UN Human Rights agency releases report on Khashoggi murder
The United Nations Human Rights Council released a 99 page report detailing the gruesome murder of former Saudi advocate and later Washington Post columnist and critic of the Saudi Government, Jamal Khashoggi, on Wednesday, June 19, 2019.
Khashoggi had been an insider with special access and privileges for years in the Saudi Arabia kingdom until the government changed hands and King Salman took control. Many of Khashoggi’s friends were detained as a part of a crackdown on corruption. Fearing for his own safety, Khashoggi fled, stopped writing pro-Saudi columns and was hired by the Washington Post to write anti-Saudi columns specifically critical of the new regime.
The flip angered many Saudi officials, according to the report. With the Washington Post as a base, Khashoggi wrote extensively about the new Saudi leadership and criticized the Royal family, often harshly. (It’s unlikely that Khashoggi would have been hired by the Washington Post, for example, to write columns critical of Israel or other governments favored by the Washington Post editors. His platform was specific.
Clearly, the columns angered the Saudi government.
The UNHRC details a gruesome plot to capture and then klill Khashoggi.
You can click here to read the entire report in PDF format.
Here is a segment of the report which details the horrors of the murder of Jamal Khashoggi:
The Disappearance and Murder of Jamal Khashoggi
89. Ms. Cengiz recalled that on the morning of 2 October, Mr. Khashoggi called the Consulate to tell them that he would be going there. A consular official told him that they would call him back. Forty minutes later someone from the Consulate called him and told him to arrive at 13:00.38
90. On 2 October, between 10 and 11 in the morning, the fifteen Saudi officials split intotwo groups. Five went to the Consul General’s Residence, while the remaining ten went to the Consulate.
Table B: Locations of the Saudi Officials during the Murder
(AT THE) Consul General’s Residence
Mansour Othman Abahussain,
Naif Hasan Alarifi,
Abdulaziz Mohammed Alhawsawi
Khalid Aedh Alotaibi, Meshal Saad Albostani
(AT THE) Consulate
Mohammed Saad Alzahrani,
Maher Abdulaziz Mutreb, Waleed Abdullah Alshehri,
Fahad Shabib Albalawi,
Badr Lafi Alotaibi,
Dr. Salah Mohammed Tubaigy, Mustafa Mohammed Almadani, Thaar Ghaleb Alharbi,
Saif Saad Alqahtani,
Turki Musharraf Alshehri
91. At 13:02, inside the Consulate, Mr. Mutreb and Dr. Tubaigy had a conversation justminutes before Mr. Khashoggi entered. Mr. Mutreb asked whether it will “be possible to put the trunk in a bag?” Dr. Tubaigy replied “No. Too heavy.” He expressed hope that it would “be easy. Joints will be separated. It is not a problem. The body is heavy. First time I cut on the ground. If we take plastic bags and cut it into pieces, it will be finished. We will wrap each of them.” “Leather bags.” There was a reference to cutting skin. Dr. Tubaigny also expressed concerns: “My direct manager is not aware of what I am doing. There is nobodyto protect me.” At the end of the conversation, Mr. Mutreb asked whether “the sacrificial animal” has arrived. At 13:13, a voice said “he has arrived.” In these recordings heard by the Special Rapporteur, Mr. Khashoggi’s name was not mentioned.
92. At 13:15, Mr. Khashoggi entered the Consulate by himself, after leaving his phones with Ms. Cengiz, who remained outside. Turkish Intelligence assessed that he may have been dead within ten minutes after entering the Consulate.39
93. Reconstruction of the events that transpired when Mr. Khashoggi was inside the Consulate relies largely on the recordings, the forensic work conducted by Turkish Investigators, and information available from the ongoing trials of the suspects in Saudi Arabia.
94. Once inside the Consulate, Mr. Khashoggi appears to have been met by someone he knew. He also said something about the Consul General being present. He was invited to the office of the Consul General located on the second floor of Consulate. According to recordings, the conversation with him first focused on whether Mr. Khashoggi would come back to Saudi Arabia, and he responded that he wanted to return in the future. Mr. Khashoggi was then told40: “We will have to take you back. There is an order from Interpol. Interpol requested you to be sent back. We are coming to get you.” Mr. Khashoggi replied that “there isn’t a case against me. I notified some people outside; they are waiting for me; a driver is waiting for me.” Later on, Mr. Khashoggi is heard to say that there was no driver but that hisfiancée is waiting for him. On several occasions, a Saudi official told Mr. Khashoggi “let’smake it short.” At 13:22, Mr. Mutreb asked whether Mr. Khashoggi had phones. Mr. Khashoggi replied “Two phones.” “Which brands?” “Apple phones.” “Send a message to your son.” “Which son? What should I say to my son?” Silence. “You will type a message– let’s rehearse; show us.” “What should I say? See you soon? I can’t say kidnapping.” “Cut it short.” “Take off your jacket.” “How could this happen in an embassy?” “I will not write anything.” “Cut it short.” “I will not write anything.” “Type it, Mr. Jamal. Hurry up. Help us so that we can help you because at the end we will take you back to Saudi Arabiaand if you don’t help us you know what will happen at the end; let this issue find a good end.”At 13:33, Mr. Khashoggi said “there is a towel here. Are you going to give me drugs?” “We will anesthetize you.”
95. In the recordings, sounds of a struggle can be heard during which the followingstatements could also be heard: “Did he sleep?” “He raises his head.” “Keep pushing.” “Push here; don’t remove your hand; push it.” Assessments of the recordings by intelligenceofficers in Turkey and other countries suggest that Mr. Khashoggi could have been injected with a sedative and then suffocated using a plastic bag. Turkish Intelligence also noted that the Saudi members of the 15 persons team spoke of a rope, but they could not conclusively determine if the rope was used to tie Mr. Khashoggi or possibly to move his body, or if it was used at all.
96. Sounds of movement and heavy panting could be heard in the remainder of the recordings. The sound of plastic sheets (wrapping) could also be heard. Turkish Intelligenceconcluded that these came after Mr. Khashoggi’s death while the Saudi officials weredismembering his body. The Turkish Intelligence assessment identified the sound of a saw at 13:39. The Special Rapporteur and her delegation could not make out the sources of the sounds they heard.
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