Best way to silence a critic is to respond positively to constructive criticism, not by killing

Digital Discourse Foundation 24.10.18

The sanctioned murder of critical Saudi journalist, a commentator for the  Washington Post, Jamal Kashoggi inside the Saudi Arabian Consulate in Istanbul, Turkey on 2.10.2018 comes as a rude shock to observers and even more cruel to his kith, kin and fiancée.

That the brutal crime was officially sanctioned by the Saudi royals makes the crime all the more savage, unexpected, unthinkably cruel and unpardonable in the day and age of internet powered transparency.

The price Jamal Kashoggi had to pay for his constructive criticism of the totalitarian Saudi regime has only manifested the worst fears of human rights activists. It was the very lack of reforms that prompted Kashoggi to flee his country in the first place to use his pen for reform. His worst fears have manifested so cruelly on him.

To think of the emotional cost on his divorced wife and children is gut wrenching. Kashoggi’s son had the unenviable task of greeting Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Sultan – widely believed to be the person who sanctioned the murder of the journalist - at the inauguration of the investment summit in Riyadh dubbed as the Davos in the Desert on Tuesday 23^rd October three weeks after Kashoggi disappeared inside the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul. Should image building for royalty be so voyeuristic one might ask, and legitimately so.

Kashoggi was not only lured into the Consulate and trapped, but was murdered in the cruellest fashion…in breach of human trust, and human rights. Reports of Kashoggi being dismembered and decapitated for trophy seeking royals in Saudi Arabia not just makes macabre reading but is apparently turning true as reports emerge that body parts of the unfortunate journalist are being discovered in the residential premises of the Saudi Consul in Istanbul.

News is trickling in that Kashoggi was attacked within two minutes of entering the consulate, dead in seven minutes, and dismembered in 22 minutes. <https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/jamal-khashoggi-case-saudi-arabia-agents-killed-jamal-khashoggi-under-7-minutes-bought-body-double-r-1936208> The Turkish government reports that the killers escaped two hours after Kashoggi entered the Consulate are still wide off the margin then. It is unfathomable that any authority can do this and get away with impunity.

No wonder the Saudi ambassador to Turkey made good his escape before investigations became serious a full week before Davos in the Desert commenced. Savage. Bestial intolerance to dissent has no place in modern democratic ethos, even if Saudi Arabia is not a Democracy.

The crime needs to be condemned in unequivocal terms by the international community. Immediately: strike when the iron is hot, lest humanity legitimises the crime by relegating the unfortunate murder of a critic to the dustbin of history. Human civilisation can ill afford this today. Therein lies the twin facets of democracy. Human rights go hand in hand with Democracy.

The UN Security Council needs to resolve economic sanctions against the fossil fuel giant at the earliest. The USA itself would do well to place an embargo on arms sale to Saudi Arabia like Germany has… because arms and ammunition will – only - kill more people. The world today needs peace overtures instead. Creating job opportunities, providing food, water and livelihood security to the Have-Nots, making the world more inclusive in its material growth are challenging enough already.  The world’s fragile environment and fragile human relations today can ill-afford any more violent interventions, trade deficits notwithstanding. The repercussions of arms trade on mental health of humanity needs a closer scrutiny by powers that be if violent crime in the US is a pointer.  In such circumstances, US President Trump holds the key to the future of Humanity. Better sense needs to prevail on President Trump and his advisors to decide against arms trade. The time for that is opportune. Now. The US reaction has been lukewarm at best given the billions of dollars in trade involved. Will Trump have the gumption to take the Saudis to task on this heinous crime?

The United Kingdom in a rare display of political will in condemning the murder has to be welcomed, regardless of the US’s position especially given the hopeless juggernaut the UK finds itself in while negotiating a divorce bill for Brexit.

Saudi Arabia has a history <https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-40926963> of annihilating dissenters and critics. The despicable and cruel act of sanctioned killing of Kashoggi inside the safe heavens of official Saudi consulate rivals medieval cruelty of European royalty. 

Kashoggi paid the ultimate price but brought to bear on international Real Politik the dire need for transparent governance. By dying, Kashoggi has exposed the lack of human rights in the Kingdom. He suffered a cruel fate, so unfortunately. Let his cruel and unfortunate death not be in vain… for the sake of Democracy, transparent governance and human rights.

That UN human rights covenants like the Geneva Convention make no difference to totalitarian regimes is only of rhetorical interest given that the US too has till date not ratified the Geneva Convention; worse, US President Trump has weighed in on the consequences of sanctions on US trade. So is arms trade with the Custodian of the Holy Mosques more important than human rights abuses? 

It is a ripe case for Interpol investigation, arms embargo and a democratic revolution in a Kingdom. While the international media mourns the untimely, unfortunate and cruel death of a true friend of the people of Saudi Arabia, it behoves the media to reiterate and underscore the need for human rights, free speech and democratic ethos in the international order especially in totalitarian regimes.

“Turkey’s human rights record is not unblemished in any case. Given the lack of Press Freedom and transparent governance in Turkey, observers were somewhat rudely surprised when the ghastly details of the Kashoggi murder started appearing on the internet”