World holds many ‘Khashoggis’
LONDON – A member of a protestart group in Moscow is rendered temporarily unable to see, speak or walk – likely the result of nerve poison. China’s most famous actress vanishes. So does the boss of the world’s largest international police organization.
Grisly revelations that Saudi Arabia may have helped orchestrate a brazen plot to abduct and even murder Jamal Khashoggi, a dissident-journalist critical of the oil-rich kingdom, have highlighted anew the threats faced by reporters, activists, reform advocates and all those who use their voices and platforms to fight discrimination, rights abuses and corruption while falling on the wrong side of government policy.
Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Muhammad bin Salman, the nation’s de facto ruler since 2017, has presided over the arrests of hundreds of activists, officials, writers, religious clerics and even opponents inside his own family as part of efforts to suppress dissent and consolidate power, according to Freedom House, a civil liberties group.
Still, Saudi Arabia is not alone in how it apparently treats those not prepared to toe the party line. Harassment, intimidation, arbitrary detention, violence, and even state-sponsored murder are fairly routine tactics authoritarian and illiberal governments use to crush dissent, according to dozens of reports and studies published by organizations such as Human Rights Watch and Freedom House.
This year alone, 27 journalists have been murdered in Brazil, the Central African Republic, India, Mexico, and even the European Union and the United States, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists
UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres told British media on Saturday that incidents such as Khashoggi’s disappearance were becoming “the apparent new normal.” And President Donald Trump said that if Saudi Arabia were found to be responsible for Khashoggi’s death “there will be severe punishment,” without elaborating. One thing that could be reviewed is billions of dollars in U.S. arms sales to Saudi Arabia.