Purportedly the Biden Administration plans to release a report surrounding the barbaric execution of Wash Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi
In advance of this highly anticipated Report - perhaps we should re-examine the 2019 United Nations Special Rapporteur Ms. Agnes Callamard Report - shall we?
“I have left my home, my family, and my job, and I am raising my voice. To do otherwise would betray those who languish in prison. I can speak when so many cannot.“ -Jamal Khashoggi“
Full disclosure this is going to be a very document heavy article, the goal is to help you tie multiple threads together so you have a more detailed and informed overview. With the “eminent” (now purportedly delayed) release of our Government’s Khasgoghi Report - it made sense to help you tie the following threads together (in advance of the Biden Administration releasing the long awaited report)
Trump Administration actions, particularly Jared Kushner’s role
2019 UN HCR UN Special Rapporteur Ms Agnes Callamard “premeditated execution” Report
US Intelligence - Duty to Warn
2018 Knight Institute v CIA et al FOIA case
what comes next and what to look for in the new (but delayed) report.
Jamal Khashoggi - جمال أحمد خاشقجي say his name and never forget what MbS did to him
Jamal Khashoggi was a Saudi journalist and author, and a Washington Post Global Opinions contributing columnist. A link to his Washington Post columns and commentary from his fellow colleagues can be found here.
On June 19, 2019 United Nations- Human Rights - Office of the High Commissioner officially released Special Rapporteur -Ms. Agnes Callamard Report. The Report was the product of a six month long in-depth investigation into the pre-meditated and barbaric murder of Mr. Khashoggi.
According to the UN-HCR -Ms. Agnes Callamard biography she is preeminently qualified and the UN-HCR’s report laid bare numerous uncomfortable facts, surrounding Mr Khashoggi’s murder.
Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, has a distinguished career in human rights and humanitarian work globally. Ms. Callamard is the Director of Columbia Global Freedom of Expression at Columbia University and has previously worked with Article 19 and Amnesty International. She has advised multilateral organizations and governments around the world, has led human rights investigations in more than 30 countries, and has published extensively on human rights and related fields.
The UN-HCR Report - provided details and investigative findings into the unlawful October 2, 2018 assassination of Mr Khashoggi. Which occurred inside the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s consulate in Istanbul, Turkey. Ms Callamar and her team analyzed evidence under the framework of international human rights law. The report also contemplated actions that could have prevented his murder.
Trump and Jared Kushner - KSA & MbS flashback
Full disclosure I am particularly biased when it comes to the former Administration and their tacit complicity trying to protect MbS. Why? BONE SAW, WhatsApp, Arms deal and giving comfort and aid to a man who ordered the assassination.
Coupled with a certain Twitter-self-Appointed “intelligence expert” -who’s actually never held any security clearance, what so ever. Fact: even I held a public trust clearance. He spent nearly two years lying to me and his hundreds of thousands of followers. Giving so many false hope, when most of us wanted the truth and facts - He trafficked (and profited and still does) in the falsity of thedisinformation narrative, he created;
”chill guys - Jared Kushner, Ivanka Trump and Trump are all under a counterintelligence investigation…they are all going to be arrested and spend their life in jail”
When I asked [redacted]; “if Jar-Vanka are really under a ‘sprawling’ counterintelligence investigation- then why are they 1) still in the White House, 2) still have access to the presidential daily brief, and 3) not in federal custody” - at the time I thought those were reasonable questions. His response was unavailing, reeked of backpedaling and that’s the precise moment I realized he is not a trusty worthy source of any information. And no this isn’t some fantastical narrative that he’s now spinning -that he’s “so important” that he is the target of a foreign influence campaign.
Trump & Saudi Arms Deal -transactional- Khashoggi who?
Every aspect of the American Nightmare- colloquially known as the Trump Administration and what Trump & Kushner did in response to Mr Khashoggi’s brutal assassination - is beyond the pale. Trump by nature is a transactional (albeit con-man), the fact is that both Trump & Kushner put the Saudi Arms deal at the forefront of the brutal assassination can not be forgotten. Mr Khashoggi, his fiancé and his family are owed justice. Notwithstanding in November of 2018 the US Treasury1 announced sanctions against seventeen individuals, thought to be the assassination hit squad2
Saud Al-Qahtani is a senior official of the Government of Saudi Arabia who was part of the planning and execution of the operation that led to the killing of Mr. Khashoggi in the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul, Turkey on October 2, 2018.
his subordinate Maher Mutreb, and involved participation of at least 14 other Saudi government officials: Salah Tubaigy; Meshal Albostani; Naif Alarifi; Mohammed Alzahrani; Mansour Abahussain; Khalid Alotaibi; Abdulaziz Alhawsawi; Waleed Alsehri; Thaar Alharbi; Fahad Albalawi; Badr Alotaibi; Mustafa Almadani; Saif Alqahtani; and Turki Alsehri.
2019 UN-HCR Khashoggi Report;
The 2019 Khashoggi Report detailed six areas that are in violation of international law - keep in mind that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia345is a Member of the United Nations. Thus they are bound by the UN Charter, Conventions and Treaties. This is especially important because in April of 2017 United Nations member states elected Saudi Arabia to serve on the UN Commission on the Status of Women; “dedicated to the promotion of gender equality and the empowerment of women.”
Khashoggi killing: UN human rights expert says Saudi Arabia is responsible for “premeditated execution”
the prohibition against arbitrary deprivation of life, a fundamental principle of international law;
the prohibition against extraterritorial use of force as enshrined in the UN Charter;
the requirement that states use consular missions for official purposes;
the prohibition against torture, under the terms of the Convention Against Torture, ratified by Saudi Arabia, and;
the prohibition against enforced disappearance, and;
in killing a journalist, the State of Saudi Arabia committed an act inconsistent with a core tenet of the United Nations, the protection of freedom of expression.
MbS-Bone-Saw
After the Special Rapporteur investigation concluded, her report made a determination (I actually disagree but intellectually I understand and respect the findings) - that there was credible evidence, which warranted an additional investigation in to high-level Saudi Officials’ individual liability, including the MbS,. -this is the section that I do not agree with but again intellectually I understand the concern
“…warns against a disproportionate emphasis on identifying who ordered the crime, pointing out that the search for justice and accountability is not singularly dependent on finding a smoking gun and the person holding it. The search is also, if not primarily,about identifying those who, in the context of the commission of a violation, have abused, or failed to fulfill, the responsibilities of their positions of authority…”
Duty to investigate and consular immunity
The Special Rapporteur stated that under the terms of the Vienna Convention, Saudi had no legal obligation to allow Turkish investigators access to the consulate. Which is a running theme throughout the report. It is especially precocious, given the (limited) evidence uncovered confirmed that during and after the barbaric assassination of Mr Khashoggi - those inside Saudi Arabia’s consulate - they forensically washed evidence of this horrific crime. Conversely the report further elucidated that Saudi Arabia (as both Turkey & Saudi Arabia are member states of the United Nations) had an “international obligation” to cooperate with Turkish investigators.
Instead Saudi officials continued to delay, obfuscated and destroy evidence. In short, they needed more time to clean up. These delays not only frustrated the Turkish investigators but under the purported shroud of “consular immunity” this allowed them to act with almost absolute immunity. Moreover after days of delay and intense Global pressure, Saudi officials finally allowed Turkish authorities access to the premises. Even then Saudi official sought to hamper the investigation, but putting forth several “evidence collecting” constraints —ultimately this had an adverse impact on the thoroughness of Turkish authorities investigatory efforts.
Duty to protect and warn - Mr Khashoggi was a lawful US resident- we should have warned him…
While Special Rapporteur Callamard report states there was insufficient evidence that Turkey and the United States had any a “…real and imminent or foreseeable threat to Mr. Khashoggi’s life…” -yet in the same paragraph the following disclosure6 which oddly contradicts the Washington Post Oct 2018 article-
“She did not secure credible evidence that US authorities had intercepted the Saudi Crown Prince’s communications or that such intercepts had been assessed before the time of the killing of Mr. Khashoggi….”
Moreover because Jamal Khashoggi was a lawful United States resident, our Country - specifically our Intelligence Community has a “duty to warn - as further detailed in the Intelligence Community Directive Number 191 —“Duty to Warn”7—most certainly reads that the U.S. intelligence agencies are “obligated” to inform if there is a credible threat of kidnapping or murder - if the U.S. intelligence agency becomes aware of such a threat - especially if it is an eminent threat. Full disclosure I am not nor have I ever pretended/claimed to be in the “know” with our Intelligence Community8
On January 6, 2020 District Court Judge, TREVOR N. McFADDEN (a Trump Appointee) ruled (ECF/PACER) in favor of our Intelligence Community in the nearly two year long litigation battle - over the Media & Journalist Advocacy Groups FOIA lawsuit. The Decision is in the Appeals Court
Summary:
In short the highly anticipated report - especially in light of CNN’s9 phenomenal February 24, 2021 Article- which is largely the product of the August 2020 Civil Lawsuit (see quasi archived Twitter thread here and full archive here, the Bezos-Pegasus and MbS-Bone-Saw quasi thread, found here and here - I tweeted a lot about MbS and Pegasus - I am confident that the new report will make it clear MbS knew, MbS directed, MbS funded, MbS is a murderer and Trump and Kushner helped protect him.
Also I did pull down a pdf of the 2019 UN-HCR Report html found here via my public drive . You can find the Oct 2019 UN-HCR report to the UN General Assembly here - should you be inclined - the full Inquiry into the killing of Mr. Jamal Kashoggi and documents can be found here. In closing I feel comfortable in saying that once the Biden Administration releases their report, I know my readers will have the benefit of this article. Be Well. Stay Safe. And try to laugh one time today.
Apparently MbS’ order and use of a bone saw was just enough for the UN-HCR to deny Saudi Arabia a seat on the UN-HCR Council 2019 Saudi October 2020 Vote
Washington Post October 9, 2018 Article, last visited February 23, 2021 - Saudis are said to have lain in wait for Jamal Khashoggi “Before Khashoggi’s disappearance, U.S. intelligence intercepted communications of Saudi officials discussing a plan to capture him…”
Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University against All Defendants Central Intelligence Agency et al DDC Case No 1:18-cv-02709, last visited February 24, 2021 vai ECF: https://ecf.dcd.uscourts.gov/doc1/04517588215
When and how many hours do you sleep?... Honestly, my head is spinning all night long going over what you've put together, and you've done all the leg work for us.
I just have one question.
When and how many hours do you sleep?... Honestly, my head is spinning all night long going over what you've put together, and you've done all the leg work for us.
Miss you on twitter. 🌶