UN executions expert to lead Khashoggi murder inquiry
UN executions expert to lead Khashoggi murder inquiry
The United Nations special rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions will travel to Turkey to head up an international inquiry into the brutal murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
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Khashoggi was killed by a Saudi hit squad in the kingdom's Istanbul consulate [Getty]
The United Nations special rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions will travel to Turkey next week to head up an international inquiry into the brutal murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
"I will be heading an independent international inquiry into the killing of Saudi journalist Mr. Jamal Khashoggi, commencing with a visit to Turkey from 28 January to 3 February 2019," independent UN investigator Agnes Callamard told Reuters on Thursday.
The UN expert will evaluate the circumstances of the killing and investigate the "nature and the extent of states' and individuals' responsibilities for the killing".
Her findings and recommendations will be reported to the UN Human Rights Council at the June 2019 session.
The inquiry is being conducted at her request and she will be accompanied by three experts, including those with forensic expertise.
It is not clear whether the team will seek access to Saudi Arabia.
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But the head of Human Rights Watch, Kenneth Roth, told AFP in Davos that the trip falls short of the urgently needed UN inquiry because Callamard, like all special rapporteurs, is an independent and unpaid expert who does not speak for the world body.
"We are at a kind of moment at stalemate with the Khashoggi case. There is a lot of evidence pointing to this being something ordered by the Saudi Crown Prince" Mohammed bin Salman, Roth said.
"The next step we are all looking for is a UN investigation. And (UN Secretary General Antonio) Guterres is desperate to avoid this because he doesn't want to offend the Saudis."
In a case that shocked the world, Khashoggi, a US resident and Riyadh critic who wrote for the Washington Post, was murdered and his corpse dismembered inside the kingdom's diplomatic compound in Istanbul on 2 October.
After weeks of denials, Saudi Arabia finally admitted that the murder was premeditated, but blamed it on a "rogue operation".
After evidence emerged that the killing was done by a team of Saudis sent from Riyadh and closely linked to Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the international community demanded a transparent investigation.
Turkey and Saudi Arabia have opened separate investigations into the murder but Ankara has repeatedly accused Riyadh of failure to cooperate.
On 15 November, Riyadh prosecutors announced indictments against 11 people, and earlier this month prosecutors said they were seeking the death penalty against five of them.
The UN Human Rights Office said that the trial taking place in Saudi Arabia into the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi was "not sufficient".
Agencies contributed to this report.
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