Human rights organizations Alqst and MENA Rights Group have formally protested to the United Nations regarding its counterterrorism office’s controversial partnership agreement with Saudi Arabia’s security apparatus, led by an official implicated in the assassination of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
In a letter addressed to Alexandre Zouev, the UN’s acting undersecretary general for counterterrorism, the groups expressed “profound alarm” over the memorandum of understanding signed between the UN Counter-Terrorism Centre (UNCCT) and Saudi Arabia’s Presidency of State Security (PSS) during Zouev’s recent visit to Riyadh.
The agreement was signed with PSS chief Abdulaziz al-Howairini, whom a UN investigation by former Special Rapporteur Agnes Callamard directly linked to the 2018 Istanbul consulate murder of the Washington Post columnist. US intelligence agencies believe Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman authorized the assassination.
Callamard’s definitive report documented how Saudi state security officials coordinated all aspects of the operation, including private jet travel and accommodations for the assassination team. Additional reporting by The Guardian in December 2021 placed Howairini at luxury Riyadh villas housing individuals charged with Khashoggi’s murder.
The rights organizations revealed they had previously urged Zouev’s office to adhere to UN principles and international law before finalizing any agreement, receiving only generic responses that ignored their specific concerns. Three weeks later, the UN signed the partnership despite its own human rights due diligence policy requiring assessment of potential support to security forces implicated in violations.
Tanya Boulakovski of MENA Rights Group stated the agreement “formalizes a partnership with a state security apparatus responsible for widely documented human rights abuses, including arbitrary detention, torture, and enforced disappearance of peaceful dissidents.”
Saudi Arabia has repeatedly been accused of weaponizing counterterrorism legislation to suppress dissent through executions, torture, and political imprisonment. UN human rights experts have extensively documented these violations across multiple committees and special rapporteurs.
In a concerning development, Saudi Arabia was additionally selected to chair a new working group on “countering terrorist travel” despite its systematic use of travel bans against human rights defenders and their families, as exemplified by women’s rights activist Loujain al-Hathloul and her parents.