HUMAN RIGHTS
Trudeau has ‘serious issues’ with reports of journalist’s killing
Justin Trudeau says Canada has “serious issues” with reports that journalist Jamal Khashoggi was killed inside Saudi Arabia’s consulate in Turkey
WASHINGTON — Justin Trudeau trod softly Friday on the darkening mystery surrounding the fate of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
The prime minister said only that Canada has “serious issues” with reports the Washington Post columnist was killed by Saudi Arabian operatives inside Saudi Arabia’s consulate in Turkey.
But he insisted Canada has done plenty when it comes to calling the kingdom on the diplomatic carpet over its dismal human rights record.
“We have been extremely active both in private and in public over many years now around our concern for human rights in Saudi Arabia, and we will continue to be clear and strong in speaking up for human rights around the world, regardless of with whom,” Trudeau told a news conference at la Francophonie’s biennial summit in Armenia.
He said he broached the subject of human rights during a conversation last spring with King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud.
“We will always endeavour to do it in a constructive way, but we will be ensuring that people know that Canada is unequivocal in standing up for human rights — everywhere, all the time.”
The intrigue surrounding Khashoggi’s disappearance has only deepened since he was last seen Oct. 2 entering the Saudi consulate in Istanbul.
U.S. media reports say Turkish officials have audio and video recordings that prove Khashoggi was interrogated, tortured and killed by a Saudi security team inside the consulate, where he had gone to obtain official documents before his wedding the next day.
A chilling New York Times report says the Saudis brought a bone saw and a doctor of forensic medicine to dismember the body.
“This particular case is of course of concern, and we join with our allies around the world in expressing serious issues with these reports,” Trudeau said.
“Obviously there is a lot more to uncover on what happened here, so I’m not going to comment too much on this.”
The federal Liberal government has good reason to tread softly, given the kingdom’s outsized response in August to a tweet from Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland that called for the immediate release of detained activists.
Saudi Arabia recalled its ambassador in Ottawa, put a freeze on trade, cancelled flights to and from Toronto and pulled its students from Canadian medical schools.
The diplomatic embarrassment prompted withering criticism of the Trudeau government from opposition MPs and others.
But the Khashoggi saga undermines that argument, said Fen Hampson, of the Norman Paterson School of International Affairs at Carleton University in Ottawa.
“In some ways, what has happened really has vindicated the actions of our foreign minister, to call them on the carpet for their human rights behaviour,” Hampson said.
“There’s more and more evidence mounting that ... we were prepared to call a spade a spade.”
One government source, speaking frankly in exchange for anonymity, said Friday that Trudeau’s reticence to speak out on Khashoggi had “zero” to do with any pre-existing sensitivities: “We are still gathering intelligence on this and talking to allies.”
Freeland herself has said little on the matter in recent weeks, although she did acknowledge during a Council on Foreign Relations event in New York last month that she had been speaking frequently by phone with Abdel Al-Jubeir, her Saudi counterpart. Foreign Affairs officials say Freeland met with Al-Jubeir in person that same week on the margins of the United Nations General Assembly, although the pair have not met or spoken since.
There is, of course, another diplomatic wrinkle: The United States, which has long cultivated close relations with Saudi Arabia and currently has a president whose business ties to the region are deep and well-known.
Donald Trump has also struck a muted tone on the Khashoggi case in recent days.
“We’re looking at it very strongly,” he said Thursday in the Oval Office.
“What happened is a terrible thing, assuming that happened. I mean, maybe we’ll be pleasantly surprised, but somehow I tend to doubt it.”
Both countries have a lot to lose financially, as well.
Trump often talks about US$110 billion worth of arms sales to Saudi Arabia.