HRW Urges Argentina to Probe Saudi Prince over Yemen, Khashoggi

New York-based Human Rights Watch said it submitted the request to Argentina's federal judge Ariel Lijo on Monday, Al Jazeera reported.

HRW's Middle East and North Africa director Sarah Leah Whitson said the international rights group took the case to Argentina because Prince Mohammad, also known as MBS, will attend the opening of the G20 summit this week in Buenos Aires.

Argentina's constitution recognizes universal jurisdiction for war crimes and torture, meaning judicial authorities can investigate and prosecute those crimes no matter where they were committed.

“We submitted this info to Argentine prosecutors with the hopes they will investigate MBS's complicity and responsibility for possible war crimes in Yemen, as well as the torture of civilians, including Jamal Khashoggi," said Whitson.

"There's an extremely strong basis for Argentina to closely examine a very broad record of documentation and facts. People around the world are desperate to see real accountability for people who are getting away with terrible crimes," she said.

Neither Lijo's office nor the office of Argentina's public prosecutor responded to requests for comment.

Argentine media cited judicial sources as saying it was extremely unlikely authorities would take up the case against the crown prince, Saudi Arabia's de facto ruler.

The killing of Khashoggi, a Washington Post columnist and a critic of the crown prince, at Riyadh's consulate in Istanbul on October 2 has strained Saudi Arabia's ties with the West.

"The crown prince's attendance at the G20 summit in Buenos Aires could make the Argentine courts an avenue of redress for victims of abuses unable to seek justice in Yemen or Saudi Arabia," said Kenneth Roth, executive director of Human Rights Watch, in a statement.

Since March 2015, the Saudi-Emirati led coalition has carried out scores of indiscriminate airstrikes on civilians in Yemen, hitting homes, schools, hospitals, markets, and mosques. The alliance has also imposed a naval and air blockade on Yemen that has severely restricted the flow of food, fuel, and medicine to civilians.

The UN estimates about 14 million people, half the country's population, are facing famine.

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