International response to the killing of Jamal Khashoggi

Twenty-one Saudis will have their US visas revoked or be prevented from obtaining US visas as one consequence of the killing of dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi, according to the US Department of State. The US has pinpointed individuals in the Saudi intelligence services, royal court, the foreign ministry, and other agencies as responsible for the attack.

As well as revoking visas, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo confirmed in a press conference on 23 October that the US is reviewing whether Global Magnitsky sanctions can be applied against the perpetrators. The Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act authorises the President to impose US entry restrictions and property sanctions against any foreign person who is responsible for ‘extrajudicial killings, torture or other gross violations of internationally recognized human rights.’

‘These penalties will not be the last word on this matter from the United States,’ said Pompeo. ‘We will continue to explore additional measures to hold those responsible accountable.’ He also emphasised that the US continues ‘to maintain a strong partnership with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.’

The EU and members of the G7 – Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the UK and the US – have issued a firm statement in response to official Saudi claims that Khashoggi was killed in a fist fight in their embassy in Istanbul; a version of events that conflicts with the Turkish authorities’ account and has met with widespread scepticism.

‘…the explanations offered leave many questions unanswered,’ the G7 statement reads.

‘We reiterate our expectation for a thorough, credible, transparent, and prompt investigation by Saudi Arabia, in full collaboration with the Turkish authorities, and a full and rigorous accounting of the circumstances surrounding Khashoggi’s death,’ it said. Those responsible must be ‘held to account’ and Saudi Arabia must ‘put in place measures to ensure that something like this can never happen again.’

German arms exports are on hold until further information is known. The German economic minister Peter Altmaier told broadcaster ZDF that ‘the government is in agreement that we will not approve further arms exports for the moment because we want to know what happened.’ He called on other European countries to act in accord towards Saudi Arabia: ‘Only when all European countries agree does that make an impression on the government in Riyadh,’ he said.