'Time to act': UN expert urges international Khashoggi probe
Agnes Callamard says Saudi trial of suspects in Khashoggi killing not being carried out in 'good faith'.
In a harsh statement on Wednesday, Agnes Callamard, UN special rapporteur on extrajudicial executions, said ignoring the targeted killing will put the protection of free speech at risk.
"The time to act is now," she said, reiterating her appeal for an international criminal investigation.
Callamard criticised the UN while presenting her report into the killing of Khashoggi, who was murdered by a team of Saudi agents in the country's consulate in Istanbul, to the Human Rights Council in Geneva.
Addressing the media on Tuesday she had expressed her frustration at the UN, saying "there was a role for the UN to investigate this. The silence of this intergovernmental body and the lack of measures were a disservice to the UN and to the world."
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Secretary-General Guterres gave a chilly response to Callamard's appeal.
"The only way to effectively pursue such an investigation is through a Security Council's resolution under the appropriate measures," said Guterres's spokesman Stephane Dujarric on Tuesday, adding that the secretary-general was "not hiding behind any protocol".
Callamard on Wednesday told reporters she was "disappointed" by the response, adding that
"it is in his power to ... to establish this panel of [criminal] experts."
"I don't believe you need a member state official demand," she added. "This being said, I certainly call on member states to proceed with that official demarche so that the secretary-general will not be able to just create more firewalls between him and his responsibilities to take action."
Callamard is an independent expert who does not speak for the UN, but reports her findings to it.
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/...161809811.html
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