UN names head of investigation into murder of Jamal Khashoggi
ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – The United Nations special rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary, or arbitrary executions told the media on Thursday that she will travel to Turkey next week to head an investigation into the infamous murder of US-based 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,” French investigator Agnes Callamard told Reuters.
On Oct. 2, Khashoggi, a columnist for the Washington Post and a critic of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, was killed inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, causing widespread international condemnation of Saudi Arabia.
In the days and weeks that followed, grizzly details were released to the public, including recordings of assassins' talking about the crime and allegations that a bone saw was brought into the embassy as part of plans to dispose of the body.
In early January, Ravina Shamdasani from the UN's Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), confirmed that her office was aware that a trial in Saudi Arabia was underway but that it was inadequate to serve justice. Instead, she called “for an investigation, an independent investigation, with international involvement, and this has not happened yet.”
Callamard, the director of the Columbia Global Freedom of Expression initiative at Columbia University in New York, reports to the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva and has a global mandate to investigate executions.
She said that she would look into several aspects of events surrounding the crime, including “the nature and the extent of states’ and individuals’ responsibilities for the killing.”
“My findings and recommendations will be reported to the UN Human Rights Council at the June 2019 session.”