A bipartisan group of senators is renewing a push to punish Saudi officials for the death of US-based journalist Jamal Khashoggi, reintroducing Thursday a bill that would require sanctions on those responsible for the killing. RNA - In addition to responding to the Khashoggi killing, the bill also seeks to address support for the Yemen war by prohibiting some weapons sales to Riyadh and US military refueling of Saudi coalition planes, Middle East News reported.
“Seeing as the [Donald] Trump administration has no intention of insisting on full accountability for Mr. Khashoggi’s murderers, it is time for Congress to step in and impose real consequences to fundamentally reexamine our relationship with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and with the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen,” Senate Foreign Relations committee ranking member Sen. Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) said in a statement Thursday.
Menendez introduced the bill with Sens. Todd Young (R-Ind.), Jack Reed (D-R.I.), Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), Susan Collins (R-Maine) and Chris Murphy (D-Conn.).
The bill was first introduced in November while an outraged Congress raced to respond to Khashoggi’s death, though it was not one of the measures that advanced.
Khashoggi, a Saudi dissident and Washington Post columnist, was killed in October while at the Saudi consulate in Turkish city of Istanbul.
The Trump administration levied sanctions on some Saudi officials after the murder, but Congress demanded a stronger response. President Donald Trump has emphasized the strategic alliance with Saudi Arabia and denied that there is proof Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman (MbS) was behind the killing.
In December, the Senate approved a resolution naming MbS “responsible” for the slaying, as well as a separate resolution to cut off US military support for the Saudi coalition in Yemen’s war.
The Senate Foreign Relations Committee also sent a letter to Trump in October invoking the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act, requiring him to determine who is responsible for the killing and whether sanctions should be imposed on that person or people.
The 120-day deadline for the sanctions determination is nearing, and the reintroduction of the sanctions bill is meant to coincide with that deadline.
Graham, a Trump ally who has been one of the most vocal senators on the Khashoggi issue, stated on Thursday it is not in the national security interest to “look the other way when it comes to the brutal murder” of Khashoggi.
“While Saudi Arabia is a strategic ally, the behavior of the crown prince – in multiple ways – has shown disrespect for the relationship and made him, in my view, beyond toxic,” Graham said in a statement, adding, “I fully realize we have to deal with bad actors and imperfect situations on the international stage. However, when we lose our moral voice, we lose our strongest asset.”
In addition to sanctions on those responsible for Khashoggi’s death, the bill would also require a report on human rights in Saudi Arabia.
For the Yemen war, on top of stopping arms sales and refueling, the bill would require sanctions on those blocking humanitarian access in Yemen and those supporting the Ansarullah movement in Yemen.
It would also require the administration deliver Congress a strategy to end the war and a report on violations of international law in the war. It would further require the Government Accountability Office to report on US military support for the Saudi coalition.
“Beyond preventing President Trump from sweeping Mr. Khashoggi’s murder under the rug, this comprehensive legislation is based on the idea that America’s leadership on the global stage must always be driven by a sense of purpose and moral clarity,” Menendez said, adding, “As I warned the administration last year, we will not accept the killings of more civilians and journalists with impunity and without consequence.”
On Thursday, a United Nations investigator reported that after a fact-finding trip to Turkey that evidence in the death of Khashoggi indicates that Saudi officials “planned and perpetrated” his killing.
“The evidence presented to us during the mission to Turkey demonstrates a prime facie case that Mr. Khashoggi was the victim of a brutal and premeditated killing, planned and perpetrated by officials of the State of Saudi Arabia and others acting under the direction of these State agents,” UN Special Rapporteur Agnes Callamard said in a statement.
Callamard, who said she confined her statement “to key issues that we have identified thus far”, did not mention the crown prince in the statement.
She stated that she had access to part of the “chilling and gruesome” audio of the killing collected by Turkish intelligence, but added that her team was not able to independently authenticate the recording.
The UN investigator said she has also been promised access to the Turkish government’s “forensic, scientific and police reports”, adding that she could not “firmly” determine whether the Saudis’ “original intention” was to abduct Khashoggi, with the killing only happening after that failed.
“What is abundantly clear is that much planning and preparation took place following Mr. Khashoggi’s initial visit to the consulate in September,” she stated.
She noted that three teams traveled to Turkey to carry out the operation, including a forensics doctor; a Khashoggi look alike was seen leaving the consulate; and Khashoggi’s body was also disposed of.
Turkey’s investigation, she said, was “seriously curtailed and undermined” by Saudi Arabia's refusal to allow immediate access to the crime scene.
Evidence shows that up to four attempts were made to “eliminate forensic evidence from the scene,” Callamard added.
Callamard called it “unconscionable” that Saudi Arabia has yet to disclose the location of Khashoggi’s body, saying that “from an international human rights perspective, this means that Mr. Khashoggi was also subject to an enforced disappearance.”
The UN official also raised “major concerns” about the judicial process for the 11 people facing trial in Saudi Arabia for the killing, including a lack of transparency on who has been charged and the proceedings themselves.
“I have requested an official country visit to Saudi Arabia. So that the authorities there can directly provide me with relevant evidence, their findings regarding the killing of Mr. Khashoggi and shed light on the prosecution and trial of the suspects, along with the basis for their denial of Turkey’s demands for extradition of the suspects,” she stressed.
US intelligence has reportedly concluded that MbS ordered the killing. Trump administration officials have publicly pushed back on those reports, and the crown prince has denied involvement.
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