Young cosponsors bipartisan resolution to hold Saudi prince liable for international atrocities

U.S. Sen. Todd Young (R-IN) on Dec. 5 introduced a bipartisan resolution that would make Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia Mohammed bin Salman answerable for his role in killing journalist Jamal Khashoggi, among other alleged offenses.

Sen. Young is among five original cosponsors of Senate Resolution (S.Res.) 714, which is sponsored by U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC). U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) is the lead original cosponsor.

“The failure over the last year and half to utilize all available U.S. leverage with respect to Saudi Arabia’s actions in Yemen has left the Crown Prince with the mistaken impression that the United States will turn a blind eye to his increasingly brazen atrocities,” Sen. Young said. “Those who suggest we must sacrifice our principles for security will have neither.”

Among several items, S.Res. 714 would express the sense of Congress that the Saudi Arabian prince be held accountable for contributing to the humanitarian crisis in Yemen, where the prince ordered the Saudi-led intervention that now is in its fourth year and has contributed to more than 22 million Yemenis needing humanitarian assistance, according to the resolution.

In fact, the ongoing civil war in Yemen “has exacerbated the world’s largest food security emergency, created power vacuums that terrorists have exploited, facilitated Iran’s ambitions, and complicated United States counterterrorism efforts,” according to the resolution.

Additionally, S.Res. 714 would acknowledge that the prince also had a role in the “abhorrent and unjustified murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi,” who was an outspoken critic of the prince.

According to the resolution, Khashoggi in September 2017 wrote about increased “‘waves of arrests ahead of the Crown Prince’s ascension to the throne” that month. Khashoggi also said he had left Saudi Arabia to go into self-imposed exile in the United States due to his fear of arrest by the prince.

Throughout 2017 and 2018, Khashoggi wrote several opinion articles critiquing Prince Mohammed bin Salman to both U.S. and Saudi officials, while seeking permanent resident status in America.

But Khashoggi disappeared on Oct. 2 during a visit to the Consulate of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in Istanbul, Turkey, where Turkish authorities reported the journalist had been murdered inside the Saudi consulate, according to S.Res. 714.

“I believe it’s vitally important to U.S. national security interests to make a definitive statement about the brutal murder of an American resident – Mr. Khashoggi – who has three American citizen children,” said Sen. Graham. “This resolution – without equivocation – definitively states that the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia was complicit in the murder of Mr. Khashoggi and has been a wrecking ball to the region jeopardizing our national security interests on multiple fronts.

“It will be up to Saudi Arabia as to how to deal with this matter,” Graham added. “But it is up to the United States to firmly stand for who we are and what we believe.”

The resolution would find that Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman was in control of the security forces at the time of Khashoggi’s murder and would urge the U.S. government and the international community to hold accountable all parties involved in the journalist’s murder.

The resolution also calls on the Government of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to negotiate directly with representatives of the Houthi movement in order to end the war in Yemen, agree on a political resolution, reverse the humanitarian crisis, and refocus efforts on defeating al Qaeda and ISIS terrorists in Yemen, among other provisions.

S.Res. 714 has been referred to the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee for consideration.