Release of Khashoggi report is good first step - Next should be accountability

Jamal Khashoggi is all of us. A fellow foreign correspondent, a good friend, a fearless fighter for truth and dignity, a parent, a mentor, and a colleague whose life had been in danger for doing his honest job of reporting.  As a journalist, Jamal was not plotting anything wrong. He did not dream of becoming a Saudi Arabian dissident and he certainly wasn't seeking to overthrow the Kingdom. He never wanted to be forced into a self-imposed exile; albeit it was what he had to do to continue to live.

 Jamal was just a foreign correspondent living here in my neighborhood outside Washington D.C. Being a journalist, he wanted to report on the facts and truths and not dismiss the injustices that occurred, especially in his home nation. In his last column, Jamal railed against the absence of a free press in the Middle East, and called out the trend of actions that, as he put it, “trigger condemnation quickly followed by silence.”

The Biden administration on Friday released a declassified U.S. intelligence report that explicitly implicated the Saudi Crown Prince in the brutal killing of Khashoggi at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, in 2018. Jamal entered the consulate on Oct. 2 to obtain the documents necessary to marry his fiancee. He was never seen leaving.

"We assess that Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Muhammad bin Salman approved an operation in Istanbul, Turkey to capture or kill Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi," said the report, provided by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence. It added: "We base this assessment on the Crown Prince's control of decisionmaking in the Kingdom, the direct involvement of a key adviser and members of Muhammad bin Salman's protective detail in the operation, and the Crown Prince's support for using violent measures to silence dissidents abroad, including Khashoggi."

The Biden administration deserves credit for releasing the DNI’s report, which is a grim, but important reminder of the hideous crime. However, for such a heinous crime, there should also be accountability, which in this case means taking actions against the Crown Prince. The lack of action sends a clear message across the globe that those at the top can escape consequences.

The world is facing a critical moment for press freedom, as we’ve seen the rise of strongmen teaming up against independent voices. Not only at home but outside of their borders. For the few well-known cases that garner some kind of attention, there are many more lesser-known victims, whose stories are never told. The absence of accountability for Jamal's brutal, premeditated murder sends a horrendous message that it is open season on journalists. If dictators see this as a signal that they, too, can get away with cold-blooded murder, then the question is, how many more dissident journalists are going to die?

 If America is truly going to be seen as a leader in the world, it should raise the standard so that these acts are never repeated. For Jamal, for all of us, and most importantly, for our very democracy.