The Kingdom

Turkish government reports that MBS sent a squad of 15 men alleged to have killed and dismembered Khashoggi

On a fall afternoon, the 2nd of October 2018, Jamal Khashoggi entered the Saudi consulate in Istanbul to get documents that would allow him to marry his fiancé. ‘He had no foreboding of what was to come,’ his fiancé would later write, ‘we made plans for the rest of the day. We were going to browse appliances for our new home and meet with our friends and family members over dinner.’ At around 1pm, Khashoggi entered the consulate. He never came out.

Khashoggi, a well-known journalist who wrote for The Washington Post, was one of the few critical Saudi voices against Crown Prince Muhammad bin Salman (also known as MBS). He fled Saudi Arabia during MBS’s purge of journalists critical of him and his actions to consolidate power. While away from his home country he would continue to write columns criticising MBS’s regime.

However, Khashoggi believed that his critical voice was needed to create a better life for the people of Saudi Arabia. ‘My friends and I living abroad feel helpless. We want our country to thrive,’ he wrote in a September 2017 column for The Washington Post, ‘we are not opposed to our government and care deeply about Saudi Arabia. It is the only home we know or want. Yet we are the enemy.’

In an account that seems ripped from the pages of a gruesome spy thriller, the Turkish government reports that MBS sent a squad of 15 men, including a Saudi doctor of forensics, to Istanbul on a private jet. These men are alleged to have killed and dismembered Khashoggi shortly after he entered the Saudi consulate.

Such an operation could not have taken place on foreign soil without the express authorisation of the Saudi royal family. And so, MBS, the so-called ‘liberal reformer,’ has shown the world his darker side. Beneath the glossy veneer that MBS has created for himself lies a despot with little patience for true liberal values.

All eyes are now on the self-proclaimed champion of liberal democracy: The United States. Without the backing of the US — which sees MBS as a crucial ally in the Middle East — Turkey may not have enough leverage to take any action against the Saudi royal family. The US government faces a moral dilemma: does it undertake a full investigation of the Turkish government’s claims and impose sanctions on Saudi Arabia, or, does it continue to bank on MBS as an ally that can bring Saudi Arabia into the modern world?

The world is saying enough is enough. Saudi Arabia needs to finally be brought to account for its persistent violations of international human rights. Its record of silencing dissent, denial of basic liberties, and alleged war crimes in Yemen has been ignored for far too long.

MBS is no reformer, he is the same Saudi despot packaged in a more attractive wrapper for the West. Soon after coming to power he allowed women to drive but jailed the woman who had campaigned for that right in the first place. He has endorsed a brutal war in Yemen which has resulted in the deaths of thousands of civilians, and he has, with not even a sliver of due process, jailed and punished hundreds of businessmen for alleged corruption.

Yet the US has entered an arms deal with the royal family worth billions of dollars, undermining its own moral credibility in the process. What is important to the US government? The values of freedom it preaches or the sacks full of money that an arms deal with the Saudis offers?

The key way that the US and other Western allies can hurt MBS is through economic sanctions. MBS has envisaged a massive reform agenda in Saudi Arabia that relies heavily on the injection of foreign investment, this can possibly be the most painful nerve that can be targeted to make MBS regret his alleged decision to murder Khashoggi.

First — as many investors have already done — a boycott by American companies of the massive investment conference being held in Saudi Arabia on 23rd of October could result in an immediate impact on the Saudi position. Already, the US Energy Secretary has pulled out of a 500 billion dollar Saudi project to create a futuristic city called ‘Neon.’ The Saudi government has started to realise that its wealth and position in the Middle East do not grant it immunity from basic norms of human rights. But more still needs to be done.

The US government can hurt MBS the most. Senators have already triggered proceedings under what is known as the Global Magnitsky Act which allows the US to sanction any foreign individuals who have committed human rights abuse anywhere in the world.

Through the implementation of the terms of the Act, US senators can force the White House to impose sanctions on Saudi Arabia, including an embargo on arms sales (61% of the Saudi arms imports come from the US), and, loss of support for the war in Yemen. The best part: no legislation would be required in a polarised Congress to do so under the terms of the Magnitsky Act. The Trump administration now has 120 days to look into the entire affair and decide its actions.

The international legal order that was set up in the aftermath of World War II was supposed to make sure that states adhere to at least basic international norms of human rights. The Saudi government has always disregarded these, banking on its wealth and position in the Middle East to give it absolute impunity. But if it is proved that the Saudi royal family murdered Khashoggi then all deals with the monarchy should be off. It would be an indictment that should result in economic and international sanctions that signal to the royal family that the reportedly blatant murder of dissenting voices will not be tolerated by the international community. 

Published in The Express Tribune, October 16^th, 2018.

Like Opinion & Editorial on Facebook, follow @ETOpEd on Twitter to receive all updates on all our daily pieces.