The agreement between the kingdom and France did not go unnoticed. For his first visit to Europe since the 2018 assassination of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, Mohammed Ben Salman was welcomed Thursday, July 28, with a long handshake by Emmanuel Macron, at the Elysée Palace, where he was invited to dinner.
Faced with criticism, the Prime Minister, Elisabeth Borne, insisted, Thursday afternoon, on the fact that it did not come down to « set aside our principles” in “to question our commitment to human rights”. Shortly after, the Elysée announced that Emmanuel Macron will address the “human rights issue” during his dinner Thursday evening with Mohammed Ben Salman, known as “MBS”.
Throughout the day, reviews of this visit poured in from all sides. “I am scandalized and outraged that Emmanuel Macron receives with all honors the executioner of my fiancéreacted Hatice Cengiz, companion of the Saudi journalist killed at the Saudi Arabian consulate in Istanbul. The surge in energy prices because of the war in Ukraine cannot justify that in the name of an alleged realpolitik we absolve the person responsible for the Saudi policy towards political opponents which leads to their killing, as it was the case for Jamal. »
This coming to France is ” a shame “, thus reacted to France info Abdullah Alaoudh, director for the Gulf region of the organization Democracy for the Arab World Now (DAWN), an American human rights organization, whose idea Jamal Khashoggi had had the idea, shortly before his assassination. “We believe MBS is seeking to whitewash his crimes. He supported the leaders of the war in Libya and elsewhere, [il a] arrested so many activists, peaceful defenders and comedians in Saudi Arabia”he pointed out.
“There is really a rehabilitation at the international level of “MBS”. And this individual is a murderer.accused Agnès Callamard, secretary general of the NGO Amnesty International, on France Inter. The latter had conducted an investigation into the assassination of Jamal Khashoggi, columnist for the Washington Post and critic of Saudi power, when she was UN special rapporteur on extrajudicial executions.
“Shocked that we can welcome a dictator”
The former environmentalist presidential candidate, Yannick Jadot, also denounced on Twitter the visit to the Elysée Palace by the Saudi Crown Prince. “On the dinner menu between Emmanuel Macron and MBS the dismembered body of journalist Khashoggi? Climate chaos? Peace and human rights? Overshoot day? Nope ! Oil and weapons! The exact opposite of what to do! », criticized the MEP Europe Ecology-The Greens (EELV). Julien Bayou, national secretary of EELV, declared himself to be “shocked that we can welcome a foreign dictator with honors”.
“I believe it is important for the President of the French Republic to be able to receive a certain number of those who are de facto his interlocutors (…) all the more so in the context that we know, linked to the Ukrainian crisis and the major energy challenges that we have”pleaded on the contrary on France info the president of the Renaissance group (formerly La République en Marche) in the National Assembly, Aurore Bergé. The MP added:
“Discussing with all the Gulf countries seems to me an absolute necessity, that does not mean that you are forgetting the subjects (…) which are essential in terms of values and human rights, but you have the need to obviously maintain a dialogue. We also need to continue to have an in-depth dialogue with all the Gulf countries, and you must do so, including of course with the Saudi president. »
Complaint for complicity in torture and enforced disappearance
This visit by Mohammed Bin Salman, which comes after that of Emmanuel Macron to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, in December, does not mean that his worries, related to the Khashoggi case, are completed. Proof of this is the complaint that was filed against him, Thursday morning, before the dean of the investigating judges of the Paris court, for complicity in torture and enforced disappearance.
The initiative comes from two foreign NGOs which have joined as civil parties: DAWN and Trial International, a Swiss organization which fights against impunity for the perpetrators of the most serious crimes. The Open Society Justice Initiative Foundation, committed to the defense of international law, joined the approach of the two NGOs.
This trip to France, however, marks the return of the crown prince, who welcomed the president two weeks ago. Joe Biden in Saudi Arabia, on the international scene: “MBS” had been banned by Western countries, after the murder in 2018 of the critical Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi at the consulate of his country in Istanbul. The crown prince denies ordering the assassination even though he says he bears the responsibility for it as a leader.
The context of the war in Ukraine and soaring energy prices has also prompted Western countries to review their relations with Saudi Arabia, the world’s largest exporter of crude oil, which they are trying to convince to open valves in order to relieve the markets.