Toby Cadman, the co-founder of the international Guernica Group, told Sputnik that the membership of Saudi Arabia in the UN Human Rights Council should be questioned after the release of a UN report on the killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 20th June, 2019) Toby Cadman, the co-founder of the international Guernica Group, told Sputnik that the membership of Saudi Arabia in the UN Human Rights Council should be questioned after the release of a UN report on the killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi.Cadman's remarks come after a report, summarizing the results of a six-month investigation by UN Special Rapporteur Agnes Callamard into Khashoggi's murder, was released on Wednesday. It concluded the journalist was the victim of an "extrajudicial killing, for which the State of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is responsible." Callamard is expected to report her findings to the 41st session of the UN Human Rights Council, which will start next week.
"The question will have to be raised as to whether Kingdom of Saudi Arabia should be suspended from the UN Human Rights Council, at the very least its chairmanship on a number of human rights committees must be immediately suspended," Cadman, who is also the co-head of Guernica 37 International Justice Chambers in London, said.
The lawyer said he also envisaged the United Nations taking steps to condemn Khashoggi's murder and requesting further investigation into the individuals named in Callamard's report, which said there was "credible evidence" that the crown prince of Saudi Arabia and other senior officials were liable for Khashoggi's killing.
Saudi Arabia dismissed the report, with the Saudi foreign minister tweeting that it contained "clear contradictions and baseless allegations."
Khashoggi, who was a well-known critic of Saudi policies, went missing last October after he entered the Saudi consulate in Turkey's Istanbul. Riyadh initially denied any knowledge of the journalist's whereabouts but eventually admitted that Khashoggi had been killed inside the embassy and alleged that his body had been dismembered.
Saudi authorities have charged 11 people with Khashoggi's murder. Ankara has, meanwhile, demanded that the accused be extradited to Turkey and that Riyadh reveal the whereabouts of the journalist's remains.
