The United Nations’ High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet has called for a thorough and impartial probe into the disappearance of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
Ms Bachelet said in a statement that Saudi Arabia and Turkey should reveal everything they know about Khashoggi’s whereabouts and urged them to ensure that no further obstacles are placed in the way of a prompt and transparent investigation.
She said, under international law, both a forced disappearance and an extra-judicial killing were very serious crimes and immunity should not be used to impede investigations into what happened and who is responsible. The top UN Rights official welcomed the agreement that has allowed investigators to conduct an examination inside the Consulate and possibly also at the residence of the Saudi Arabian Consul-General in Istanbul.
60-year old Khashoggi vanished on the 2nd of this month after entering the Saudi consulate in Istanbul. Turkish authorities suspect he was abducted and murdered by the Saudis. But Riyadh insists that the journalist, a known critic of Saudi King Salman, had left the building and that murder claims are baseless.
The incident resulted in a global outrage, more so in the US as Khashoggi lived there as a legal permanent resident and worked for ‘The Washington Post’.
