A consortium of major human rights and press freedom organisations has called for a UN investigation into the death of journalist Jamal Khashoggi. Khashoggi disappeared on 2 October after entering the Saudi consulate in Istanbul. At the time of his disappearance, Khashoggi was a 60 year-old journalist at the Washingon Post, who went to the Saudi consulate to obtain documents that would permit him to marry his fiancée, Hatice Cengiz, a Turkish Ph.D. student. Khashoggi is said to have died on the same day leading to the calls for a probe into his death.
The group that is calling on Turkey to drive the UN to investigate Khashoggi’s death includes, Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, Reporters Without Borders, and the Committee to Protect Journalists. In a joint statement released by the group, Robert Mahoney, deputy executive director of the Committee to Protect Journalists, said,
“Turkey should enlist the UN to initiate a timely, credible, and transparent investigation.”
Amnesty International added,
“An investigation into Khashoggi’s enforced disappearance and possible murder should start promptly and be thorough, impartial, and independent,”
Background of his previous work
Jamal Khashoggi, had been living in the United States since 2017 in self-imposed exile. His career path had a number of twists and turns. He briefly worked at Saudi publication Al-Watan as editor-in-chief and his other journalism included comment and articles in international and Arab media.
Prior to his death he had been working for the Washington Post as a columnist, and this was to be his final contribution to journalism. Whilst at the Washington Post, Khashoggi had often been critical of the Saudi Royal family. He supported the new move allowing women to drive, but was openly critical of Saudi Arabia’s arrest of the women leading the ‘Women2Drive’ campaign, as well as the role Saudi played in the Yemen war. In May 2018 he wrote in a Washington Post column,
“Women today should have the same rights as men. And all citizens should have the right to speak their minds without fear of imprisonment.”
In his last piece, entitled, “What the Arab world needs most is free expression” published posthumously by the Washington Post on 17 October, Khashoggi’ stated the urgent need for a free press and democracy in the Middle East. He believed the Arab Spring was representative of a moment in which the region had a chance to gain greater freedoms and address social and political issues. He concluded his piece with,
“We need to provide a platform for Arab voices..Through the creation of an independent international forum, isolated from the influence of nationalist governments spreading hate through propaganda, ordinary people in the Arab world would be able to address the structural problems their societies face.”
On 19 October Khashoggi’s death was confirmed, and the public prosecutor of Saudi Arabia said that that ‘discussions between Khashoggi and the individuals who met with him at the consulate led to an argument and a fist fight, which resulted in the journalist’s death.’
Response
In an interview with Fox news on 20 October, Saudi’s Foreign Minister Adel Al Jubeir said that Khashoggi’s death was a “tremendous mistake” carried out by officers in a rogue operation that Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman was “not aware” of. He went on to say,
“We don’t know, in terms of details, how. We don’t know where the body is,”
Turkey has responded saying, “Turkey will reveal whatever had happened,”. According to Anadolu news agency, Omer Celik of Turkey’s ruling AKP party said,
“Nobody should ever doubt about it. We are not accusing anyone in advance but we don’t accept anything to remain covered [up].”
“Whatever the international law requires will be done,” he insisted, calling on press to ignore a torrent of leaks in the media
There was no mention of the US in the press release that called for investigation, but prior to this the US has officially acknowledged the announcement of Mr Khashoggi’s death and issued a statement saying,
“We are saddened to hear confirmation of Mr. Khashoggi’s death, and we offer our deepest condolences to his family, fiancée, and friends,” White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders said in the statement.
And that they would, “continue to closely follow the international investigations into this tragic incident and advocate for justice that is timely, transparent, and in accordance with all due process.”
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres’ office have issued a statement in response,
“The Secretary-General is deeply troubled by the confirmation of the death of Jamal Khashoggi. He extends his condolences to Mr. Khashoggi’s family and friends,” Stephane Dujarric, spokesman for the secretary-general, said. “The Secretary-General stresses the need for a prompt, thorough and transparent investigation into the circumstances of Mr. Khashoggi’s death and full accountability for those responsible.”