[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 45 (Wednesday, March 13, 2019)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1837-S1839]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                              SAUDI ARABIA

  Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, it has been more than 5 months since 
journalist and American resident Jamal Khashoggi was tortured and 
murdered inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul. More than 5 months 
since the Saudi Government initially denied it had anything to do with 
Mr. Khashoggi's disappearance and told the world, in a calculated and 
quickly disproven lie, that he left the consulate unharmed.
  As the Saudi Government's complicity became clear, its explanations 
became even more convoluted. We were told to accept that the operation 
that resulted in Mr. Khashoggi's death was an interrogation gone wrong, 
carried out by rogue agents who somehow flew to Istanbul, executed Mr. 
Khashoggi, and worked with a local collaborator to cover up the crime, 
all, despite their ties to the highest levels of government, without 
the knowledge of the Crown Prince. Although Senators--Republicans and 
Democrats--who have been briefed on the matter found that possibility 
preposterous, President Trump and Secretary Pompeo seemed ready to 
accept the Saudi Government's lies.
  The truth is that, while there is a mountain of information 
circulating in the press that suggests the Crown Prince was involved in 
the planning and approval of the assassination of Mr. Khashoggi, there 
are still many unanswered questions.

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  We know the Saudi Government identified certain Saudi officials who 
allegedly carried out this murder, but we do not know how they were 
identified, what these officials were asked, by whom, and what they 
have said about the crime, or why some of them were brought to trial 
and others were not.
  We know that the Trump administration sanctioned 17 Saudi officials, 
but we have not been told to what extent or why these individuals were 
targeted for sanctions and others were not. We know that there was a 
local collaborator, but we have not been told his nationality or 
identity, nor the whereabouts of Mr. Khashoggi's body, which has not 
been returned to his family.
  What do we know? We know that the Saudi Government--the royal 
family--is sticking to the latest version of its story, absolving 
itself of any culpability. The Trump administration maintains, despite 
many mixed signals, that it is doing everything in its power to ensure 
Mr. Khashoggi's murderers are held accountable for their actions.
  If that is true, we would expect the administration to be transparent 
and to cooperate with the Congress.
  But while I would like to be persuaded of their commitment to 
pursuing justice in this case, their efforts to date have been anything 
but convincing. On October 10, 2018, Senators Corker, Menendez, Graham, 
and I, along with a majority of the members of the Foreign Relations 
Committee, sent a letter to the President to trigger a 120-day review 
and determination on the imposition of sanctions pursuant to the Global 
Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act with respect to any foreign 
person involved in the murder of Mr. Khashoggi. The response of the 
administration has been to ignore the legal requirement to make that 
determination. This is only the latest attempt by the administration to 
obstruct the Congress's access to information about this crime.
  Rather than ignoring its legal obligations and keeping Congress in 
the dark, the administration should be working with Congress and the 
international community, to expose the truth about who gave the orders 
to kill Mr. Khashoggi. If the administration has nothing to hide, then 
they have nothing to lose and everything to gain by being part of the 
effort to see justice done.
  One way for the administration to prove it is serious about 
accountability is to fully cooperate with the UN Special Rapporteur on 
extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, who is reviewing the 
evidence in the Khashoggi case. The White House, the State Department, 
and our intelligence agencies should promptly provide her with any 
relevant information in their possession.
  As I stated on February 3, 2019, if the President continues to take 
actions such as ignoring the clear mandate of the Magnitsky Act or 
otherwise refuses to cooperate with the investigations of this murder, 
the White House will share the blame for attempting to cover up the 
crime and for helping those responsible to evade justice.
  The administration should also urge the Saudi Government to guarantee 
a fair and public trial for the men accused of being involved in the 
killing of Mr. Khashoggi, that meets international standards of due 
process. A trial that fails to disclose all of the facts--a trial that 
is rushed and secretive--will be seen as simply further obstruction of 
justice. Real accountability must occur in this case.
  We know all too well that Mr. Khashoggi's murder is only one example 
of the brutal way in which the Saudi Government, led by the Crown 
Prince, treats anyone it perceives as a threat, which means anyone who 
dares criticize the government or who advocates for human rights.
  Since May 2018, prominent women's rights advocates have been 
imprisoned and tortured by the Saudi Government or banned from 
traveling, without any criminal charges being brought--women like 25-
year-old Loujain al-Hathloul, who had a driver's license from the 
United Arab Emirates and advocated for the right of Saudi women to 
drive, but was arrested in a sweeping crackdown on women's activists 
just before the Saudi Government lifted the ban on female drivers. Dr. 
Hatoon al-Fassi, another women's rights advocate and a history 
professor, was arrested in June 2018 and remains confined to this day. 
While these women have not been charged, their so-called crime is 
obvious: engaging in independent activism. The royal family will do 
whatever it takes to make clear that they alone can create change in 
Saudi Arabia.
  That is why, like these women, anyone of influence, including average 
citizens who advocate for reforms, is at risk in Saudi Arabia. It is 
not only opposition that the Crown Prince fears, it is the appearance 
of capitulation to ordinary citizens that he seeks to avoid by cracking 
down on those who are merely advocating for reforms he himself claims 
to support. His repression has touched every segment of society, from 
journalists to women's rights advocates to economists like Dr. Essam 
al-Zamil, who was detained in September 2017, presumably due to his 
opposition to the Crown Prince's economics plan, and Mohammad Fahad al-
Qahtani, an economics professor and human rights activist who was 
sentenced in 2013 to 10 years in prison for breaking allegiance with 
the royal family and defaming the judiciary.
  Sometimes the motivation behind the Crown Prince's actions is a 
complete mystery. One egregious case is that of Dr. Walid Fitaihi, a 
U.S. citizen who earned his medical degree from George Washington 
University and a master's degree in public health from Harvard 
University. Dr. Fitaihi was seized by Saudi authorities for unknown 
reasons in November 2017. He has reportedly been severely tortured, and 
he remains in prison. In fact, before Mr. Khashoggi was murdered, he 
wrote about Dr. Fitaihi's detention on social media to decry the 
arbitrary and repressive trends developing under the Crown Prince's 
rule. Like Jamal Khashoggi, there is not a shred of evidence that Dr. 
Fitaihi is guilty of anything. He should be released immediately. I ask 
unanimous consent that a copy of the March 4, 2019, editorial in the 
Washington Post, entitled, ``Saudi Arabia is torturing a U.S. citizen. 
When will Trump Act?'' which highlights Mr. Fitaihi's case, be printed 
in the Record following my remarks.
  These cases are only a fraction of the known examples of the Crown 
Prince's repression. There are countless others that don't escape the 
royal family's tight control of information in the country. This is the 
so-called reformer we are told to put our trust in to help lead Saudi 
Arabia into the future. As others in this body have said, he is no 
reformer; he is an impulsive, ruthless gangster. It would be naive not 
to think that the Crown Prince's actions will lead to greater public 
resentment and instability in Saudi Arabia and jeopardize our long-term 
interests in the region. Contrary to the thinking of the White House, 
no amount of arms sales and no amount of oil can change that reality.
  I urge all Senators to join me in urging the White House and in 
supporting legislative action as appropriate to protect our national 
interests by ensuring that United States relations with Saudi Arabia 
are guided, first and foremost, by our principles and, most 
importantly, by our commitment to the rule of law.
  There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:

                [From the Washington Post, Mar. 4, 2019]

     Saudi Arabia Is Torturing a U.S. Citizen. When Will Trump Act?

                          (By Editorial Board)

       Before he was murdered inside a Saudi Consulate in October, 
     our colleague Jamal Khashoggi questioned why Saudi Arabia had 
     detained a prominent doctor, Walid Fitaihi, a dual Saudi-U.S. 
     citizen seized in a November 2017 roundup of businessmen. The 
     detainees, in what was described as an anti-corruption drive, 
     were held at the Ritz-Carlton hotel in Riyadh. ``What 
     happened to us?'' Khashoggi, himself a Saudi, asked on 
     Twitter. ``How can a person like @Walidfitaihi get arrested, 
     and for what reason?'' He added, ``With no interceding 
     channels to pursue & no Attorney General to answer questions 
     & verify charges, of course everyone is struck with awe and 
     helplessness.''
       Today, Khashoggi is no longer able to ask such impertinent 
     questions. He was assassinated in Istanbul by a hit squad 
     that intelligence reports say was dispatched by the Saudi 
     crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman. But Khashoggi's question 
     remains relevant. Mr. Fitaihi, founder of a medical center in 
     Jeddah, is still a captive. It is not known precisely why, 
     and he has never been charged, although the New York Times 
     quoted a friend saying he was being pressured to give 
     evidence against a relative.
       He has been tortured during his captivity. He was 
     reportedly grabbed from his room at

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     the Ritz, slapped, blindfolded, stripped to his underwear, 
     bound to a chair, shocked with electricity and whipped so 
     severely that he could not sleep on his back for days. The 
     Times said his lawyer has written to the State Department 
     that the doctor ``is in fear for his life, that he cannot 
     take his situation any longer, and that he desires all 
     possible help.'' The Associated Press quoted the lawyer as 
     saying Mr. Fitaihi is now in a prison hospital after 
     suffering ``an emotional breakdown.'' Mr. Fitaihi earned his 
     medical degree from George Washington University and holds a 
     master's degree in public health from Harvard University.
       On another front in Mohammed bin Salman's drive to crush 
     critical voices, Saudi Arabia's public prosecutor announced 
     charges Friday against a group of female activists who 
     campaigned to give women the right to drive--a right that 
     Mohammed bin Salman conferred after they sought it. The 
     activists have been jailed for nearly a year, during which 
     Amnesty International says they have been tortured and 
     sexually abused. They did nothing wrong and should be 
     released unconditionally and immediately.
       In the New York Times Magazine on Sunday, Secretary of 
     State Mike Pompeo, asked about the crown prince's role in the 
     Khashoggi murder, declared that the United States would 
     ``hold everyone that we determine is responsible for this 
     accountable in an appropriate way, a way that reflects the 
     best of the United States of America.''
       A doctor with U.S. citizenship was tortured and held 
     without charge. Women who stood for human dignity and 
     equality were jailed and tortured. A journalist was killed. 
     Yet President Trump and his administration--including his 
     son-in-law, Jared Kushner, who last week met with the crown 
     prince--are loath to act. That does not reflect the best of 
     the United States of America.

                          ____________________