In response to the Trump Administration sanctioning 17 individuals for their involvement in the killing of Saudi dissident Jamal Khashoggi, Human Rights First’s Senior Vice President for Policy Rob Berschinski issued the following statement:
The Trump Administration made the right decision
to impose sanctions on the 17 named individuals, particularly with
respect to Saud Al-Qahtani, a key advisor to Crown Prince Mohammed bin
Salman. That said, in failing to sanction the crown prince or members of
his inner circle, or taking other actions with respect to Saudi
repression at home or its activities in Yemen, the administration isn’t
taking a particularly strong stand in terms of accountability.
Treasury Secretary Mnuchin’s message seems to leave room for additional
sanctions and other accountability measures for other Saudi officials
who played a role in Khashoggi’s killing, but in isolation today’s
action is the minimum response to such an egregious act. I’m sure there
are sighs of relief in Riyadh at the moment, but no one should describe
today’s actions as a win for accountability or human rights.
The Treasury Department announced today that 17 individuals were sanctioned, including Saud Al-Qahtani and Consul General Mohammed Alotaibi, head of the Saudi consulate in which Khashoggi was killed. All 17 individuals are designated for human rights abuses.
On October 10, a bipartisan group of 22 senators, including all but
one member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, addressed a letter
to President Trump that invoked, for the first time, Section 1263(d) of
the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act of 2016. The
letter gave President Trump 120 days to determine whether foreign
officials were involved in the “extrajudicial killings, torture, or
other gross violations of internationally recognized human rights;” and
include “a statement of whether or not the President imposed or intends
to impose sanctions with respect to the person.” Human Rights
First called for Congress to take this step when news broke of the
Khaggoshi murder.
For two years, Human Rights First has organized a global coalition of
human rights and anti-corruption NGOs to work together to bring credible
information to the U.S. government on potential sanctions designees
under the Global Magnitsky Act.
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