Saudi Arabian official denies allegations of death threat to UN rapporteur

The nation's Human Rights Commission President Awwad Alawwad said he was disheartened by the claim

Agnes Callamard, former UN special rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, claims she was threatened by a senior Saudi official. Reuters

A senior Saudi Arabian official who was accused of making death threats against the top UN rapporteur investigating the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi in 2018 denied the allegations "in the strongest terms".

The UN Human Rights Office said on Wednesday it confirmed reported remarks by Agnes Callamard, the former UN expert on summary killings, who said a Saudi official had threatened that she would be "taken care of" if she was not reined in after her investigation.

On Thursday, Saudi Human Rights Commission President Awwad Alawwad rejected the account presented by Ms Collamard, who has left the UN to run Amnesty International, and the UN Human Rights Office’s confirmation.

“It has come to my attention that Ms Agnes Callamard of Amnesty International and some UN officials believe I somehow made a veiled threat against her more than a year ago,” he tweeted on Thursday. “I reject this suggestion in the strongest terms.”

Ms Callamard told British newspaper The Guardian that the threat was conveyed in a January 2020 meeting between Saudi and UN officials in Geneva. She said she was told of the incident by a UN colleague and was not present at the meeting.

"We confirm that the details in The Guardian story about the threat aimed at Agnes Callamard are accurate," UN human rights spokesman Rupert Colville told Reuters on Wednesday.

Neither named the Saudi official and no direct accusation against Mr Alawwad was made.

In his tweets on Thursday, Mr Alawwad said he was disheartened by the accusation.

“While I cannot recall the exact conversations, I never would have desired or threatened any harm upon a UN-appointed individual, or anyone for that matter. I am disheartened that anything I have said could be interpreted as a threat. I am an advocate for human rights and I spend my day working to ensure those values are upheld,” he said.

As a former diplomat he said he understood “the critical importance of dialogue even with people we may strongly disagree with” and insisted that “threats against the personal integrity of any individual are against my moral code and they are a violation of the most sacred tenets of my religion”.

He said he hopes the story was not concocted to distract from gains the council he heads and the kingdom are making in advancing human rights in Saudi Arabia.

“No country is advancing faster on reforms than us right now. I remain committed to the essential work of advancing human rights in Saudi Arabia, in line with our Vision 2030 agenda for transformation. And that is where all my energy will continue to be focused,” he said.

Ms Callamard led a UN investigation into the October 2018 killing of Khashoggi at the kingdom's Istanbul consulate.

Riyadh said a rogue team of agents close to the palace undertook an unsanctioned mission to take Khashoggi back to Saudi Arabia and that he died in the process and his remains were disposed of. Those have still not been found.

The kingdom sentenced eight people for their involvement in the killing.

Ms Collamard issued a report in 2019 that concluding there was "credible evidence" that senior Saudi officials were responsible for killing Khashoggi.

The kingdom undertook a complete reform of intelligence agencies after the killing.