UN Rapporteur in Khashoggi case with death threats from Saudi Arabia | NOW

A senior Saudi official has threatened UN rapporteur Agnés Callamard with death for her investigation into the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi. The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights confirmed this on Wednesday after the French expert said in an interview with the British newspaper The Guardian had told.

In the interview, Callamard, an extrajudicial killings expert, said a Saudi government official had threatened her. The government of Saudi Arabia did not respond to a request for comment.

The threats were voiced in January 2020 during a meeting between UN officials, Saudi diplomats and Saudi officials in Geneva, Switzerland. After the Saudi delegation criticized Callamard’s report, a senior official said The Guardian said he had spoken to people who would be ready to “deal” with her.

The UN Commissariat says it has informed Callamard, the UN security service and a number of authorities of the threat.

“A death threat, that’s how it was understood (by UN officials, ed.),” Callamard said Wednesday. “People present made it clear to the Saudi delegation then and thereafter that this was absolutely unacceptable.”

Investigator blamed Crown Prince

The French investigator led a UN investigation into the killing of Khashoggi by Saudi security forces at the consulate in Istanbul in October 2018. In her report, Callamard stated in 2019 that there is “credible evidence” that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman and other senior government officials behind the murder on the Washington Postcolumnist, who lived in the United States.

Callamard also called for sanctions against the crown prince, who denies any involvement in Khashoggi’s murder. MBS has admitted, as he is also known, that he is ultimately responsible because the perpetrators were under his command.

Callamard indicated her interview The Guardian as part of her farewell. Her replacement was announced to the UN on Wednesday. The French is now going to work as secretary-general at human rights organization Amnesty International.

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