[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.
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