The Murder of Jamal Khashoggi: Immunities, Inviolability and the Human Right to Life

Milanovic, Marko

Abstract

On 2 October 2018, Jamal Khashoggi, a dissident Saudi journalist residing in the United States, where he was a columnist for the Washington Post, was murdered in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul. This article seeks to comprehensively analyze Khashoggi’s killing from the standpoint of the human right to life. It sets out the relevant legal framework, addressing inter alia the issue that Saudi Arabia is not a party to what would otherwise be the most relevant human rights treaty, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. It examines not only the obligations of Saudi Arabia, but also those of Turkey and the United States, in protecting Khashoggi’s right to life from third parties, and ensuring respect through an effective investigation of his killing and mutual cooperation for the purpose of that investigation. It also looks at the extraterritorial scope of these various obligations. Finally, the article examines possible norm conflicts between state obligations under human rights law and their obligations under diplomatic and consular law, such as the inviolability of diplomatic and consular premises, agents, and means of transportation.

Citation

Milanovic, M. (2020). The Murder of Jamal Khashoggi: Immunities, Inviolability and the Human Right to Life. Human Rights Law Review, 20(1), 1-49. https://doi.org/10.1093/hrlr/ngaa007

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Jun 16, 2019
• Online Publication Date: Apr 14, 2020
• Publication Date: Apr 17, 2020
• Deposit Date: Jan 21, 2020
• Publicly Available Date: Apr 15, 2022
• Journal: Human Rights Law Review
• Print ISSN: 1461-7781
• Electronic ISSN: 1744-1021
• Publisher: Oxford University Press (OUP)
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 20
• Issue: 1
• Pages: 1-49
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/hrlr/ngaa007
• Keywords: Right to life, Obligation to protect life, Duty to warn, Duty to investigate, Diplomatic and consular immunities, Jamal Khashoggi, Saudi Arabia, Turkey
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/3773741
• Publisher URL: https://academic.oup.com/hrlr/article-abstract/doi/10.1093/hrlr/ngaa007/5819654
• Additional Information: This is a pre-copyedited, author-produced version of an article accepted for publication in Human Rights Law Review following peer review. The version of record, Marko Milanovic, The Murder of Jamal Khashoggi: Immunities, Inviolability and the Human Right to Life, Human Rights Law Review, , ngaa007, https://doi.org/10.1093/hrlr/ngaa007 is available online at: https://academic.oup.com/hrlr/article-abstract/doi/10.1093/hrlr/ngaa007/5819654