UN special investigator: World has ‘failed’ in its duty to bring Khashoggi killers to justice

A United Nations special investigator said Tuesday that the world has “failed” in its duty to bring the killers of American-based journalist Jamal Khashoggi to justice.

Agnes Callamard, a U.N. rapporteur for extrajudicial executions, told reporters in Brussels that the European Union and the U.S. need to do more in response to Khashoggi’s killing by Saudi operatives at the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul last year, according to Reuters. 

“I think it is important to recognize that the international community so far has failed in its duty to ensure that there cannot be immunity or impunity for the killing of Jamal Khashoggi,” she told reporters.

Callamard, who traveled to Brussels with Khashoggi’s fiancée Hatice Cengiz, called for an international criminal investigation, a proposal the Saudi government has rejected.

Eleven suspects have been put on trial for Khashoggi’s slaying, but Callamard is reportedly requesting investigations into Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and other Saudi officials. The CIA and other Western governments have concluded the prince ordered the journalist’s killing, but Saudi officials deny those conclusions.

Reuters reported that the EU on the first anniversary of Khashoggi’s death called for “full accountability for all those responsible” and a “credible and transparent” investigation.