Follow us on social

49517942356_438c0185f1_k

Ilhan Omar wants MBS sanctioned under Magnitsky Act

The Minnesota Democrat doesn't think there's been enough done to punish the Saudi Crown Prince for Jamal Khashoggi's murder.

North America

Rep. Ilhan Omar (D–Minn.) has proposed an amendment that could expose Saudi crown prince Mohammed bin Salman’s private businesses to sanctions under the Global Magnitsky Act.

Omar’s amendment would strengthen the Khashoggi Accountability Act, currently up for consideration by the House Foreign Affairs Committee, to include potential economic penalties on Saudi officials.

In February, the Biden administration declassified a U.S. intelligence report on the assassination of Saudi-American journalist Jamal Khashoggi. The report points the finger at the crown prince, often known by his initials MBS, but the Biden administration has declined to impose sanctions on him, citing the need to preserve the U.S.-Saudi relationship.

In response, Omar and Rep. Tom Malinowski (D–N.J.) proposed bills that would force the administration to move against the crown prince.

The House Foreign Affairs Committee chose last week to move forward with Malinowski’s Khashoggi Accountability Act, which imposes a travel ban but not economic penalties on Saudi officials mentioned in the U.S. intelligence report on Khashoggi’s murder.

Omar’s amendment to that bill would require the U.S. State Department to issue a report within six months all private organizations and businesses owned in whole or in part by those officials, including MBS.

The State Department would have to certify whether those organizations played a role in Khashoggi’s murder or “any other gross violations of internationally recognized human rights,” and whether those organizations are subject to sanctions under the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act.

The Global Magnitsky Act, passed in 2016 in memory of a lawyer who died in Russian police custody, imposes economic penalties and a visa ban on foreign officials “responsible for extrajudicial killings, torture, or other gross violations of internationally recognized human rights.”

As Responsible Statecraft had previously reported, two private planes owned by the Saudi government’s sovereign wealth fund were used to transport the kill team that eventually murdered Khashoggi inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul.

In addition to Malinowski’s bill, the Saudi government is also facing a lawsuit from Khashoggi’s widow and a human rights organization founded by Khashoggi before his death.

“In practice, this will be a way to create real consequences for MbS and other Saudi officials who were involved in the Khashoggi murder beyond what they’ve got so far,” Jeremy Slevin, a spokesperson for Omar’s office, wrote in an email to Responsible Statecraft.


Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) (Flicker/Creative Commons/Gage Skidmore)
North America
Friedrich Merz
Top photo credit: German Prime Minister-in-waiting Friedrich Merz (Shutterstock.Penofoto)

German leaders miscalculated popular will for war spending

Europe

Recent polls show the center right Christian Democrats (CDU-CSU) headed by prospective chancellor Friedrich Merz losing ground against the populist right Alternative for Germany (AfD), even before the new government has been formed.

The obvious explanation is widespread popular dissatisfaction with last month’s vote pressed through the outgoing parliament by the CDU-CSU and presumptive coalition partner the SPD (with the Greens) to allow unlimited increases in defense spending. This entailed disabling the constitutional “debt brake” introduced in 2009 to curb deficits and public debt.

keep readingShow less
Bernie Sanders Chris Van Hollen
Top image credit: U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) speaks during a press conference regarding legislation that would block offensive U.S. weapons sales to Israel, at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, U.S., November 19, 2024. REUTERS/Elizabeth Frantz
Will Senate vote signal a wider shift away from Israel?

Can Bernie stop billions in new US weapons going to Israel?

Middle East

Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth and National Security Advisor Mike Waltz have been roundly criticized for the security lapse that put journalist Jeffrey Goldberg into a Signal chat where administration officials discussed bombing Houthi forces in Yemen, to the point where some, like Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.) have called for their resignations.

But the focus on the process ignores the content of the conversation, and the far greater crime of continuing to provide weapons that are inflaming conflicts in the Middle East and enabling Israel’s war on Gaza, which has resulted in the deaths of over 50,000 Palestinians, most of them civilians.

keep readingShow less
Is US bombing Somalia just because it can?
Top Image Credit: The aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan (CVN 76), foreground, leads a formation of Carrier Strike Group Five ships as Air Force B-52 Stratofortress aircraft and Navy F/A-18 Hornet aircraft pass overhead for a photo exercise during Valiant Shield 2018 in the Philippine Sea Sept. 17, 2018. The biennial, U.S. only, field-training exercise focuses on integration of joint training among the U.S. Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps. This is the seventh exercise in the Valiant Shield series that began in 2006. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Erwin Miciano)

Is US bombing Somalia just because it can?

QiOSK

U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM) conducted an airstrike in Somalia against ISIS targets on Saturday, killing “multiple ISIS-Somalia operatives.” It was the eighth such strike in the short time that Trump has been in office, reflecting a quiet, but deadly American campaign in a part, of the world that remains far below the public radar.

“AFRICOM, alongside the Federal Government of Somalia and Somali Armed Forces, continues to take action to degrade ISIS-Somalia's ability to plan and conduct attacks that threaten the U.S. homeland, our forces, and our civilians abroad,” a Sunday AFRICOM press release stated.

keep readingShow less

Trump transition

Latest

Newsletter

Subscribe now to our weekly round-up and don't miss a beat with your favorite RS contributors and reporters, as well as staff analysis, opinion, and news promoting a positive, non-partisan vision of U.S. foreign policy.