Five Years Since Jamal Khashoggi’s Death, Where Do We Stand?

Five years after the extra-judicial killing of the journalist Jamal Khashoggi, which led to a 2020 duPont baton for CNN’s outstanding coverage, justice still seems elusive. 

Khashoggi, a columnist for the Washington Post who was often critical of the policies of Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman, was murdered by a team of Saudi agents within the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on October 2, 2018. A team of 15 men tortured and killed him, and then dismembered his body. Khashoggi’s remains were never found. 

Clarissa Ward accepts a duPont for CNN team coverage of Jamal Khashoggi’s disappearance (2020)

CNN used the full force of its international reporting to break story after story on the disappearance and murder of Khashoggi, and the Saudi government’s involvement.

Since then, US intelligence has concluded that the killing was carried out on the orders of Prince Mohammed. The Saudi criminal court has convicted eight people for their ties to the case. However, there has been no proper closure for Khashoggi’s friends and family; they have not been able to conduct a proper burial without clarity about his remains. 

Repression of free speech continues to this day in Saudi Arabia. Most recently, in July retired Saudi teacher Mohammad bin Nasser al-Ghamdi was also sentenced to death for tweeting criticism of Saudi government policies to fewer than 10 followers. Several journalists are also behind bars now for tweeting against the government. 

However, relations between the United States and Saudi Arabia have basically returned to business as usual. Last year, President Biden visited Prince Mohammed in Jeddah to discuss a potential security alliance. The Biden administration has also been pushing for a “mega-deal” with Riyadh that includes a peace agreement between the kingdom and Israel, according to Reuters. 

Human rights groups continue to fight for justice. Amnesty International’s Secretary General, Agnès Callamard said in a statement marking the five year anniversary that what happened to Khashoggi are “crimes under international law” and must be “urgently investigated”.

“It is appalling that instead of pushing for justice for his murder, the international community continues to roll out the red carpet for Saudi Arabia’s leaders at any opportunity, placing diplomatic and economic interests before human rights,” said Callamard. 

Free speech group PEN America also decried the current response in a statement: “On the fifth anniversary of his murder, governments and institutions should reject business as usual with bin Salman’s government –– otherwise, targeting writers could become the new normal.”

Karen Attiah was Khashoggi’s editor and recently wrote an opinion piece about the cognitive dissonance she felt with the way the media treated Khashoggi and Prince Mohammed. She describes her feelings at a party where both Khashoggi and Prince Mohammed were recognised by Time magazine.  In a telephone interview, Attiah said that the dissonance is present in our media landscape now, as spaces for voices of dissent and minorities seem to be closing. 

“Five years on, people like Jamal might have a hard time to find a regular column in our media,” said Attiah. Regardless, she is heartened that so many people still remember Khashoggi and what he stood for. 

“Five years later, that the memory is still so powerful, is a fact that memory can be a form of resistance,” said Attiah. 

You can watch clips from the series of award winning reports by CNN here. 

Ward also sat down with duPont-Columbia Awards Director Lisa R. Cohen for the On Assignment podcast where she discussed how CNN continually broke stories about the disappearance of Jamal Khashoggi. You can listen to that here.