By June Ganguli Jamal Khashoggi, who is he? Best known for his candid articles on the misdeeds of the Saudi Arabian government, this journalist is world renowned. So, what happens when he suddenly disappears two weeks ago and is recently confirmed dead? The world erupts in shock, wondering who would want to harm this brilliant journalist. The first suspect that comes to mind is Saudi Arabia, after all, Khashoggi was known to be very outspoken about the regime of the Saudi Prince, Mohammad bin Salman. Recent evidence, a video of security footage given to The Washington Post and more, make it pretty clear that the Saudis had something to do with Khashoggi’s death. Despite this, Salman has denied having any knowledge about the murder of Jamal Khashoggi. I believe someone is hiding something about this mysterious murder, and I believe President Trump should take the necessary actions against this possible violation of basic human rights.
The Washington Post interviewed Senator Benjamin L. Cardin about the Magnitsky Act, an act regarding the violation of human rights, he and late Senator John Mccain developed. Cardin said, “If you are guilty of gross violations of human rights and your country is not taking action against you, that we will deny you the ability to visit America, we won’t give you a visa, you cannot use the American banking system. We expanded it to make it global. It now applies to violations in any country.” Using this Act, President Trump has the ability to punish Salman, if it is discovered that he did kill Jamal Khashoggi, by cutting off all trade with him and preventing him from using the United States banking system. When the Washington Post confronted President Trump on the matter, his response was quite alarming, “I don’t like stopping massive amounts of money that’s being poured into our country….They’re spending $110 billion purchasing military equipment and other things”. What does that mean? Indirectly, Trump stated that the billions of dollars the Saudi Arabians are pouring into our country are worth more than Jamal Khashoggi’s life. That is wrong. No amount of money or anything else is worth a man’s life. Khashoggi deserves a justified end. On a smaller case, a murderer would be prosecuted to the best of everyone’s ability to give justice to the victim, and the victim’s family. The same should happen for Khashoggi and his family. We cannot allow Salman to get away with murder. We can’t say for sure that the Saudi Arabians murdered Jamal Khashoggi, but we do have some facts. 1. The Saudi Arabians have claimed several different stories leading to Khashoggi’s death, all of them saying the King and Prince didn’t have any knowledge of what was happening. 2. Photographs have been released of a close associate of Salman entering the Turkish consulate. 3. An audio recording of Khashoggi being confronted, tortured, dismembered and brutally murdered was published. 4. Nine of the 15 suspects have been closely connected with the Saudi government, such as security services or military. And finally 5. One of the 15 suspects acted as a body double, walking around wearing Khashoggi’s closes and glasses. This evidence points pretty clearly to the fact that the Saudi Arabian government, and the prince, are linked closely to Khashoggi’s murder. Trump should start sending threats to the Saudi Arabian government about issuing the Magnitsky Act. If it is proven, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that the Saudi’s murdered Khashoggi, those consequences should be immediately implemented, Not only to provide a just end for Khashoggi but for his family as well.
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