The cover up of Saudi Arabian journalist Jamal Khashoggi’s premeditated murder became harder today after the United Nations human rights chief offered her agency’s assistance in an “independent and impartial” inquiry into his death.
Michelle Bachelet said the “shockingly brazen crime” must be investigated “to ensure a full examination of, and accountability for, the human rights violations committed”.
She can justify the involvement of her UN Human Rights Office because of “information that high-level officials in Saudi Arabia were apparently involved, and it took place in the Consulate of Saudi Arabia”.
This is a new twist because treating the killing as a human rights issue will open a fresh can of worms for the Saudis. It would go beyond the technical issues of murder to wider matters related to violation of freedom of expression and prohibitions against torture, summary executions and enforced disappearance. Assassination also violates the inalienable human right to life.
“The bar must be set very high to ensure meaningful accountability and justice for such a shockingly brazen crime against a journalist and Government critic,” Bachelet said.
“For an investigation to be carried out free of any appearance of political considerations, the involvement of international experts, with full access to evidence and witnesses, would be highly desirable.”
“Forensic examination, including an autopsy on the body of the victim is a crucial element in any investigation into a killing, and I urge the Saudi authorities to reveal the whereabouts of his body without further delay or prevarication,” she added.
Accepting her offer would open pathways to the involvement of many human rights protectors whose inquiries would go beyond the tight lid that both Turkish and Saudi authorities are trying to keep on the investigations.
Human rights defenders and international officials would also want that “the rights to the truth and justice of his family – and the public at large” be fully respected.
Such rights are not usually on the minds of criminal investigators and prosecutors. They would treat the killing as only a criminal matter restricted to the letter of national laws, rather than looser international laws designed to protect the human rights of citizens.
Both Saudi Arabia and Turkey have promised a very thorough inquiry but that does not seem to be enough for human rights defenders because this particular killing is also a very serious violation of diplomatic protocol.
For international human rights defenders, the diplomatic immunity of the place where the murder was committed and the extraordinary nature of how it was committed increase the temptation for the Saudis and Turks to brush it under the carpet by investigating only the violation of national criminal laws.