Death Threats By Saudi Official Against Callamard Must Be Taken Seriosuly - UN Spokesman

The United Nations believes death threats made by a Saudi official against UN Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary, or arbitrary executions Agnes Callamard, who investigated the murder of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi, should be taken very seriously, UN spokesman Farhan Haq said in a press briefing on Tuesday

UNITED NATIONS (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 23rd March, 2021) The United Nations believes death threats made by a Saudi official against UN Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary, or arbitrary executions Agnes Callamard, who investigated the murder of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi, should be taken very seriously, UN spokesman Farhan Haq said in a press briefing on Tuesday.

Earlier in the day, Callamard revealed in an interview with the Guardian that a United Nations colleague informed her in January last year that a senior Saudi official had twice threatened to have Callamard "taken care of" if she is not reined in by the United Nations. The message was perceived as a death threat, Callamard told the outlet.

"I am not aware of that, but certainly we do have a comment," Haq said when asked about the media report. "All of our human rights defenders, including the Special Rapporteurs that report to the Human Rights Council, such as Miss Callamard, should be able to go about their work without any harassment, without any threats, and also such threats need to be taken very seriously.

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In a 110-page report published in June 2019, Callamard called on the UN Secretary-General to launch a follow-up criminal probe of the killing of Khashoggi due to "credible evidence" that senior Saudi officials, including Crown Prince Mohammed, had roles to play in the killing of Khashoggi at the Saudi consulate in Turkey. The UN did not start the probe, citing the lack of Guterres' authority to launch it.

In an interview with Sputnik in October 2019, Callamard said that the UN Charter could be interpreted in a way that would empower UN Chief Antonio Guterres to take further steps to respond effectively to the Khashoggi case.

Khashoggi went missing in October 2018 after entering the Saudi consulate in Istanbul. Riyadh initially denied any knowledge of the journalist's whereabouts but eventually admitted that the journalist was killed and dismembered inside the diplomatic facility.