‘Justice still waiting,’ says sponsor of NDAA Saudi amendment
Democrat lawmakers in the United States have proposed several amendments to the National Defense Authorisation Act (‘NDAA’) which reflect concerns that a US ‘reset’ in relations with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia would lead to more arms sales.
One such amendment, offered by Representative Ted Lieu, would, if incorporated into the legislation, oblige the US government to develop ‘specific guidance for investigating any indications that United States-origin defense articles have been used in Yemen by the Saudi-led coalition in substantial violation of relevant agreements with countries participating in the coalition, including for unauthorized purposes.’
Another, titled ‘Protection of Saudi Dissidents’ would hold put in place an initial 120-day freeze on arms sales to the Saudi government, and afterwards only permit licences where the US president had certified to Congress that the government of Saudi Arabia had not conducted ‘any of the following activities:
- Forced repatriation, intimidation, or killing of dissidents in other countries,
- The unjust imprisonment in Saudi Arabia of United States citizens or aliens lawfully admitted for permanent residence or the prohibition on these individuals and their family members from exiting Saudi Arabia, or
- The torture of detainees in the custody of the Government of Saudi Arabia.’
The proposed amendment also holds that ‘no letters of offer may be issued, no credits or guarantees may be extended, and no export licenses may be issued…with respect to any country determined by the President to be engaged in a consistent pattern of acts of intimidation or harassment directed against individuals in the United States.’
The sponsor of the latter proposal, Gerry Connolly, represents the 11th District of Virginia – home to the journalist Jamal Khashoggi before his death in 2018.
Connolly told The Hill, ‘An American resident, a columnist for The Washington Post, and my constituent was — at the direction of the crown prince of Saudi Arabia — brutally murdered and dismembered in the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul, Turkey, a little over three years ago. Justice is still waiting. And to me, that means you suspend normal relations with a country whose leader did that. And so I think we need some legislative guidance and direction circumscribing that relationship.’
https://amendments-rules.house.gov/amendments/LIEU_226_xml220712111258008.pdf
