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Washington DC – Less than two years ago, then-U.S. presidential candidate Joe Biden replied:Yes“When asked if he will punish senior Saudi leaders for killing Jamal Khashoggi.
But this week, just a few days before the third anniversary Reporter killed On October 2, President Biden’s national security adviser Jack Sullivan met with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS) in the Kingdom of the Gulf.
Analysts say this is the latest example of Biden’s failure to fulfill his promise to hold him accountable for the killings-putting human rights at the core of US foreign policy.
“This trip is really a slap in the face for all of us who have brought justice to Jamal Khashoggi,” said Raed Jarrar, the advocacy director of the Arab World Democratic Organization (DAWN), which was conceived and conceived by Khashoggi. formally established. After he died.
murder
The relationship between Riyadh and Washington is not as warm as former President Donald Trump. He personally defend After the MBS incident, Congress was generally angry, and the Biden administration has taken some measures to clarify what happened.
Earlier this year, the US government released a brief report on the United States. Intelligence In 2018, Washington Post columnist Khashoggi was killed and mutilated after going to the Saudi consulate in Istanbul to retrieve documents.
The report said: “We assess that Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman approved an arrest or killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi in Istanbul, Turkey.”
The Saudi government rejected the findings and attributed the murder to a group of rogue officials.Eight defendants who asked not to be named Sentenced Was sentenced to 7 to 20 years in prison in Saudi Arabia for allegedly participating in the killing.
Saudi officials initially insist Khashoggi left the Istanbul consulate unharmed. More than two weeks later, the kingdom admitted to the killing, but stated that it was the result of an unauthorized operation carried out without the knowledge of senior officials.
The release of the U.S. report once again called on Washington to hold the crown prince accountable, but the Biden administration decided not to impose sanctions on Ben Salman, thinking it was Attempt to recalibrate – “Unbreakable” – Relations with Riyadh.
Former UN special rapporteur on extrajudicial executions, Agnes Callamard, expressed disappointment with the Biden administration this week, saying that “not much has changed” since the intelligence community’s assessment was released.
Karamad, who is now the Secretary-General of Amnesty International, said: “They must be very careful to ensure that they pretend to care about human rights, their commitment to democracy, their commitment to human rights, these are not just pretends.”
In herself report At the 2019 UN General Assembly, Karamad concluded that the Saudi government is ultimately responsible for Khashoggi’s death.
Speaking at an event commemorating the anniversary of the murder on Thursday, Karamad said that although the people who commissioned the murder have not been brought to justice, they have been exposed by human rights activists and UN investigations.
“Of course we shattered their appearance,” she said. “In my opinion, the emperor is naked.”
Fiery words
When Khashoggi was killed, Democrats in Washington were already questioning the close relationship between President Trump and the Saudi royal family.
As Trump took action to protect the top leader of Saudi Arabia from the murder, Democrats and some Republicans in Congress called for the death of U.S. resident Khashoggi, who worked for a U.S. newspaper.
As a candidate, Biden responded to the anger against Saudi Arabia. “In fact, Khashoggi was murdered and dismembered-I believe the crown prince’s order,” Biden said on a crowded stage of debate before the Democratic primary election at the end of 2019.
He promised to make the kingdom “pay the price” for the murder and promised to stop selling weapons to Riyadh. Biden said at the time: “The current Saudi Arabia government has almost no social salvation value.”
However, once the election campaign ceased and began to govern, these fierce remarks did not translate into policy.
Nihad Awad, executive director of the American Council on Islamic Relations (CAIR), said that while the organization praised “the commitment of this administration and its commitment to putting human rights at the top of its agenda,” there is more work. To do.
Awad said at Thursday’s event: “As we see continued atrocities in the Middle East and around the world, we want to remind this administration that its promises need to be fulfilled.”
The White House National Security Council did not respond to Al Jazeera’s request for comment in time.
The White House announced Sullivan’s Middle East trip on Monday night-the same day he met with MBS. The Biden administration has not released any details about the meeting, but Saudi Arabia confirmed the talks and stated that the focus of the talks is on Yemen and other regional issues.
U.S.-Saudi relations
Since taking office in January, the Biden administration has Announce The plan is to end US support for Saudi offensive operations in Yemen, where Saudi Arabia has been involved in the bombing of Houthi rebels in the country since 2015.
The civilian casualties are increasing and Humanitarian crisisAfter that, the involvement of the United States in the Yemen War became increasingly unpopular in Congress. Biden also suspended some arms sales approved by the previous government and issued the Khashoggi report.
But analysts pointed out that these measures are often accompanied by balancing behavior.
Although the United States stated that it did not participate in Yemen, it reaffirmed its commitment to the kingdom’s security and anti-war Activists say Washington has not done enough to force Riyadh to lift the blockade of this war-torn country.
At the same time, the State Department in September Officially recognized A US$500 million helicopter maintenance agreement was reached with Saudi Arabia. The US military held a Joint exercise With the Saudi army.
Jamal Khashoggi was 59 when he was killed in 2018 [File: Hasan Jamali/AP Photo]Earlier this year there were signs of normalization of relations between the Biden administration and Saudi officials.
Meeting with Khalid bin Salman, MBS brother who was ambassador to the United States when Khashoggi was killed Senior administrative officer During a visit to Washington in July. Prince Khalid, the current Deputy Secretary of Defense, held talks with Sullivan, Secretary of State Anthony Brinken, and the head of the Pentagon Lloyd Austin.
Imad Hab, head of research and analysis at the Arab Center’s Washington, DC think tank, said that Washington is reducing its involvement in the Middle East, but has not yet decided to leave the Gulf region completely. Saudi Arabia is still a major player in the region.
“So, they try to see what works-so to speak,” he told Al Jazeera.
Hab said that US policy is returning to the era before Trump; that is, verbally supporting human rights but pursuing US interests. “The conversation is still about rights and democracy and so on, but we are actually back to what the United States did in the past-basically just talking, not walking,” he said.
In this context, DAWN’s Jarrar stated that even three years after Khashoggi’s death, advocates are still committed to justice for the journalists who were killed, no matter who is in the White House.
“The justice at this time looks exactly the same as the justice three years ago,” Jalal said. “We must use all the tools in our toolbox to hold everyone behind the Kashuji murders accountable-including sanctions, including litigation, including criminal proceedings.”
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