Title: A resolution expressing the sense of the Senate that Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abd al Aziz Al Saud of Saudi Arabia be held accountable for contributing to the humanitarian crisis in Yemen, preventing a resolution to the blockade of Qatar, the jailing and torture of dissidents and activists inside the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the use of force to intimidate rivals, and the abhorrent and unjustified murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
Policy area: International Affairs

Summary:
Finds that Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman should be held accountable for his complicity in the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, and calls on Saudi Arabia to release political prisoners and to negotiate solutions to its conflicts in Yemen and Qatar.

[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 714 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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115th CONGRESS
  2d Session
S. RES. 714

   Expressing the sense of the Senate that Crown Prince Mohammed bin 
Salman bin Abd al Aziz Al Saud of Saudi Arabia be held accountable for 
    contributing to the humanitarian crisis in Yemen, preventing a 
    resolution to the blockade of Qatar, the jailing and torture of 
dissidents and activists inside the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the use of 
force to intimidate rivals, and the abhorrent and unjustified murder of 
                      journalist Jamal Khashoggi.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                            December 5, 2018

  Mr. Graham (for himself, Mrs. Feinstein, Mr. Rubio, Mr. Markey, Mr. 
  Young, and Mr. Coons) submitted the following resolution; which was 
             referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
   Expressing the sense of the Senate that Crown Prince Mohammed bin 
Salman bin Abd al Aziz Al Saud of Saudi Arabia be held accountable for 
    contributing to the humanitarian crisis in Yemen, preventing a 
    resolution to the blockade of Qatar, the jailing and torture of 
dissidents and activists inside the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the use of 
force to intimidate rivals, and the abhorrent and unjustified murder of 
                      journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

Whereas following the accession of King Salman bin Abd al Aziz Al Saud to the 
        throne of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in January 2015, King Salman 
        appointed his son, Prince Mohammed bin Salman, as Minister of Defense;
Whereas, on April 29, 2015, King Salman appointed Prince Mohammed bin Salman as 
        Deputy Crown Prince and elevated him to the line of succession;
Whereas, on June 21, 2017, King Salman appointed Prince Mohammed bin Salman as 
        Crown Prince and heir apparent to the Saudi throne;
Whereas Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has frequently disregarded the rights 
        of Saudi citizens and in an effort to consolidate his personal control 
        over Saudi government decisionmaking;
Whereas, following his appointment as Crown Prince, Mohammed bin Salman began 
        carrying out a systematic purge of individuals opposed or agnostic to 
        his rule and vision;
Whereas, in November 2017, numerous members of the royal family, prominent 
        businessmen, cabinet ministers, and former officials within Saudi Arabia 
        were detained and allegedly tortured in Riyadh's Ritz-Carlton hotel at 
        the order of Mohammed Bin Salman;
Whereas one of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman's first acts as Minister of 
        Defense was to launch a military campaign in Yemen with the stated 
        objective of restoring the internationally recognized Government of 
        Yemen, which had been forced out of Yemen by the Iran-backed Houthi 
        rebels;
Whereas, in March 2015, Saudi Arabia instituted a naval and aerial blockade on 
        Yemen, and currently maintains strict limits on air and sea transit to 
        the country which contribute to delays of critical humanitarian aid and 
        commercial supplies to a nation that imports as much as 90 percent of 
        its food and relies on imported fuel;
Whereas the Saudi-led intervention in Yemen is in its fourth year and has 
        contributed to 22,200,000 Yemenis needing humanitarian assistance;
Whereas, on December 4, 2018, President Donald J. Trump's nominee to serve as 
        the Ambassador to the Republic of Yemen testified that the ongoing civil 
        war in Yemen has exacerbated the world's largest food security 
        emergency, created power vacuums that terrorists have exploited, 
        facilitated Iran's ambitions, and complicated United States 
        counterterrorism efforts;
Whereas, on June 5, 2017, Saudi Arabia, along with the United Arab Emirates, 
        Bahrain, Egypt, and other countries, severed diplomatic relations with 
        Qatar, recalled their ambassadors, expelled Qatari diplomats, and 
        imposed limits on the entry and transit of Qatari nationals and vessels 
        in their territories, waters, and airspace;
Whereas the blockade against Qatar has significantly complicated relationships 
        in the region and hindered United States counterterrorism and counter-
        Iran objectives, and undermined United States efforts to end conflicts 
        across the region;
Whereas, in November 2017, Mohammed bin Salman pressured Lebanon's Prime 
        Minister, Saad Hariri, to resign from his position via a television 
        broadcast while in Saudi Arabia;
Whereas, according to the organization Reporters without Borders, the arrest of 
        journalists and bloggers has doubled since the appointment of Crown 
        Prince Mohammed bin Salman, and an estimated 28 individuals are 
        currently still detained;
Whereas, under Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the Government of Saudi Arabia 
        continues to detain political prisoners, including Saudi blogger Raif 
        Badawi since 2012 and Saudi women's right activists since August 2018;
Whereas Jamal Khashoggi was a prominent Saudi journalist and an outspoken critic 
        of Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman;
Whereas, on September 18, 2017, Jamal Khashoggi wrote of increased ``waves of 
        arrests ahead of the Crown Prince's ascension to the throne,'' and 
        stated that he had left Saudi Arabia and gone into self-imposed exile in 
        the United States of America due to his fear of arrest by the Crown 
        Prince;
Whereas, throughout 2017 and 2018, Jamal Khashoggi wrote a series of opinion 
        articles offering pointed critiques and advice to Crown Prince Mohammed 
        bin Salman and to United States and Saudi officials;
Whereas, prior to his death, Jamal Khashoggi had sought status as a lawful 
        permanent resident of the United States and was the father to three 
        United States citizens;
Whereas, on October 2, 2018, Jamal Khashoggi disappeared during a visit to the 
        Consulate of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in Istanbul, Turkey;
Whereas, following the disappearance, Turkish authorities reported that Jamal 
        Khashoggi had been murdered inside the Saudi consulate;
Whereas, on October 8, 2018, the brother of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and 
        Saudi Ambassador to the United States, Prince Khalid bin Salman, stated 
        that ``the reports that suggest that Jamal Khashoggi went missing in the 
        Consulate in Istanbul or that the Kingdom's authorities have detained 
        him or killed him are absolutely false, and baseless'';
Whereas, on October 19, 2018, the Saudi Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced 
        that Mr. Khashoggi was murdered inside the Saudi consulate by Saudi 
        nationals on October 2, 2018; and
Whereas, on November 15, 2018, the United States Department of the Treasury 
        sanctioned 17 Saudi officials, including senior Saudi government 
        official Saud al-Qahtani, his subordinate Maher Mutreb, and Saudi Consul 
        General Mohammed Alotaibi, for their connection to the killing of Jamal 
        Khashoggi, including some individuals who worked directly for Crown 
        Prince Mohammed bin Salman and his personal security apparatus: Now, 
        therefore, be it
    Resolved, That the Senate--
            (1) condemns in the strongest possible terms the murder of 
        Jamal Khashoggi;
            (2) finds that as Crown Prince, Mohammed bin Salman was in 
        control of the security forces at the time of Jamal Khashoggi's 
        murder;
            (3) based on evidence and analysis made available to this 
        institution, has a high level of confidence that Mohammed bin 
        Salman was complicit in the murder of Jamal Khashoggi;
            (4) urges the United States Government and the 
        international community to hold all parties, including Mohammed 
        bin Salman, involved in the murder of Jamal Khashoggi 
        accountable;
            (5) calls on the Government of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia 
        to negotiate directly with representatives of the Houthi 
        movement in order to end the war in Yemen, agree on a political 
        resolution, reverse the humanitarian crisis, and refocus 
        efforts on defeating al Qaeda and ISIS in Yemen;
            (6) calls on the Government of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia 
        to negotiate a political solution to its dispute with Qatar 
        expeditiously and in a way that restores diplomatic relations 
        with Qatar; and
            (7) urges the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to immediately 
        release Saudi blogger Raif Badawi, the Saudi women's rights 
        activists, and other detained political prisoners.
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