Argentinian Authorities are contemplating to arrest Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia on possible criminal charges as he attends the G-20 meeting in the country. The potential criminal arrest is based on allegations of war crimes from Saudi’s war in neighboring Yemen. This comes after Human Rights Watch filed a complaint to Argentinian prosecutors.
On November 26, Human Rights Watch filed a submission with an Argentine federal prosecutor outlining its public findings on alleged violations of international law committed during the armed conflict in Yemen for which Mohammed bin Salman may face criminal liability as Saudi Arabia’s defense minister. The submission also highlights his possible complicity in serious allegations of torture and other ill-treatment of Saudi citizens, including the murder of the journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
The arrest and subsequent charges are is possible as Argentinian constitution recognizes universal jurisdiction for war crimes and torture. This means that prosecutors can and are expected to investigate war crimes no matter were in the world they were committed. Argentina have previously looked at similar cases. NY Times explains further;
Such cases are assigned by draw in Argentina, and the prosecutor assigned to evaluate the potential charges, Ramiro González, could not be reached for comment.
Mr. González has a record of handling international human rights cases, including leading an eight-year-old Argentine prosecution of crimes committed during the 36-year dictatorship of General Francisco Franco in Spain. (Spain used the same principle of universal jurisdiction to bring charges against an Argentine military official, who was sentenced in 2005.)
This is comes after David Ignatius wrote in Washington Post how the Khasshoggi murder was born of brutal “Games of Thrones” culture inside the royal court and the Crown Prince. Culminating with the Crown Prince ordering the killing of Khasshoggi. Other details from the article point out how MBS tricked Chinese Authorities to arrest and torture a senior Saudi businessman on false terrorism allegations. The Chinese did not appreciate being used as pawns and had their own reservations.
For each day that goes Prince MBS is losing more and more supporters. Even though it is not likely he will get arrested in Argentina, the possibility for such events increases as his global standing diminishes.
