Hatice Cengiz, Jamal Khashoggi’s fiancée, has called on US President-elect Joe Biden to release the CIA’s classified report on the Washington Post’s murder of the Washington Post journalist as soon as he enters the White House, a move that according to her, would “greatly help” in uncovering the truth.
The secret intelligence investigation has never been released, but the media has reported, without providing more details, that it concludes with “moderate to high confidence” that the Saudi Crown Prince, Mohammed bin Salman, ordered the murder.
Publishing a declassified version of the report, Cengiz and other activists say, would prove Biden’s determination to make Saudi Arabia “pay a price for the murder,” as he pledged during the 2020 campaign.
“I call on the President-elect to release the CIA’s assessment and evidence. It will help immensely in uncovering the truth about who is responsible for Jamal’s murder, ”said Cengiz.
When asked if it was under consideration, a source familiar with the president-elect’s transition and thinking said: “The president-elect is sticking to what he said on the campaign trail about the Jamal Khashoggi murder. We know that there is still work to be done, also to provide the necessary transparency. “
Khashoggi disappeared on a visit to the Saudi consulate in Istanbul in October 2018 to collect paperwork for his marriage to Cengiz. His remains were never found or returned. Riyadh eventually admitted that the 59-year-old was murdered by Saudi agents in an allegedly botched extradition operation, but Prince Mohammed has always denied any involvement or knowledge of the murder.
During the election, Biden emerged as an outspoken critic of Prince Mohammed, who said during a democratic debate that he would make Saudi Arabia “the pariah they are” if elected. He also said the US would stop selling weapons to the kingdom if he won.
Most analysts and Saudi dissidents living outside the kingdom agree that the US’s attitude towards Saudi will change once Biden enters the White House, contrary to Donald Trump’s close ties to the Crown Prince.
But the question now is how far Biden will go – and what specific issues he could influence. While the US could hasten an end to the war in Yemen, it could prove more difficult to force the kingdom on domestic human rights abuses.
“I think [releasing the classified report on Khashoggi’s murder] is easy for the president to do. The consequences will be profound, ”said Safa Al Ahmad, a Saudi journalist and human rights activist who has been living in exile since 2014.
But there is also skepticism that it will happen. First, because it is not clear that Biden will attempt to shake relations with the Saudis in his first weeks in office. Second, because of alleged practical risks associated with disclosure of the intelligence.
“I think it is highly unlikely. To protect resources and methods, it would have to be highly redacted. Such a document would not be very satisfying. To do otherwise would significantly diminish our ability to track activity, ”said Bruce Riedel, a former CIA analyst and senior fellow at the Brookings Institution.
Agnès Callamard, the UN special rapporteur on extrajudicial killings, who was investigating Khashoggi’s murder, said she believed the report could be released without jeopardizing CIA sources or methods.
“I’m tired of intelligence always taking precedence over justice,” she said. “The US has so much information about the murder of journalists, including the identities of the masterminds, corrupt officials and people who are abusing their power. The quest for justice and the fight against impunity will undoubtedly require this information to be made public, ”she said.
While Biden may eventually come back to some of his harsh speeches against the kingdom, Riedel said there would nevertheless be a “big change”, especially in arms sales.
The Saudis are only starting to realize late that the good old days are coming to an end. I think they are trying to figure out what to do and are especially concerned that Biden is reviving the nuclear deal with Iran, which they are totally against, ”said Riedel.
Riedel said the change in US governments is because Prince Mohammed, known as MBS, seemed increasingly concerned about his own safety and paranoid – perhaps rightly so – about his position.
“MBS holds almost all of its gatherings in the fantasy city of Neom. Well, there is a reason for that. It is the safest place for him to be in the kingdom and I think it reflects his very acute concerns. He has alienated an awful lot of Saudis, ”said Riedel.
The Guardian has learned that several princes in the Bin Jalawi family have recently been placed under house arrest by order of the Crown Prince. While this could not be independently verified, Riedel said that given that the family came second to the Al Saud family, the alleged house arrests were very significant. A US official said such arrests would be consistent with the crown prince’s crackdown on any sign of dissent. The Saudi Embassy in London did not respond to a request for comment.
The Saudi Crown Prince has since March held his closest political rival, former Crown Prince Mohammed bin Nayef, as well as the two adult children of Saad Aljabri, a former intelligence chief known for close ties to the US and living in exile in Canada.
While Biden is not known to have had a particularly close relationship with Mohammed bin Nayef, whom he only met during a trip to Riyadh in 2011, analysts say they believe the continued imprisonment of “MBN” will be one of the most important human rights issues. the administration of Biden.
The Saudi government has never given an official explanation of why Bin Nayef has been detained, but a varying list of allegations has been used, ranging from the coup attempt, addiction, corruption, treason and conspiracy with the Obama administration.
Other cases likely to cause a stir include the recent move by a Saudi court to sentence Walid Fitaihi, a dual US-Saudi citizen, to six years in prison after his arrest in 2017, despite calls from the Trump administration to to release him. Fitaihi’s family has alleged that he was tortured while in custody and that the charges against him relate to tweets he posted supporting the Arab Spring as well as his alleged illicit attempt to obtain US citizenship.
Another political prisoner, women’s rights activist Loujain al-Hathloul, who is also believed to have been tortured in custody, was recently tried in a special terrorism court after being held without charge for two years in a case that led to criticism from human rights organizations.
Callamard, who will take a new position next year as head of Amnesty International, said she was not “naive enough” to believe that Biden would radically change the US’s relationship with Saudi Arabia, but that he would take steps in the direction of accountability.
“The form, the reporting, it is important. We are talking about a message – it is a small step of accountability by the United States and its democratic institutions, ”she said.