Rights Groups Urge Turkey To Seek UN Probe Into Khashoggi Disappearance - Statement

Faizan Hashmi Published October 18, 2018 | 09:57 PM

International rights organizations are calling on Ankara to request the United Nations' investigation into the disappearance of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi in the Turkish city of Istanbul, according to a joint statement issued on Thursday.

WASHINGTON (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 18th October, 2018) International rights organizations are calling on Ankara to request the United Nations' investigation into the disappearance of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi in the Turkish city of Istanbul, according to a joint statement issued on Thursday.

"Turkey should urgently ask UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to establish a United Nations investigation into the possible extrajudicial execution of the prominent Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi," the Committee to Protect Journalists, Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, and Reporters Without Borders said.

Human right activists underscored that the probe should aim to "identify everyone responsible for ordering, planning, and executing any operations connected with the case."

"The investigation team should have complete access to travel where it needs to and to interview potential witnesses or suspects without interference," the statement said.

"The team should also recommend avenues for bringing to justice anyone against whom credible and admissible evidence of involvement is found."

The rights groups called on Guterres to appoint a highly experienced senior criminal investigator to head the team.

"Once the investigation is concluded, the secretary-general should issue a public report on the overall findings along with his recommendations for following up," the statement said.

Khashoggi, who has been working for The Washington Post newspaper as a columnist and has been known for his criticism of Saudi authorities, went missing in Istanbul on October 2 after he entered the Saudi consulate and never came out. According to The Washington Post, the Turkish authorities have shared with the United States audio and video recordings suggesting the journalist had been murdered in the Saudi consulate. Riyadh has rejected the accusations.