IIA 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. J. RES. 46 

Commemorating the fifth anniversary of the murder of Jamal Khashoggi 

and calling for accountability. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

SEPTEMBER 29 (legislative day, SEPTEMBER 22), 2023 

Mr. KAINE (for himself, Mr. DURBIN, Mrs. SHAHEEN, Mr. MERKLEY, Mr. 

MURPHY, Mr. COONS, Mr. WELCH, Mr. SCHATZ, Mr. WYDEN, Mr. VAN

HOLLEN, Ms. KLOBUCHAR, Mr. SANDERS, Mr. MARKEY, Mrs. MURRAY, 

Ms. WARREN, Mr. BOOKER, and Mr. WARNER) introduced the following 

joint resolution; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on 

Foreign Relations 

JOINT RESOLUTION 

Commemorating the fifth anniversary of the murder of Jamal 

Khashoggi and calling for accountability. 

Whereas Jamal Khashoggi was a Saudi journalist, author, 

and a former general manager and editor-in-chief of AlArab News Channel who fled Saudi Arabia in June 2017 

and went into self-imposed exile in Virginia in the United 

States; 

Whereas, on September 18, 2017, Jamal Khashoggi published his first article in the Washington Post, stating, ‘‘I 

have left my home, my family and my job, and I am raising my voice. To do otherwise would betray those who 

languish in prison. I can speak when so many cannot. I 


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•SJ 46 IS 

want you to know that Saudi Arabia has not always been 

as it is now. We Saudis deserve better.’’; 

Whereas, on October 2, 2018, Jamal Khashoggi was killed 

and dismembered by agents of the Government of Saudi 

Arabia in the consulate of Saudi Arabia in Istanbul, Turkey; 

Whereas, in February 2021, the Government of the United 

States submitted an unclassified report to Congress, providing transparency on the killing and announced the 

Khashoggi Ban, a measure that allows the Department 

of State to impose visa restrictions on individuals who 

‘‘directly engage in serious, extraterritorial counter-dissident activities, including those that suppress, harass, 

surveil, threaten, or harm journalists, activists, or other 

persons perceived to be dissidents’’; 

Whereas the Office of the Director of National Intelligence 

found that the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, Muhammad bin Salman, approved an operation in Istanbul, Turkey, to capture or kill Khashoggi; 

Whereas, since the brutal murder of Jamal Khashoggi, the 

Government of Saudi Arabia continues to crack down on 

free expression through the use of enforced disappearances, unjust detentions, threats, intimidation, and 

transnational repression; 

Whereas Freedom House defines transnational repression as 

‘‘governments reaching across borders to silence dissent 

among diasporas and exiles, including through assassinations, illegal deportations, abductions, digital threats, 

Interpol abuse, and family intimidation’’; 

Whereas the Department of Homeland Security, the Department of Justice, including the Federal Bureau of InvesVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:16 Sep 30, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\SJ46.IS SJ46

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•SJ 46 IS 

tigation, and the Department of State are part of a recently launched ‘‘whole-of-government’’ response to 

transnational repression, which is being coordinated by 

the National Security Council; 

Whereas, according to Freedom House, the Governments of 

Iran, the People’s Republic of China, Egypt, the Russian 

Federation, Rwanda, Saudi Arabia, and other states are 

increasingly disregarding the laws of the United States to 

threaten, harass, surveil, stalk, and, in some cases, plot 

physical harm to individuals across the United States; 

Whereas citizens of the United States Areej al-Sadhan, sister 

of detained humanitarian aid worker Abdulrahman alSadhan, and Abdullah Alaoudh of Virginia, son of detained scholar Salman Alodah, have been subject to intimidation and harassment in the United States; 

Whereas, in August 2022, a former Twitter employee was 

found guilty of acting as an unregistered agent of the 

Government of Saudi Arabia, spying on Saudi dissidents 

and sharing their private information with Saudi leadership; 

Whereas Saudi officials have continued to arrest, ban the 

travel of, and otherwise intimidate women and women 

human rights defenders, including Loujain Alhathloul, 

Manahel and Fouz al-Otaibi, Fatima al-Shawarbi, Dr. 

Lina al-Sharif, Salma al-Shehab, and Nourah al-Qahtani; 

Whereas Saudi border security systematically killed hundreds 

of Ethiopian migrants, including women and children, 

crossing the Saudi-Yemeni border between March 2022 

and June 2023, subjecting others to brutal violence and 

sexual assault; 


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Whereas Saudi officials continue to unjustly imprison and 

ban individuals from the United States from travel, including Walid Fitahi and his family, Salah Haidar, Aziza 

Yousef, and Saad Almadi; 

Whereas Saudi human rights abuses, including against individuals of the United States, place unnecessary strain on 

the United States-Saudi Arabia relationship, which is an 

essential element of regional stability; and 

Whereas the United States has an important strategic relationship with Saudi Arabia, one based on a long history 

of cooperation on regional security issues and energy supply: Now, therefore, be it 

1 Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives

2 of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 That Congress— 

4 (1) acknowledges the Government of the United 

5 States has sanctioned 17 Saudi individuals under 

6 the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability 

7 Act (subtitle F of title XII of Public Law 114–328; 

8 22 U.S.C. 10101 et seq.) for their roles in the mur9 der of Jamal Khashoggi; and 

10 (2) calls for the Government of Saudi Arabia 

11 to— 

12 (A) ensure appropriate accountability for 

13 all individuals responsible for the murder of 

14 Jamal Khashoggi, including the individuals 

15 sanctioned by the United States; 


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•SJ 46 IS 

1 (B) release all individuals wrongfully de2 tained, including Salma Alshehab, Nourah al3 Qahtani, Abdulrahman Alsadhan, Muhammed 

4 al-Qahtani, Salman Alodah, Waleed Abu al5 Khair, and Sarah and Omar Aljabri; 

6 (C) lift travel bans and other arbitrary re7 strictions on dissidents and former political 

8 prisoners, including Raif Badawi; and 

9 (D) respect the rights of Saudi citizens 

10 and ensure the protection of the freedoms of as11 sembly, association, and the press. 

Æ 


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