A/HRC/41/CRP.1 The only conclusion made is that there is credible evidence meriting further investigation, by a proper authority, as to whether the threshold of criminal responsibility has been met. 251. The Special Rapporteur notes in addition that the following high-level officials were fired subsequent to Mr. Khashoggi’s murder: the Deputy Head of General Intelligence for Human Resources and the General Director of Security and Protection of General Intelligence. Their discharge suggests that they might have had some involvement or that they failed to act after they became aware of the crime. The Government of Saudi Arabia should provide information as to the reasons for their being discharged. 252. The Special Rapporteur is not addressing here the potential criminal liability of lower level officials. However, she notes the unexplained discrepancy between those that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia detained and those that it charged, including members of the 15man team and certain security attachés. See Section I, Table D. Saud Alqahtani 253. A senior advisor in the Royal Court Saud Alqahtani was responsible for social media communications for the Crown Prince. There is credible evidence that he personally directed a campaign targeting activists and political opponents. For example, he is alleged to have harassed individuals online and at one point he urged his followers to name those who supported Qatar and tweet them to #the black list. He tweeted: “They will be sorted. They will be followed up on from now” (Tweet, August 17, 2017). He threatened those who attempted to conceal their identities online: “Does a pseudonym protect you from #the_black_list? No 1) States have a method to learn the owner of the pseudonym 2) the IP address can be learned using a number of methods 3) a secret I will not say.” (Tweet, August 18, 2017). He claimed he was acting under orders from the Monarchy: “Do you think that I make things up with guidance? I am a trustworthy employee who carries out the orders of my boss the king and my boss the crown prince” (Tweet, August 17, 2017). 254. Information available to the Special Rapporteur indicates that there are reasonable grounds to believe the following: (a) The Special Rapporteur was informed that he was one of two officials who personally interrogated and threatened Prime Minister Saad Hariri of Lebanon, during his detention in a private residence on the compound of the Ritz-Carlton in Riyadh, in November 2017, to force him to resign. People close to the incident suggested the Prime Minister had been the victim of “psychological torture” and treatment which may amount to cruel, inhuman and degrading.229 (b) According to UN reports and a person interviewed during the inquiry, Saud Alqahtani was personally involved in the arrest and torture of female activists Six women activists have reported torture while in Saudi prison: Samar Badawi, Shadan al-Onezi, Aziza al-Yousef, Eman al-Nafjan, Loujain al-Hathloul, and Nouf al-Dosari. Two have allegedly stated that Saud Alqahtani was physically present during their torture. According to an official February 2019 communication from Special Procedures to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Al Qahtani told one of the women: “I’ll do whatever I like to you, and then I’ll dissolve you and flush you down the toilet.”230 (c) It is notable that when Mr. Khashoggi walked into the Istanbul consulate on 28 September, the officer recognized him as “one on the people sought”. Mr. Mutreb, the alleged head of the Team responsible for “negotiating” with Mr. Khashoggi, and one of the initial officials involved in planning the mission, was himself an employee of Saad alQahtani, according to the Saudi Prosecutor. (d) According to the Saudi Prosecutor statement of November 15, 2018, Saud Alqahtani was one of the senior officials directly involved in the mission. He is alleged to 229 230 Interviews https://alqst.org/eng/confirms-new-details-of-torture-of-saudi-women-activists-as-british-mps-seekaccess-to-prisons-to-investigate/ 51