but very disappointed, very disappointed, that on the issue of accountability," Ms. Khan said. "The US has not seen it fit to take a stronger action at this stage. They have announced Khashoggi sanctions, and I hope they will be used”.
Speaking directly to the importance of the case for the media, Ms. Khan told reporters at a press conference in Geneva, Ms. Khan said that “only 12 percent, only 12 percent, of killings of journalists ever get investigated, prosecuted."
"That is an appalling number around the world and the U.S. should take the lead in pushing for accountability,” Ms. Khan argued.
- Exterior wide shot, United Nations flag flying.
- Wide shot, press briefing room, UN Palais
- SOUNDBITE (English) —Agnès Callamard, UN Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions: “The fact that the report named the quasi head of a state, Mr. Mohammed bin Salman, as being responsible for the operation that killed Mr. Jamal Khashoggi is an important demonstration as well on the part of United States to be transparent”.
- Medium shot, press briefing room
- SOUNDBITE (English) —Agnès Callamard, UN Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions: “On another level I was disappointed, and I am disappointed. First of all, factually speaking, the report provided nothing new. It is an analysis of circumstantial evidence and a judgment that is being brought forward, important but I would have expected more material evidence and presumably they exist, but they have not been declassified”.
- Medium shot, journalist with laptop
- SOUNDBITE (English) —Agnès Callamard, UN Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions: “So far, the government of the United States has not announced any actions to build on their findings and liability and responsibility on the part of the Crown prince Mohammed bin Salman. It is extremely problematic in my view, if not dangerous to acknowledge someone’s culpability and then to tell that someone ‘but we don’t do anything, please proceed as if we had said nothing’. That to me is an extremely dangerous move on the part of the USA”.
- Medium shot, journalist in press briefing room
- SOUNDBITE (English) —Agnès Callamard, UN Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions: “What President Biden has announced during his campaign to protect the freedom of the press, to announce a new era in terms of human rights based policy, then to refuse to held to account, to sanction the man who is ultimately responsible for killing Jamal Khashoggi, that to me is extremely worrisome. I am calling on the US government to act on its public findings and to sanction Mohammed bin Salman for what he has done”.
- Medium shot, podium
- SOUNDBITE (English) —Irene Khan, Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression: “I am pleased that the report has been published, but very disappointed, very disappointed, that on the issue of accountability, the US has not seen it fit to take a stronger action at this stage. They have announced Khashoggi sanctions and I hope they will be used”.
- Medium shot, podium
- SOUNDBITE (English) —Irene Khan, Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression: “Only 12 %, only 12 % of killings of journalists ever get investigated, prosecuted. That is an appalling number around the world and the US should take the lead in pushing for accountability”.
- Wide shot, press briefing room
Similar Stories
1
1
1
Edited News | UNHCR , UNMAS , WHO
Just how many people are still trapped in the Sudanese city of El Fasher?
That’s the burning question for relatives of the many thousands of people believed to still be there, since paramilitary fighters overran the regional capital of North Darfur last month, after a 500-day siege.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
At the bi-weekly press briefing in Geneva, UN Human Rights spokesperson Thameen Al-Kheetan made the following remarks on the ongoing violence in the occupied WestBank.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
At a Special Session of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva today, the UN Human Rights Chief, Volker Türk made the following remarks on the situation in El-Fasher, Sudan.
2
1
2
Statements , Conferences , Edited News | HRC
UN Human Rights Council holds special session on Sudan as mass atrocities reported in El Fasher
The UN Human Rights Council convened an emergency session on Friday on the situation in and around El Fasher, Sudan, following reports of mass killings in the North Darfur capital. States passed a resolution that will mandate an investigation into likely mass atrocities during the capture of El Fasher by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) on 26 October.
1
1
2
Edited News | UN WOMEN
Sudan: Women’s bodies ‘a crime scene’ as tens of thousands flee El Fasher atrocities – UN Women
In war-torn Sudan, rape is being systematically used as a weapon and simply being a woman is “a strong predictor” of hunger, violence and death, the UN’s gender equality agency warned on Tuesday.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR
The UN human rights office (OHCHR) on Friday called for an end to continuing expansion of Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, where “unchecked” settler violence has surged since the war in Gaza began more than two years ago.
1
1
1
Edited News | WFP
The crisis in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) continues to worsen amid ongoing fighting that has driven tens of thousands of people from their homes and created acute hunger, the UN World Food Programme (WFP) said on Friday.
1
1
1
Edited News | WFP
Gaza: One million receive food parcels as humanitarians race to ‘push back hunger’
Food is slowly returning to the shelves in Gaza amid “apocalyptic scenes” but supplies are still desperately inadequate, UN humanitarians said on Tuesday, as they issued fresh calls for wider access and continued financial support.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
UN Human Rights Office spokesperson Seif Magango today told the bi-weekly UN press briefing in Geneva of more details that are emerging on the atrocities committed in El Fasher, in Sudan during and after its takeover by the Rapid Support Forces.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
UN Human Rights Office spokesperson Seif Magango made the following comment on Friday at the bi-weekly press briefing in Geneva.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
UN Human Rights Office spokesperson Ravina Shamdasani made the following comment on Friday at the bi-weekly press briefing in Geneva.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , WHO
Sudan: UN Raises Alarm Over Mass Atrocities in El Fasher as Survivors Report Executions, Killings and Rapes
More details continue to emerge about atrocities committed during and after the fall of El Fasher to the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in Sudan on 23 October. Since the powerful paramilitary group made a major incursion into the city last week, the UN Human Rights Office has received “horrendous accounts of summary executions, mass killings, rapes, attacks against humanitarian workers, looting, abductions and forced displacement,” said Seif Magango, spokesperson for the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR).