Kinlore
2 October 2018

The killing of Jamal Khashoggi

The Saudi journalist and Washington Post columnist is killed by a team of Saudi agents inside the kingdom's consulate in Istanbul.

  • Annex to the Report of the Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions: Investigation into the unlawful death of Mr. Jamal Khashoggi (A/HRC/41/CRP.1) — Agnès Callamard, UN Human Rights Council (2019)
  • Assessing the Saudi Government's Role in the Killing of Jamal Khashoggi — Office of the Director of National Intelligence (US) (2021)
  • MBS: The Rise to Power of Mohammed bin Salman — Ben Hubbard, Tim Duggan Books (2020)
  • Saudi Arabia wasn't always this repressive. Now it's unbearable. — Jamal Khashoggi, The Washington Post (2017)

Well established human-rightspoliticspress-freedom

Jamal Khashoggi, a veteran Saudi journalist who had once been close to the royal court, went into self-imposed exile in 2017 and began writing columns in The Washington Post criticising the crown prince’s crackdown and the war in Yemen. On 2 October 2018 he entered the Saudi consulate in Istanbul to obtain papers for his marriage; his fiancée waited outside. He never came out.

  • Saudi Arabia wasn't always this repressive. Now it's unbearable. — Jamal Khashoggi, The Washington Post (2017)
  • MBS: The Rise to Power of Mohammed bin Salman — Ben Hubbard, Tim Duggan Books (2020)
  • Annex to the Report of the Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions: Investigation into the unlawful death of Mr. Jamal Khashoggi (A/HRC/41/CRP.1) — Agnès Callamard, UN Human Rights Council (2019)

Turkish authorities, who had recordings from inside the consulate, revealed that a fifteen-member team had flown in from Riyadh and that he was killed and his body dismembered; his remains have never been found. Saudi Arabia first denied, then admitted the killing.

  • Annex to the Report of the Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions: Investigation into the unlawful death of Mr. Jamal Khashoggi (A/HRC/41/CRP.1) — Agnès Callamard, UN Human Rights Council (2019)
  • MBS: The Rise to Power of Mohammed bin Salman — Ben Hubbard, Tim Duggan Books (2020)
The UN and US intelligence attributed responsibility to the Saudi state and its leadership; the Saudi government rejected the US assessment.
  • Annex to the Report of the Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions: Investigation into the unlawful death of Mr. Jamal Khashoggi (A/HRC/41/CRP.1) — Agnès Callamard, UN Human Rights Council (2019)
  • Assessing the Saudi Government's Role in the Killing of Jamal Khashoggi — Office of the Director of National Intelligence (US) (2021)

The killing caused the deepest crisis in Saudi relations with the West in years. Business leaders pulled out of a Riyadh investment conference, some governments suspended arms sales, and the crown prince was shunned in many Western capitals for a time. Within a few years, though, the kingdom’s oil, money and strategic weight had largely restored its relationships.

  • MBS: The Rise to Power of Mohammed bin Salman — Ben Hubbard, Tim Duggan Books (2020)
Inside Saudi Arabia, the case is rarely discussed openly. Khashoggi himself had insisted he was not an enemy of his country but a loyal critic who wanted it to allow free expression; his columns, including one published after his death, called for exactly that.

How it's seen
Saudi government position

After first denying any knowledge, the authorities said Khashoggi died in a "rogue operation" by officials acting without orders. A Saudi court convicted eight people in 2019; five death sentences were commuted to twenty years in 2020. The crown prince has said he took responsibility as a leader but did not order the killing.

  • MBS: The Rise to Power of Mohammed bin Salman — Ben Hubbard, Tim Duggan Books (2020)
  • Annex to the Report of the Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions: Investigation into the unlawful death of Mr. Jamal Khashoggi (A/HRC/41/CRP.1) — Agnès Callamard, UN Human Rights Council (2019)

UN and US intelligence findings

The UN special rapporteur, Agnès Callamard, concluded in 2019 that the killing was a deliberate, premeditated execution for which the Saudi state was responsible, and found credible evidence warranting investigation of senior officials including the crown prince. A US intelligence assessment released in 2021 judged that the crown prince approved an operation to capture or kill Khashoggi.

  • Annex to the Report of the Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions: Investigation into the unlawful death of Mr. Jamal Khashoggi (A/HRC/41/CRP.1) — Agnès Callamard, UN Human Rights Council (2019)
  • Assessing the Saudi Government's Role in the Killing of Jamal Khashoggi — Office of the Director of National Intelligence (US) (2021)

Why it matters today

Saudi Arabia

The killing became, for much of the world, the defining image of the new Saudi leadership, and it remains one of the most sensitive subjects for Saudis. Many are embarrassed or angry at how it damaged their country's name; others accept the official account or see the outrage as hypocritical Western pressure. It is not something most Saudis will discuss freely.